Inequality in Society

The novels Of Our Spiritual Strivings and Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others are the parts of The Souls of Black Folk published by W.E.B Du Bois in 1903. The Souls of Black Folk was greatly praised, particularly due to Du Bois' steadfast protection of blacks in the United States. Du Bois criticized that time politics regarding the Negrosand called for a greater understanding of society of black challenges. While Of Our Spiritual Strivings describes from scenario of quality custom essay the writer himself, who encountered the violence due to his race, “Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others criticizes the deeds of Washington who seemed to expand the racial problem.  All in all, all the stated issues of the beginning of the 20th century are still relevant in the advanced 21st one.

Of Our Spiritual Strivings is the first novel in the set of Du Bois’ novels about the Negro’s striving for their rights. This first part is an introduction to the nuances regarding the racial issues that the writer will discuss throughout the rest of work. However, not just the racial issues are mentioned but also the discrimination, segregation, and attitude, and behaviour bias as well. Taking the examples of white and black Americans relations, the author wants to portray the inequality in society. It is when the man from privileged group can ask personal questions to another person and decides his or place in the world without asking. The women, in patriarchal culture, percept themselves based on their value for men. All discriminated people are physically free but they are dependent on the privileged groups. The main question posted is, “How does it feel to be a problem?” The novel starts with his meeting the new girl at school who denies accepting the card that the boy has written for her. The reader starts to see Du Bois’ transformation from an ignorant youngster into the wise academic who he eventually becomes. As a result, this exchange serves not just as an introduction to the veil idea, but also as the adult personality catalyst that Du Bois finally adopts.

The major theme of Of Our Spiritual Strivings is the emotional and physical racism. It is also present in the current American society. Du Bois claims that even those black people who could achieve higher education, prosperity, and professional success could not escape the emotional and mental effects of the racist community. In the current society, there are a lot of challenges for the racially or religiously different people as, for example, the Catholic individuals usually deny the Baptiste humans. Du Bois himself is a major instance of this phenomenon. He was born into an affluent, free family, studied at top universities, and possessed a respected and prolific academic career. He is though plagued by the feeling of being a problem. Nowadays, there are the similar racial issues, particularly in colleges and schools, when students are underestimated based on their race. While the whites are overestimated (Staddon). As in Du Bois’ novel, in the modern American society, the whites are usually more preferred in the prestigious jobs like in the bank or so. Along with the emotional racism, the novel does not neglect the matter of material inequality that is also widespread in the American society, especially among teenagers that seem to be divided on poor and rich. The rich usually deride the poor ones. Thus, Du Bois connects the inequality in the community to the slave times, when the Negros could only be servants. However, even after the hundreds of the years after, the issue of black people and other minorities are severely deprived of safety, wealth, and opportunities they deserve. 

Du Bois also highlights the theme of slavery and freedom, especially the financial one in the novel Of Our Spiritual Strivings. He says, “The Nation has not yet found peace from its sins; the freedman has not yet found in freedom his promised land. Whatever of good may have come in these years of change, the shadow of a deep disappointment rests upon the Negro people”. During the years after Emancipation, the majority of black people dwelling particularly in the South had stayed extremely poor. Lots of black peasants executed taxing agricultural work on land they had rented for payments in cotton. These people were also forced to sign unfair labor contracts where they had been exploited by employers, operated in appalling conditions, while received indeterminate wages (Stevens). Such a financial slavery is present in modern America as the emigrants are usually working illegally and thus get paid significantly below the poverty level or are not paid at all. The statistic says that 11.7% Black and 11.7% Hispanic/Latino are labor exploited but not paid properly. All in all, Du Bois managed to describe the themes relevant even in the high-tech and the democratic 21st century.

The novel Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others Du Bois’ continues the discussion of the role and rights of Negros in the society. Analyzing Washington's ascendancy, Du Bois positions Washington as both an antagonist and protagonist. Because Washington started with very little and managed to reach success regardless of his race, he is an African-American history protagonist. However, it is a bit conflicting, since he also invokes African-Americans to abide by prejudices formed to them. Instead of giving African-Americans an analysis of the way the whites had persecuted blacks, Washington instead accused African-Americans in their conditions. Meanwhile he said that they had to gain education so that to achieve success. However, Du Bois does not support this matter; and, as a result, Washington positions as a black antagonist inside the United States.

Du Bois accuses the black-white stained relation in the lack of proper leadership as a government, employers, teachers, and others. Having an opportunity to influence other people, these particular occupations can make a great deal in changing the individuals’ attitudes, particularly in the situation with the blacks. “History is but the record of such group-leadership; and yet how infinitely changeful is its type and character!”  Du Bois assumes that if more people correctly understood the reality of racism and race, they would be stimulated to act in a way, which would train racial justice. This issue is particularly challenging as the authorities do tend to solve these issues by bringing out the proper laws that would punish different racial, ethical and religious offences. The schools and universities’ authorities also do not react to the racial issues properly that brings the students understanding that if it is not forbidden that it is allowed. Such country’ politics had been adopted by other authorities and influential structures such as educational institutions and others.

To sum up, Du Bois managed to describe the true issues of the 20th century in his works Of Our Spiritual Strivings and Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others. Both of them accurately present the interrelations of that time challenges with the modern ones in the USA. Of Our Spiritual Strivings portrays the young boy who had encountered violence at school, university, and then during his career path just because he was Negro. This racism issue exists even now during school years, and such students usually are mistreated and underestimated. It repeats in the university with the Latinos or African Americans; for example, they usually are underpaid in comparison with the white-skinned persons and thus forced to live in poverty. Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others criticizes the deeds of Washington who seemed to show the desire to unify the Americans but instead made the racism gap wider and deeper. Washington can be easily compared to the current American authorities that put no efforts in eliminating the racial, ethical and religious challenges. All in all, Du Bois accurately has described the 20th century issues and as, if forecast, the future matters in the USA.