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XI. Of the Passing of the First-Born

Summary

Du Bois tells of the passing of his young son. He is excited when his son is born, but feels concern, knowing that his son will grow up with the Veil of the color line. Unfortunately, his son dies as an infant due to illness. He describes feeling outrage at the unfairness of the situation. He states that he has never avoided work and has suffered the challenges of racism bravely. He feels as though he has had enough hardship and he and his wife do not deserve such pain. After passing through town, Du Bois feels confusion at how the world has not changed, despite his own world having been impacted greatly. He hears white people call him racial slurs and then later reflects that his son was privileged to avoid the Veil and racism. Du Bois’ last thoughts in the chapter are again about the unfairness of the situation, wondering why it was not he that died, but instead his child, who would have had a loving home and good life.

Analysis

When Du Bois writes a personal essay about an intimate experience, he takes a step back from his usual ideological rhetoric. This is an important chapter because it allows an inside view of the soul of a Black man, something the white audience rarely sees. The child’s death is not the result of violence, but Du Bois’s feelings may lend empathy to the conversation and lead the audience to conclude that many Black parents lose their children to racist violence and to feel compassion for their losses. 

The racial slurs that white people hurl at Du Bois and his wife at their child’s funeral procession shows the depravity of racism. Because many white people do not consider Black people to be human beings, they do not think Black families capable of feeling the pain and grief of death. This shameful display leads Du Bois to consider that perhaps death is kinder than living under such a burden, but his mention of what the Veil would have meant to his child gives a glimmer of hope that the next generation may be able to cast aside the Veil.

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