The Rif Raff Book Club's February book selection The Souls of Black Folks by W.E.B. DuBois was in celebration of black history month.

The Souls of Black Folks by W.E.B. DuBois

This read too much like a history book for me to continue. After reading the preamble and the first few chapters, I just said No! Clearly, DuBois is a very articulate author, I guess I've just read as much as I want to read about this subject. Our previous reads relating to the plight of African Americans have done a better more engaging job of giving us perspective. Perhaps it's time to start reading black authors who write about something other than the slave years........

This book did read like a High School assignment, but I thought it had some interesting elements. I liked the feel of the time in his writing. You felt like he was reporting from the scene. His insight and life experience came through in the writing. The history of the time was something I think we still see today. The stereotypes he exposed and highlighted are still present in today's culture. The North is more tolerant behind the veil and the South is not as tolerant both in front of and behind the racism veil. We were not perfect in the abolishment of slavery, but I do think we gave it some effort. The real battle came in the form of money supplied to help the freed slaves. More would have been better in some eyes, but we see that today with welfare. The real test comes in the success of the Afro-American today. We have this author who thrived and succeeded in his time and the success of someone like Oprah Winfrey who was recently added to the Forbes list of billionaires. I think success is not just based on money, but the cries of the modern Black seem to echo for more and more money (reparations) and opportunity (affirmative action) to level the playing field. I applaud the writing of W.E.B. DuBois.

I found the book very interesting. DuBois' series of essays reflecting on the "problems of the blacks" in the late 1800's put you in that time period. I really never knew what the goverment did after the Emancipation to help the former slaves become productive members of society. I liked the essay about music and DuBois seemed to tie black music references into most of the other essays. (And I think the rock star, Moby must have read this book.)