A Classic from the Other Side of the Veil: Du Bois's Souls of Black Folk

Abstract

Why has W.E.B. Du Bois not mattered more in sociology? In addition to being on the short list of the 20th century's most influential public intellectuals, Du Bois made substantial, if under recognized, intellectual contributions as a sociologist and social theorist. Among his nearly 2000 published writings, The Philadelphia Negro and Souls of Black Folk have all the qualities of classic works. Yet, neither has been officially canonized by sociology. The exclusion of Du Bois can be explained with tolerable plausibility by reference to his two key concepts in Souls of Black Folk: the veil and the double‐self. One can only wonder what might have been significantly different about sociology, especially its theories of the Self and of field studies of race, had William James's most important student been allowed to matter.

Sociology and the Theory of Double Consciousness

“…As a result, the racializing subject does not see his own position as oppressor within the system of racialization. If the Black subject suffers misrecognition because their humanity is denied, the White subjects misrecognize themselves because they are unable to see their role in denying the humanity of the other (Lemert 1994 ). If the corollary of the veil for the racialized is the devastating anguish of not being recognized, for the racializing it is constant and persistent denial.…”

“…Souls is a text that sociologists, with few exceptions, do not embrace (Wortham 2011 ). Charles Lemert ( 1994 ), however, argues that it should be considered a canonical text in the discipline. For him, the fact that the discipline does not acknowledge Souls is an example of the invisibility of the work that hails from behind the veil.…”

“…We argue that Du Bois's theory of Double Consciousness illuminates a point that remains unaddressed by these three theorists: the limits to communication and to mutual recognition under conditions of racialization. Du Bois argues that the color line creates different processes of self-formation among racializing and racialized groups (Lemert 1994 ;Rawls 2000 ).…”

“…The veil structures the lived experience, selfformation, and perception of the world for both racialized and racializing subjects. The invisibility of those who live behind the veil means that there is no process of mutual recognition or true communication between racializing and racialized subjects (Lemert 1994 ).…”

“…The theory has long been part of debates among scholars of African American studies (Gilroy 1993 ;Gooding-Williams 2010 ;Gordon 2000 ;Rabaka 2010 ;Rampersad 1976 ;Reed 1997 ;Smith 2004 ;Zamir 2008 ). Its sociological importance, however, is barely acknowledged (Blau and Brown, 2001 ;Lemert 1994 ;Rawls 2000 ). Yet, as Charles Lemert argues: Du Bois's double self concept deserved a prominent place in the lineage of self theorists which, from James and Baldwin through Cooley to Mead to the symbolic interactionists, has been one of Sociology's proudest traditions (1994, p. 389).…”