Racism in America has always been a sad but also very true reality. Racial tensions can be dated back hundreds and hundreds of years ago. Racism had been a major issue then and still remains to be one Americas greatest problem to this current date. Throughout the entirety of the American Studies course we have touched on many different topics. The works that I found to be the most interesting were the ones that discussed issues on slavery. I think that I found these to be the most interesting because I was able to actually relate and connect them to current events in America today. .
One of the works that I found to be the most interesting would have to be "Of Our Spiritual Strivings" written by W.E.B. Du Bois. I think that I found his opinion to be the most interesting because Du Bois never really had to deal with the issue of slavery for many years. He actually was given the opportunity to attend college and even enrolled into Harvard University where he earned a second bachelor's degree and a master's degree in 1890 and 1891. He eventually went on to be a Professor at many prestigious colleges. Later he would take his interests in civil rights and form the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, otherwise known as the NAACP. Du Bois eventually became fed up with the way he was treated in the United States so he picked up his things and moved to Africa where he became a citizen of Ghana and later died. After reading all of these things about Du Bois I thought to myself how could a man who never really had to deal with any hardships preach to other African Americans, telling them to fight for their rights and to do something with their lives. He never really had to work hard to overcome the adversity that faced many African Americans at that current time. .
Du Bois states in "Of Our Spiritual Strivings", "the history of the American Negro is the history of this strife, this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self.