Professor Jackson
African American Literature
1/20/18
Response Paper #1
In the passage “Of the Training of Black Men” by W.E.B. Du Bois showcases the process African Americans and the low social positions they are placed in. Du Bois claims in this passage by enslaving the Negro, whites are able to ensure that African American men will never be able to be fully men. A theme that was present in this passage was the idea of oppression in a form known as training. Du Bois used the term human training as “ human training as will best use the labor of all men without enslaving or brutalizing.” (Bois 64). In that quote, he is describing how human training as a way of training African American men to be be inferior submissive …show more content…
The theme of industrial and classical education was present during this time period. African American men were being what was taught, but not knowing the truth to graduate with a sensible aim for a future occupation (Bois 68). He refers to African American men taking occupations or educational opportunities that they were told to do by white people. Du Bois makes another point on by claiming that “the teachers in these institutions came not to keep the Negroes in their place, but to raise them out of defilement of the places where slavery had swallowed them” (Boys 69). In reference to that quote, Du Bois means that these teachers/ professors in these institutions tried to help African American men thrive in anyway they thought they …show more content…
“Of the Training of Black Folk .” The Souls of Black Folk , by W.E.B Du Bois , A