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In this short collection of fourteen essays, W.E.B. Du Bois, the author, is his own protagonist. The main conflict in this collection is between Black people, white supremacy, and racism. Du Bois goes to great lengths to show that despite Emancipation, Black people are not free and do not experience liberty in American society. Du Bois lived from 1868 to 1963, spanning the early years after The Emancipation Proclamation and through the first years of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. Du Bois writes nine of his essays in first person, giving the reader an intimate look into his life and thoughts. Du Bois’s greatest desire is for Black people to receive equal treatment and for the divide between the races, a divide that he refers to as the Veil, to disappear. Du Bois invokes the image of the Veil throughout the essays, where it is a symbol of imposed and literal darkness.

As Du Bois begins making the foundations for his arguments, one principal talking point is that the races must know and understand each other to fight prejudice. Black people are eager for this mutual understanding, but the prejudices of white people, especially those from the South, prevent them from making any overtures of civility and acceptance. The Jim Crow laws are a major obstacle to this goal, and Du Bois’s example of being banished to the Jim Crow car of a train even though he has more education than most white men makes it clear that all Black people suffer discrimination equally. He believes that if the two races were allowed to live and work in an integrated society, they would understand each other, and racism would subside. 

Du Bois acknowledges that education is a way forward for Black people in America but despairs that education is tailored to prepare Black people to work in industry. He believes that this focus prevents Black people from learning the great secrets of civilization, and maintains that universities have a duty to educate the Black man for a meaningful life after slavery. He is fully aware of the divisive color-line in the 20th century and is impatient for it to become obsolete.

Du Bois is aware that his people are at a distinct disadvantage because of two centuries of slavery in which they were not allowed access to education. At this point Du Bois introduces the obstacles that hinder the realization of his argument, and he argues that money is an obstacle to the Black community in two ways. Many Black people have no trades, no skills, and no tools with which to finesse their way into the workforce. In addition, the lure of financial gain is more appealing to some and comes at the expense of developing themselves into helpful members of the community. He cautions that fast money often wins out over social development, which is crucial to a robust society overall. Du Bois points out that the Black community is blocked in many ways from participating in politics because they are prevented from voting and, therefore, cannot get elected. With no voice of their own to represent them, laws will never change and things will remain static.

Du Bois is emphatic that there is currently no straightforward resolution to the problems that hinder equal opportunities for Black people, and he gives specific examples of situations that underscore this conclusion. Schools for Black people are unequal to those for white people, offering often inferior education, so that there can be no chance for fair competition. He tells of the lynching of a Black man who defends his sister against a white man’s violent overtures. He begins each chapter with excerpts from what he calls the sorrow songs, which rise from Black spiritualism, referenced throughout the essays. At the end of the book, Du Bois has offered education to the reader but not much hope for shedding the Veil. His antagonists, especially white men who run the country, show no signs of enlightenment, which would lead them to let Black people out of the prison they have put them in. He concludes in his last chapter that there is a silently growing assumption that racism is a thing of the past, and he declares this assumption is both arrogant and ignorant.

In closing, Du Bois presents the question of freedom and justice for Black people in this life and the next. He shows signs of optimism throughout the book, but he also reveals his uncertainty as to when and if these ideals will come to pass for his people. His final question is a call to his white audience to stop and consider the gifts Black culture has given them and a mournful cry for the recognition they deserve.

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