Darkwater · Chapter
VIII: The Immortal Child explained
Du Bois reflects on the life and legacy of Coleridge-Taylor, a mulatto musician, and uses his story to explore the broader question of whether Black children should be brought into a world of racial prejudice.
What happens
Du Bois reflects on the life and legacy of Coleridge-Taylor, a mulatto musician, and uses his story to explore the broader question of whether Black children should be brought into a world of racial prejudice. He argues for the necessity of Black reproduction and proper child-rearing, emphasizing the importance of honest, guided education over shielding or neglect. He then expands to critique the American educational system, which fails both Black and white children by prioritizing industrial efficiency over human development, and calls for a system that fosters intelligence, talent, and the ideal of democracy.
Themes in this chapter
Racial Oppression and White Supremacy
The chapter details how racial prejudice denies Black children the right to be born, educated, and developed, and forces parents to navigate the color line in raising their children.
Double Consciousness and the Veil
Du Bois discusses the need for parents to gently introduce children to race consciousness, balancing protection with honest explanation of the 'veil' that separates Black and white worlds.
Economic Injustice and Labor Exploitation
The chapter critiques an educational system that trains children primarily as laborers to maintain industrial efficiency, rather than as full human beings, perpetuating economic inequality.
Democracy and the Franchise
Du Bois argues that without widespread intelligence and education, democracy cannot achieve its greater ends, and that the current system fails to prepare citizens for civic duties.
Characters to notice
- Coleridge-Taylor
Central figure of the chapter; his life and genius illustrate the waste of potential due to racial prejudice and the need for proper education.
- The Narrator
Du Bois himself, who reflects on the meaning of Coleridge-Taylor's life and the broader implications for Black children and education.
- Mother
Referenced as the parent who must gently explain racial realities to her child, guiding them through the veil of race consciousness.
- Paul Laurence Dunbar
Mentioned as a contrast to Coleridge-Taylor; a black poet whose treatment would not have been different under the same racist logic.
- Alfred Noyes
Quoted for his lament on Coleridge-Taylor's death, highlighting the depth of loss and the beauty of his art.
Key passages
“If the great battle of human right against poverty, against disease, against color prejudice is to be won, it must be won, not in our day, but in the day of our children’s children.”
The struggle for justice is a long-term endeavor that will be achieved by future generations, not our own.
Du Bois justifies the duty to have and raise children despite present suffering, as they are the ones who will see victory.
“We must seek not to make men carpenters but to make carpenters men.”
Education should prioritize developing the whole person over merely training them for a specific trade.
This aphorism encapsulates Du Bois's critique of industrial education and his call for broad, humanistic learning.
“The heaven that lies about our infancy is but the ideals come true which every generation of children is capable of bringing; but we, selfish in our own ignorance and incapacity, are making of education a series of miserable compromises.”
Children have the potential to realize our highest ideals, but adults betray that potential by settling for inadequate education.
Du Bois laments the failure of society to invest properly in education for all children.
