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Menatl Effcts Caused by A False Identity Imposed On Blacks
Menatl Effcts Caused by A False Identity Imposed On Blacks
Menatl Effcts Caused by A False Identity Imposed On Blacks
Black Folk (1903), “Of Our Spiritual Strivings,” and James Baldwin’s of “My Dungeon Shook”
(1962) is the concept of a misleading identity on Blacks to establish the mental effect that
America has on the identity of African Americans. Both of these readings utilize this concept in
order to demonstrate how there is a misleading identity of African American’s that has been pre-
established in America. As this quote would point out, “It is a peculiar sensation, this double-
consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring
one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. ” (Du Bois 4) there
is a clear illustration of how African Americans are affected mentally with the false identity that
White American have created on them. As you read both essays and as it will be briefly
interpreted these concepts of a misleading identity is a major issue addressed that has significant
With James Baldwin’s essay it was very obvious on what he was trying to accomplish by
writing a letter to his nephew where he was in a way warning him. When he states “I know what
the world has done to my brother and how narrowly he has survived it and I know, which is
much worse, and this is the crime of which I accuse my country and my countrymen and for
which neither I nor time nor history will ever forgive them, that they have destroyed and are
destroying hundreds of thousands of lives and do not know it and do not want to know it.”
(Baldwin), with the word “crime” he is referring to the effect of mental disturbance that has been
caused on African Americans. Baldwin is expressing how this disturbance is destroying Blacks
menatlly without even knowing it. Which leads to the purpose behind this essay where he is
trying to improve the way his nephew looks at the world, not wanting his nephew to deal with
by the false identity that has been created for African Americans which is interpreted in depth
within Du Bois work. Throughout this essay he is basically having a conversation with himself
sort of like a battle of the difficulties that come with being an African American in America. It is
mentioned, “He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an
American, without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of
Opportunity closed roughly in his face.” (Du Bois 4), which showcases how there is battle he is
having because of what he has to deal with. Even though Du Bois saw it as a gift for them
because it would make them more intelligent where they could see both sides unlike White
American. It challenged them mentally which he saw the benefits out of because he was a well
educated African American but many can imagine that several will not have that same
perspective like we can see in Baldwin. Even though they both share the same concepts their
point of view on it is a little different whereas they ultimately agree that there is a false identity
The false identity is created in several forms that can involve expectations, stereotypes
and judgment that can cause an impact mentaly that can lead to negative effects which are what
both these pieces reveal. In “My Dungeon Shook” declared as follows, “The details and symbols
of your life have been deliberately constructed to make you believe what white people say about
you. Please try to remember that what they believe, as well as what they do and cause you to
endure, does not testify to your inferiority, but to their inhumanity and fear.” (Baldwin), where
he is acknowledging the expectations and standards that White American have imposed on to the
black community where it can cause a toil mentally affecting several African’s American with
their life choices as it stated in the second paragraph. This identity is placed on them which is
what this piece is saying by writing this letter to advise him before he grows into the age where
this false identity gets put on him and affects him mentally causing him to end up in the wrong
path. As he makes clear is destroying the lives of African American hoping to prevent his
nephew into let it hold him down like the quote in which he ends his writing with “One of them
said, "The very time I thought I was lost, my dungeon shook and my chains fell off."” (Baldwin)
which means that those identities should not chain them down if they do not fall into that prison
As one continues to interpret this same concept out of both these pieces it can be realized
how well they demonstrate this approach. In the “Of Our Spiritual Strivings” it was included,
“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.” (Du Bois 10), where he is describing this inner battle that any
African American would most likely deal with daily. With this quote one can see how a mental
disturbance comes into effect because of all these standards or stereotypes that have been created
for African Americans can have them question their identity. Du Bois' perspective focuses more
on getting his readers to appreciate it whereas Baldwin approach is more not allowing this
challenge to bring you down. Whereas one can see how Baldwin’s is more intimate obviously
because it is a letter to his nephew but Du Bois is more informative in informing his readers.
As demonstrated the common aspects of the two essays of W.E.B. Du Bois’s The Souls
of Black Folk (1903), “Of Our Spiritual Strivings” and James Baldwin’s of “My Dungeon
Shook” (1962) is the concept of a misleading identity on Blacks to establish the mental effect
that America has on the identity of African Americans. With these two pieces it was successful
to demonstrate how there is a false identity that is imposed on African Americans that cause
mental effects. As mentioned in one of these pieces “Well, the black man has functioned in the
white man's world as a fixed star, as an immovable pillar, and as he moves out of his place,
heaven and earth are shaken to their foundations.” (Baldwin), this misleading identity can either
be a gift or challenge to the black community but will not stop them nor hold them down.