![]() Īmple nuance exists among the three versions of Du Bois’ prediction in The Souls of Black Folk, as within a very short amount of text Du Bois provides the reader with three incarnations of the thought. At the end of the essay, Du Bois truncates his statement to: "The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line", the more frequently quoted version of the sentiment. ![]() At the outset of the essay, Du Bois writes: "The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line-the relation of the darker to the lighter races of men in Asia and Africa, in America and the islands of the sea". The phrase occurs again in the book's second essay, "Of the Dawn of Freedom", at both its beginning and its end. In his 1903 book The Souls of Black Folk, Du Bois used the phrase in his introduction, titled "The Forethought", writing: "This meaning is not without interest to you, Gentle Reader for the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of color line". 'In all walks of life the Negro is liable to meet some objection to his presence or some discourteous treatment and the ties of friendship or memory seldom are strong enough to hold across the color line.' Du Bois goes on to illustrate this by discussing various social contexts in which the black American is faced with social dilemmas as to whether or not to enter white-dominated spaces: to not enter is to be "blamed for indifference", but to do so means "he is liable to have his feelings hurt and get into unpleasant altercation". Use by Du Bois ĭu Bois introduces the concept of the color line in his 1899 work The Philadelphia Negro when discussing social interactions between the black and white inhabitants of Philadelphia. Īt the First Pan-African Conference in London in July 1900, the delegates adopted an "Address to the Nations of the World", drafted by Du Bois and to which he was a signatory, that contained the sentence: "The problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the colour-line". He likened the color line to a disease of morality and gives seven propositions against it. Lee, previously Mayor of Aberdeen, Mississippi and Sheriff of Monroe County in the same state identified the policy of the Democrats as "the color line policy." In 1881 Frederick Douglass published an article with that title in the North American Review. The term occurs several times in testimony during a United States Senate inquiry into the Mississippi election of 1875. At that event General Horace Porter referred to the color line as being the result of being in battle alongside black troops in Virginia which his audience found humorous. A search of indicates the phrase appeared in newspapers with increasing frequency from 1873 on.Įarly usage includes an 1871 address as part of an anniversary celebration of the New England Society. Most uses of the term in the 1870s were in newspapers from former slave states and dealt with elections. ![]() For example, the July 7, 1869, issue of the Richmond Virginia Dispatch described a "color line" running between two candidates for governor. It is difficult to find an exact origin of the phrase "the color line." However, the phrase appeared frequently in newspapers during the Reconstruction era with specific reference to divisions between blacks and whites. The phrase sees current usage as a reference to modern racial discrimination in the United States and legalized segregation after the abolition of slavery and the civil rights movement. ![]() Du Bois' repeated use of it in his 1903 book The Souls of Black Folk. An article by Frederick Douglass that was titled "The Color Line" was published in the North American Review in 1881. The term color line was originally used as a reference to the racial segregation that existed in the United States after the abolition of slavery. For the ferry operator, see Color Line (ferry operator). ![]()
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