The Study of the Negro Problems, from ''The Annals of the

American Academy of Political and Social Science The American Academy of Political and Social Science (AAPSS) was founded in 1889 to promote progress in the social sciences. Sparked by Professor Edmund J. James and drawing from members of the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania, Swarthmo ...

'' (January 1898), is an essay written by professor, sociologist, historian and activist

W. E. B. Du Bois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American-Ghanaian sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in ...

. It both challenges the question he poses in his ''

The Souls of Black Folk ''The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches'' is a 1903 work of American literature by W. E. B. Du Bois. It is a seminal work in the history of sociology and a cornerstone of African-American literature. The book contains several essays on r ...

'' (1903) of “How does it feel to be a problem?” and is reminiscent of the popular mindset of

white people White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view. Description of populations as ...

toward

people of color The term "person of color" ( : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily associated with, the U ...

at the time. As a reoccurring theme amid Du Bois’ works, the Negro as a problem to those representing the majority population was a concept into which Du Bois sought to delve further as he explored what it meant to be a minority – and an educated one – among those who still viewed minorities as a nuisance to their culture or else a burden and creatures not belonging as one of their own. An introduction to another one of his familiar concepts - that of the black double-consciousness - the question of how it feels to be a problem is intended for Negro men and women to keep in the back of their minds. As people of conflicting identities of both Negro and American in a white American world, they should be constantly mindful of this while they discern how they fit in as citizens moving through a racially disconnected New World based on the outward perceptions of them from the white majority race. The focus of ''The Study of the Negro Problems'' is on the means of law enforcement used to separate blacks from their white counterparts and how social forces, as responses to the African slaves’ introduction into America, forced these laws onto the slaves and their ancestors.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Study of the Negro Problems, The Works by W. E. B. Du Bois 1898 essays