"But the facing of so vast a prejudice could not but bring the inevitable self-questioning, self-disparagement, and lowering of ideals which ever accompany repression and breed in an atmosphere of contempt and hate." This idea by W.E.B. Du Bois was one that stuck out to me in this weeks reading. By "self-questioning and self-disparagement I think he was referencing the fact that we are all very different from one another, but this in not a bad thing or something that needs to judged. He had many ideas about identity and self. His theory of the "veil" is very applicable then and now. I think is impossible to live a life without some sort of "transparency" issues. We all see things differently based on our own life experiences (culture) which, sadly, may take precedence over reality. I think it is especially important to note that we all live a life of at least a double consciousness, if not a triple consciousness. I say this because we all tend to take on so many different roles which can be defining depending on the situation. We all have many identities that make up a master-identity. Those could include; mother, daughter, granddaughter, co-worker, student, friend, and so on. I think these identities are all incredibly important in the makeup of who we are and who we will become. For these reasons I think Du Bois was very advanced in his analyzing of the many roles humans must take on, and the many ways life can be interpreted.
I choose this picture because I think it does a good job showing how difficult it is to narrow down to one identity because there are so many elements that make an individual who they are. Overall, I think as Americans we are too focused on Nationalism and very insensitive to cultural relativism or anything that is unknown or new to us. I think this becomes a great danger when we are unable to see past our own "veil".
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