Afrocentricity vs. Double Consciousness

The double consciousness of the black man has tortured the black mind since slavery started. W.E.B Dubois argues that the double consciousness of the black man is detrimental for them because although they want to be seen as the citizen, they’re still seen as society as the negro. “One ever feels his twoness”, meaning the black man won’t ever get to be an American. However, Asante discusses the dislocation of Africans and their history being tarnished by Europeans who white-washed history. Families were more than often separated, which connects back to Berlin.  Asante disagrees with Gomez’s claim about double-consciousness and states that there is a solution to double-consciousness. Asante states that “If we can, in the process of materializing our consciousness, claim space as agents of progressive change, then we can change our condition and change the world. Afrocentricity maintains that one can claim this space only if one knows the general characteristics of Afrocentricity as well as the practical applications of the field.” Basically, Asante claims that if we as black people, materialize our consciousness, and claim that space as ongoing change, that it will help us change our condition and the current world around us. Given that we have negative mindsets about ourselves, Asante emphasizes that changing those mindsets and thinking about our culture in a lighter perspective plus educating ourselves and sharing our own stories will kill our negative mindsets and the world around us in turn. Education system was made for white people. It’s imperative that Blacks share their narrative of their own history so that the world can gain a different and diverse perspective rather than white washed history. 

The division of the black mind has to be one of the most difficult things on earth. But I can’t help  but to ponder and think if we were taught to think that way about ourselves. Dubois also talks about connecting the systems of oppression, as well as  the use of slave labor. During his time period, there was no legal protection for slaves during the Reconstruction Era, as well as sharecropping and lynching. These things prevented Blacks from prospering at that time. We still see it today. 

Photo by: Richard Chucky ( I forgot the title of the artwork)

Works Cited:

http://www.asante.net/articles/1/afrocentricity/

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1897/08/strivings-of-the-negro-people/305446/