"The Souls of Black Folk" by W.E.B. Du Bois

1903

Veils represent the idea of double consciousness.

The veil—as described in W.E.B. Du Bois’s book The Souls of Black Folk—is an important concept in the African American experience. Du Bois portrays Black Americans as born wearing a veil, or having “no true self-consciousness,” and only seeing themselves as they are viewed by society. The Souls of Black Folk led to the popularization of the concept of “double consciousness” – of living in two worlds simultaneously.