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Thom BennettProfessor BailieENGL 208909MAR2020 A Rhetorical Analysis of “The Strivings of The Negro People”The Strivings of The Negro People was written by William Edward Burghardt DuBois in 1897. This essay came at a time when men of color had severe limitations to their opportunities in the United States. The United States had repealed slavery but Jim Crow laws, laws that legalized segregation, were still in effect. The U.S. Government had recently made several court rulings that gave serious limitations to the amendments that had been intended to make black men equal. In this essay DuBois, a black man himself, writes to explain the severe detriment that the second-rate view of African Americans had on people. DuBois is writing to expresses how much negative impact the common view of black men had not only on himself but on all men of color. He was most likely writing to the white citizens of the United States. During this time the common discourse was one with a racist connotation. The white men were so convinced that black men were biologically inferior that they were convincing black men as well. In a time when the discourse of the American community was based on the science of the day, DuBois relied heavily upon pathos to make his point. Through this time period, science was all about quantifiable data, relying only on what could be measured. Race Science was used time and time again to assert that the black man was inferior to the white. The studies conducted, though later proved to be inaccurate, continually showed that African American’s were biologically inferior. DuBois could not rely on science as it was not his expertise. DuBois instead relied on attempting to help people understand what it was like to be a black man in a world that said he was only ever capable of being second rate. DuBois in my opinion successfully argues to persuade that the racism of the white majority is holding back African American’s from reaching the same level of intellect and sophistication as the common white man. He argues his point in a manner that is contrary to the discourse of the time period, he argues using his experience, looking for sympathy. DuBois introduces the idea of a “Double consciousness”, the idea that being labeled not only American, but African American forces black men to view themselves through the lens of a white man’s perspective as being second-rate. Despite being viewed as the most intellectual black man of his time, DuBois too felt the limitations placed on his ability to achieve because of his skin color. He opens his essay by introducing the question that most are not bold enough to ask him “How does it feel to be a problem?”. This question comes from the assumption that black men were not capable of achieving such academic accomplishments, he was a problem because of what he had done with his life. The fact that he had been asked this question and believed there were many who wanted to ask but were too ashamed is revealing of the overarching opinion of the time. Du Bois asserts that the negative views being so widespread causes the black man to even believe it is true.This common view of black inferiority was unfortunately supported in the science of the day. In The Mismeasure of Man, Stephen Gould shares the impact on science that the common view held in this statement: “shared behavioral norms , and the social and economic differences between human groups—primarily races, classes, and sexes—arise from inherited, inborn distinctions and that society, in this sense, is an accurate reflection of biology”. Gould spends his writing pointing out errors in the cranial science of the day that Dubois would be going up against. Gould points out just how influenced by the multiliteracies of the day society had become, including the science discourse community. It was because of this common view that “science” had supported that DuBois had to appeal to something outside of the knowledge of the day.Because Dubois was unable to rely on knowledge, he relied on pathos by sharing his personal experience. Dubois tells a story from his boyhood when he first realized that he was different from the other boys and girls in school. In his story, he and his school mates are given the opportunity to exchange cards. Unfortunately for Dubois one card he gifted to a new girl in the school was refused because he was different. He explains that he has not known any state of being outside of being a problem to the common perception since the time of this story. The multiliteracies of the time period required that everyone have this notion of inferiority towards black Americans. When the opinion is held by such a strong majority, it becomes hard to disagree with it or to see any error in it.Dubois was an educated black man trying to make his case against not only the discourse communities of American society and biological science, but also against the discourse community of law. Because the popular belief was that of blacks being an inferior race, there were laws set in place to enforce this belief. Not only were the segregation laws known as Jim Crow laws in effect at this time, there had also recently been a major court ruling levied against men of color. In Plessy versus Ferguson the supreme court had determined that the recently implemented amendments had limits. The court had decided that these amendments were set in place simply to free black men from slavery, not to guarantee their position in society or their legal rights.Being up against science and law at this point, DuBois attempts to appeal to peoples’ logic. He offers that if men of color were given the same opportunity to learn and be a part of society, they could also achieve success with no detriment to the white man. DuBois not only talks about this concept but lives and proves it. He was very well educated and proved the intellectual and moral capabilities of a black man. DuBois uses the idea of “double consciousness” to show both the benefit that the “African” man had in the experience and understanding of two different cultures. Despite this benefit, the double consciousness was really a negative, forcing the black man to see him self as second rate because that is what everyone around him was constantly projecting. Forcing a black man to judge himself through the lens of a white man put him at an extreme disadvantage when that lens was one of inferiority.Ultimately DuBois makes a strong appeal that is contrary to the discourse of the time. The strongest part of his argument is his appeal to the sympathy. By sharing the occurrences of his life, he is relying on the warrant that all men share sympathy. DuBois states the desire of every black man in this manner: “He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both Negro and an American without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without losing the opportunity of self-development.”. DuBois expresses that contrary to what the discourses of the time were telling the world, the black man did not wish to ruin the white man’s status, they simply wanted an opportunity to achieve the same status. DuBois writing relies on appeal to the white man’s sympathy and understanding of an oppressed people. While I believe he does a good job of appealing to the sympathy of others I do not believe that it led to an immediate widespread change in the multiliteracies of the time.Works CitedDu Bois, W.E.B. “Strivings of the Negro People,” Atlantic Monthly, August 1897, 194– 98.Gould, Stephen Jay. “The Mismeasure of Man”, W.W Norton & Company, New York, 1996. ................
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