The Stain of Double Consciousness - Essay Example

Sarah Bruer Writing 140 The Stain of Double Consciousness Double Consciousness has and will always play a dominant role in the relationship between one race and another. By its very nature, race relations are most often the artificial imposition of anothers viewpoint on a specific group of people as well as an individual. This creates an echo in the mind, a second guessing of actions primed with the question, "What will they think?" W.E.B Du Bois coined the term in his 1903 book, The Souls of Black Folk, as, "... this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others" (Du Bois 2).The key word is artificial and once this is realized the concept of double consciousness becomes a tool for positive change and growth. This places the responsibility squarely on the shoulders of the individual, since double consciousness solely exists within the individual. This realization becomes a useful means in dealing with problems of identity and race in America. This view is supported by both Mr. Du Bois and John H. McWhorter, author of Double Consciousness in Black America. There is another book, a Phillip Roth Novel, The Human Stain, which has some relevance here. The main character, Coleman Silk, a long career college professor at some prestigious New England University, come to understand the real meaning of double consciousness for both Blacks and Whites. He is Professor of Classics and was installed as Dean of Faculty, the first Jew to attain that position even as late as 1998. One eventful day, noticing the same two empty desks in his classroom for a couple of weeks, he finally asks rhetorically to the class if these two students exist, "or are they just spooks." Turns out these students, whom he has never seen, are Black and Coleman Silk is asked to resign. Theres just one more thing, a secret. The author gives you a hint in his name: Coleman (Coal / Black) Silk (White), is actually an African American that has been "passing" for White all these years, and a White Jew no less (Roth 2000). The irony is clear and it exists in the double-conscious minds of the Black community today. Coleman Silks predicament goes to the core of double consciousness, this double standard in not only applicable to African Americans, but to any race of human beings trying to live side by side with another. In this instance Coleman chooses to "opt-out" of his birth race and assumes the identity of a White Jew. Why would he do that? It is the conviction that “… the ills of Black America can be undone only by Whites, rather than by Blacks themselves” (McWhorter 14). Given the likelihood that many Black Americans feel that it is useless for them to try and excel since they are expected to fail; would not many of them also want to opt-out? Some, I hope, would feel as Mr. Du Bois does that, “He would not bleach his Negro soul in a flood of White Americanism, for he knows that Negro blood has a message for the world" (Du Bois 5). And this is the crux of the argument, that personal responsibility at some point rules supreme; that the feelings of individuality in both your soul and your race are paramount to becoming a whole person, a human being, as well as a functional part of a greater society. The result that this "Human Stain" has on the minds of any racial group is an important factor to consider. It can easily allow one to use it as an excuse for lack of ambition and success within the individual. “Professional victimhood is a symptom of a deep stain on the psyche of a race, and I believe that there can be no true understanding of our current racial dilemma without understanding this (McWhorter 15). It is this victimhood that currently is the resultant lack of understanding of that double-consciousness really is. What it has done is create an “inferiority complex” in the minds of many individuals and instead of realizing that it is within themselves to correct it they seek out the “fatal attraction” of blaming an unfair system (McWhorter 14). This fatal attraction creates a blind eye to the opportunities available and makes it "easy" to fall back on blaming the greater society for ones inability to succeed. One can understand that it is easy to say to another, “pick yourself up by your own bootstraps”, ever try that? This can be seen as pure Pollyanna and that its nay-sayers would argue that it is a loosing battle and the cards are stacked against them anyway. The cycle has to be broken somewhere and using the concept Double Consciousness as a tool for understanding it is at least a way to start. In reality though, how do you cope with the attitude that, "In the Black community today, there is a tacit rule that Black responsibility and self-empowerment are not to be discussed where Whites can hear" (McWhorter 14)? An overview of the origins of double consciousness is called for. There can be several flavors of this racial combination, the rarest of which is that the groups can exist in harmony. Rather the groups are either diametrically opposed philosophically or have cultural values that are antagonistic to the others, or one has taken the other group and made them a subservient diaspora -- slaves. The latter had rules that have translated into ethical mores in Black culture today. The quote at the end of the previous paragraph hearkens back to the time when Negro slaves were not allowed to congregate for fear of empowering themselves and certainly not allowed to read. That fear of “being caught “has passed from generation to generation, almost unspoken, somehow ingrained at almost a genetic level. These assumptions and beliefs taken as fact over time create a situation of what psychologist would call learned helplessness. “When [past] experience with uncontrollable events leads to the expectation that future events will also be uncontrollable, disruption in motivation, emotion, and learning may occur” (Cemalcilar, Canbeyli, and Sunar 1). Learned helplessness is the reason that people become so inflamed about this issue of leaving the blame to the larger society. This learned helplessness becomes much more than a belief, it is simply the truth that there is no way that a Black-American can make it on his or her own. This truth is often as sacrosanct as any religious or political belief. The implications are that as a race and as individuals, Blacks in American will remain stagnant and even divisive within their own ranks. The different processes that individuals use to cope with double consciousness can create conflicting social and political factions within the race. There is a loss of community both on a local and on a national level. Mistrust is the rule and life