WEB Du Bois

As a white male that has grown up in central Wisconsin my entire life it is someone what of a stretch to imagine what life in New York City.  Now to say what would it be like to be growing up in New York City as a young black male, female, or just a minority in general?  Would I be treated differently?  Well sadly I think I would but after seeing the stop and frisk law in NYC there is no doubt that this would be the case.  Du Bois, an African American, was able to give us the concepts/ ideals of double consciousness and the ‘veil’.

Double consciousness is able to look some ones identity through different perspectives and facets.   Imagine if you will the ability for people to have an identity, to say this is who I am and this is how society see’s me.  The double consciousness idea diminishes this and makes different identities of people.  Regarding the stop and frisk policy police may see minorities as individuals that are subject to crime just because of their appearance or race, while the young man they just frisked could be a nice young man that volunteers for his community and takes care of his sick grandma.  We really don’t know peoples stories, so for us to add these stereotypically identities is not far or ethical but yet we do.

The veil can be seen as a barrier between that person and society.  In todays day and age to not be able to walk down the street without you knowing the cops are going to stop you just because of your race is just is out of this world.  One should not feel that they are separated from society but as they are part of it.  

From WEB Du Bois writings we should attempt to break down these barriers so no one needs to feel as if they have a double consciousness or a veil.  A good start would be to remove the stop and frisk law in NYC.