Change we can believe in? A few thoughts from W.E.B. DuBois

Much has been written and said about the recent inauguration of our 44th president, Barak Obama. At the swearing in ceremony, my camera caught the image of the Black National flag in the foreground with the American flags in the background. For some reason, this picture has been on my mind since Tuesday. I think I finally understand why it has been with me. It is related to the words spoken by W.E.B. DuBois over 100 years ago in his classic work, The Souls of Black Folk:

"One ever feels his two-ness,--an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.

The history of the American Negro is the history of this strife,--this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self. In this merging he wishes neither of the older selves to be lost. He would not Africanize America; for America has too much to teach the world and Africa. He would not bleach his Negro soul in a flood of white Americanism, for he knows that Negro blood has a message for the world. He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American, without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of Opportunity closed roughly in his face."

President Obama's sudden rise to power provides an excellent opportunity for us to reexamine the words of DuBois and once again ask the age old question: What does it mean to be Black and American? Can these "unreconciled strivings" ever be reconciled? Can these 2 "warring ideals" be held in check without tearing one asunder? Can you have one service with 2 preachers, Rick Warren and Joseph Lowry, both offering prayers and not lose your mind in the process?

What does the "age of Obama" mean for the question of DuBois? Has the rule about race in America changed, or is he only another in a long list of exceptions to the rule? Only time will tell. But for now, we pray for the day when we no longer have anything to reconcile. We pray for a day when our Blackness is not viewed as being at war with our American-ness. We pray for a day when others will value (and not despise) the unique gifts and perspective that comes from being Black in America. Let's hope that this will also be a part of the change we can believe in.