becomes just a game. While the Civil rights Act abolished any form of legalized segregation, there still exists that same segregation of the mind and an innate distrust of authority that has never truly been overcome. It is this distrust that remains the easy fix for failure for the individual and the community at large. This type of thinking tends to relieve the individual of personal responsibility and allows them to “blame the powers that be” for their situation. It negates the use of any “enlightened” activity (McWhorter 14). Inspecting Double Consciousness allows one to see that this is a self imposed problem. Viewing it as such, enlightened activity is possible once the solution for empowerment is refocused and blossoms from within. Contrarily, the argument could be that this kind of thinking merely adds fuel to the "other sides" fire by stating that if it is a matter of personal responsibility, than why isnt it happening? This is one of the reasons that this divisiveness within the community occurs. Too quick to judge and to slow to change always add discontent to the impatient. One of the Amazon reviewers of McWhorter’s article echoes this negative perception, "...I’m worried that McWhorter’s argumentation will be picked up by truly anti-Black people . . . I’m troubled by the fact that White people who already harbor prejudices against African Americans now have yet another weapon" (McWhorter 14). What is the implication of all of this? It is simply a giving in to an assumed picture that seems to portray the giving up of any chance of personal achievement and too easily allowing for defeat, even before anything is attempted. The other question that begs clarification is, “Why is it that so many Blacks are uncomfortable acknowledging the successes of the race in public, beyond athletics and entertainment” (McWhorter 14)? It appears, supported by the media attention, that this is a rampant fear believed by the majority of the members of Black society in America today. The fear again dates back to that innate feeling of being caught, getting more than one deserves. By whose standards, yours or what you perceive to be imposed by another? This has led to stagnation and a loss of any chance at a true cultural inheritance and creates an intense unhappiness and unrest. This is why many social movements today seem to concentrate on what one can get from the establishment. They are less concerned with how one receives education and is uplifted and more concerned with blame and retribution. This begins to set up ethical conflicts within the local community as well as the nation at large, supporting conflict rather than communication. It portrays to the nation a diaspora of victims instead of a delegation of strength. “This distracting notion stems from a perversion of sociological analysis that came to reign in the 1960s, and its counterintuitive, antiempirical, and spiritually destructive nature is increasingly clear to more and more Black Americans” (McWhorter 15). What is there to do? As long as the Black Americans remain in an identity divided state, the individual is at war with him or herself. Even the reality that the language used to describe this individual as an African-American or a Black-American has somehow also become dualistically counterproductive. Beginning life already divided; can anyone blame the Blacks in America for having difficulties understanding their consciousness and their environment? “He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American, without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of Opportunity closed roughly in his face”(DuBois 4). What must be done? Instead of spreading a message of victimization, double consciousness must be used to raise consciousness. Rather than using derogatory language and racially charged words to denote a sense of pride, the empowerment of intelligence must be taught. And double consciousness must be understood as a mechanism of change instead of a device for stagnation. And in truth, “,… the race that reaches the mountaintop is one that embraces with vigor its achievements, trumpets them to all who will listen, and teaches its children hat doing so in the face of obstacles only makes the victory sweeter.( McWhorter 15) Does this argument conflict with the experience of many Blacks in America? Of course it does. After all do not most White-Americans see themselves as simply Americans and not color coded for identity. That is already the double standard that is the hobgoblin of double consciousness on both sides of the equation. Isn’t the image that these “Americans” create the rules and that Black-Americans are somewhat powerless to change this? Yes, that is certainly the perception. And as anyone knows, perception is reality to those that believe it. This is why socio-politically, spiritually and even metaphysically the rhetoric to Black America is one thing, but the understanding, the perception is often quite another. In order to change this misperception it is necessary to develop more strategies in light of this double consciousness. Rather than relying on the “tried and true” methods that have been unsuccessful, a bright light must be shone on new possibilities. McWhorter doesn’t just write about it, but has put himself in this change position: I have come to spend a year in New York to help in precisely that effort, and I think that if we can change the general context that young Blacks live in—and show older Blacks that the sky does not fall in for us if we paint ourselves as victors rather than victims— then in about 25 years, the “race question” that bedevils us will be an issue from the past. (McWhorter 15) Finally the question must be asked, is there hope for change? Does Double consciousness afford us the opportunity to see that this false echo is the culprit? Yes. Attitudes engrained this deeply will take time to overcome. Twenty-five years is perhaps even a conservative estimate. The first step is the realization that there is a problem with the way that Black Americans perceive themselves and in the way that society perceives them as well. It is a two way street and both sides must get off that road in order to get to a different and more beneficial path for both worlds to prosper. Works Cited Cemalcilar, Z., Canbeyli, R., and Sunar, D. “Learned Helplessness, Therapy, and Personality Traits: An Experimental Study”. Journal of Social Psychology.143, (1) 2003, McWhorter, J. H. Double Consciousness in Black America. Cato Policy Reports. 25 (2). March/April 2003. Du Bois, W.E.B. The Souls of Black Folk. 1903. New York: Dover, 1994 Roth, Phillip. The Human Stain. New York: Houghton Mifflin , 2000. Read More