Diotima: The Marist Undergraduate Philosophy Journal
their racialized oppression and devaluation in a white-dominated society.” 1 Because double consciousness is developed in the individual’s consciousness as a result of social interactions, “double consciousness” is, like race, not an inherent fact, or rather, inherent psychological state from birth, but rather, a state that results from social interaction. True consciousness, according to Du Bois, involves a merging of the two consciousnesses in a process of self-realization. This step is the spiritual or conscious side of overcoming racial oppression, which has a material existence. In this essay I provide a review of Du Bois’ theory of double consciousness as proposed in The Souls of Black Folk (1903) and then delve into aspects of Du Bois’ theory of the unconscious as it relates to the act of “merging.” To make my argument, I pull from Du Bois’ books Souls , Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil (1920), and Dusk of Dawn (1940), tracking the evolution of Du Bois’ theories of double consciousness and the unconscious over time. I conclude, in this analysis, that consciousness includes the unconscious “habits”—that is, actions — of individuals, which also has implications for overcoming racial oppression. Because white prejudice is rooted in unconscious beliefs challenging these beliefs consists in changing one’s “habits” to affect one’s conscious thoughts. Thus, a merging of the double consciousnesses is not the only step in combating racial oppression, as working with the unconscious is also necessary in the psychological—and material—project Du Bois sets forth. Developing Double Consciousness in Du Bois’ Lifelong Body of Work Du Bois first introduces the concept of double consciousness in The Souls of Black Folk . In the chapter “Of Our Spiritual Strivings,” Du Bois writes the following passage, which introduces both double consciousness and the concept of the Veil:
1 John Pittman, “Double Consciousness,” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2023 Edition), Edward N. Zalta & Uri Nodelman (eds.), https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2023/entries/double- consciousness.
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