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Daniel Cortez
Professor Dr. Solomon
English 207: Ethnic Minority Literature
28 4 2015
Ignorance Should Not Be An Excuse To Transcend
The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois, an African-American writer, contemplates
the fact that there is still today racism against black people simply because of their color of their
skin and the history behind them because of how they were seen as slaves. He claims that there is
no doubt that there must be equality for all people despite their racial background, there has to be
equal opportunities for every individual. There must be good education so that everyone will
eventually be treated with the same equality and justice.
W.E.B. Du Bois claims that there will always be ignorant people that will make judgments
based on the color of skin. These people are uneducated that are not willing to accept that fact
the black people are attributors of this country. However, the author makes it clear that he will
always be disappointed because he knows that the racism against black people will never stop
due to the ignorance of some people.
The Nation has not yet found peace from its sins; the freedman has not yet found in
freedom his promised land. Whatever of good may have come in these years of
change, the shadow of a deep disappointment rests upon the Negro people,--a
disappointment all the more bitter because the unattained ideal was unbounded save
by the simple ignorance of a lowly people (Dubois 11)

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There is no absolute peace for black people because there are still perceptions by a lot of people
that believed to be superior in terms of intelligence. Despite the fact that the African-American
had reach freedom trough Emancipation, white people still today do not accept them today as
part of their society. There is no doubt that there is a tremendous disappointment for black people
that they still hasnt been accepted as contributors of this country, which is truly a country
founded by immigrants all over the world. The negro people have been seen as slaves as of
today because of ignorant people that still think that they can be able to treat them as inferior
simply because they think that black people were born to be slaves. It is not acceptable that there
is still today racism against this minority group simply because of the fact that historically they
were used as slaves.
The author points out that black people had a lot of pressure. There was a lot of influence
against them that was affecting their effectiveness of learning; therefore, becoming a target for
white people, Only those who have watched and guided the faltering feet, the misty minds, the
dull understands, of the dark pupils of these schools know how faithfully, how piteously, this
people strove to learn (Dubois 12). The African-American people had intense feelings to learn,
but the conditions they were living in, and the resources they only had made it difficult for them
to learn fast as expected. There was a huge devotion to learn; however, the opposition within
society was an obstacle for them to develop as they wished. There is no mystery here that these
people as minority felt oppressed against the circumstances because of the pressure and tension
there was.
Dubois claims that there will always be injustices against black people simply because of
their history behind them that will never be forgotten, he believes that men and women of this
era will not be equally treated because there is an insight believed of superiority. However, he

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persist on the idea that intelligence will be measured by virtue rather than by the color of their
skin. He knows that there might never be equality; therefore, there has to be a lot of attention of
virtues rather than thoughts of who is better. He knows by fact that Americans have a tendency of
thinking that they are best at everything, but that is not truth at all.
It is, then, the strife of all honorable men and women of the twentieth century to see that
in the future competition of the races the survival of the fittest shall mean the triumph of
the good, the beautiful, and the true; that we may be able to preserve for future
civilization all that is really fine and noble and strong, and not continue to put a premium
on greed and imprudence and cruelty (Dubois 119)
The reason why this country is so powerful and talented is not because of the efforts of white
people, it is so irrational to think that there is white supremacy. The real reason behind it is that
talent is brought to this country from all over the world, which really explains why the U.S. is so
powerful. This is a nation of immigrants. Even the constitution says We the people not we
the Americans.
Our legal judicial system is not the best, because there is still a lot of present racism. There are
still a lot of resented Americans that have always thought to be superior, but the fact is that they
arent in any sense. An American is someone who was born in the U.S.A. There is no mystery
about this concept. Then, why it is so hard for them to understand that there are only American
people; therefore, all should be treated equally.
Dubois claims that he is almost sure in the quote above that he knows that these racist
tendencies will never come to an end. He is absolutely right. As of today, if an individual wants
to apply for a job there is a part on the application that says to specify what race you are. The

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application has an option to choose your race. If there are really equal opportunities for
everyone, then why is there a necessity to know the background of an individual? There should
be equal opportunities for all people despite their color of their skin. According to the
international laws, slavery is illegal. Black people are still slaves today because they have fewer
possibilities of working at a place of high prestige.
For the first time in history, there is a black president in our nation. There are a lot of
people that claims that he is the devil, others claim that he should not be there because he does
not represent Americans. These are stereotypes that will eventually go around and around, but
arent true. He has recently taken executive orders on immigration to grant drivers licenses and
temporary relief for millions of undocumented immigrants from being deported, but was sued by
the government. He has all the rights to do so, but since he is black he is seen as evil. He even
said it that other presidents have taken more executive orders than he has, then why should there
be even an opposition to his executive actions? Correct, because he is black and even if these
laws are executive, there is still the doubt that white people can stop his decisions.
Finally, the author is right because racism will never end because there are tendencies that
someone will always be superior, which is not true. Although emancipation for black people has
legally passed, they arent freed yet because there are still constraints holding them back because
of their background. There is no such thing as of freedom as Dubois has explained over and over
again. Ultimately, even president Obama said that there should not African-American, and so on.
There are only American people.