This idea of double-consciousness reveals a sad truth. The newly emancipated slaves would never feel adequate because they had no way to accurately judge themselves. The race had been set so far back by the inequities of slavery, the growth of the race so stunted, that they no longer had an identity. This feeling of inadequacy could lead to frustration which in turn could lead to a surrender against the struggle to rise in society. This phenomenon becomes a vicious circle leading no where; in order for African-americans to rise together, they needed to find their identity as a whole.
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"To-day even the attitude of the SOuthern whites toward the blacks is not, as so many assume, in all cases the same; the ignorant Southerner hates the Negro, the workingmen fear his competition, the money-makers wish to use him as a laborer, some of the educated see a menace in his upward development while others-- usually the sons of the masters-- wish to help him to rise." pg. 250
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