The Strivings of the Negro people by W.E.B DU BOIS was an essay where he described how hard life is for African Americans in the American society. Blacks were not accepted as people in the society, they were looked at as another breed of some kind. Du Bois was not only a author and teacher but was also a political leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He believed that blacks did not feel like they belonged in American society.
He talked about”Double-consciousness” in the beginning of his essay. Basically saying white leaders believed American was white. That blacks were of African decent but necessarily American. This made blacks feel left out in society cause they were looked at as if they were not the same as whites. When talking about this concept, he stated: “This sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity”. This gave blacks a feeling of not having an identity in the society and would judge themselves by whites standards which would then lead them to think to themselves that they are inferior.
He gives a personal story where he was at school in England. The students were told to buy some nice visiting cards which they would exchange with one another at school. He tried to exchange with a girl but she refused it because of the color of his skin. That’s when he realized that he was different from everyone else and was shut out from their world. He uses pathos in this example to further prove his point of blacks not able to have an identity.
The point Dubois is trying to make is that the black experience is very emotional and is a battle. When you have a double conscious it feels like you are two different people in the world. You have to wake up and go through each day thinking to yourself that no matter how educated I am and the skills I possess I am still a problem. I am still not considered American. This can be a pathos appeal towards the audience when they look at it from his perspective which is very important.
W.E.B wrote this essay to prove a point that which is that blacks goal is to be both black and American without being spit on or treated differently and without losing the chance of self-development. This is a powerful point that he makes and he does it through using rhetorical appeals such as ethos and pathos.
Trials and Tribulations 