The Color Line in the 21st Century

W.E.B DuBois, a Harvard-educated African American activist of the 20th century prophesied that the problem of his time is a problem of the color line. DuBois understood this problem at a very early age when a new student at his elementary school refused to accept his visiting card exchange. It was at this time he knew that he was different and that to others, he was a “problem.” The color line DuBois mentions is the difficulties as an African American during the 20th century to live and prosper as a citizen of the United States due to racism. Getting paid honest and fair wages, having the ability to vote and to be treated with the proper respect are just a few examples of what the color line inhibited to persons of color.

DuBois believed that in order to eradicate the color line or Veil, they would need voting rights and education to succeed. And as time as passed, sure enough the voting rights of color were granted in the 15th amendment along with an integrated education system into the states. But even with these, can we truly say the color line has been dissolved?

Unfortunately some people today, myself included, think the color line is still a problem in the 21st century although it doesn’t have the exact same meaning as DuBois saw it. It is pretty plain to see that racial profiling still happens on a daily basis and we can’t ignore the plain facts that American Indians and African Americans hold over 50% of poverty cases in the United States while whites only hold about 11%. How often has a person of color felt they have been passed over by a taxi or received bad service and thought that it was due to their race. How many times has a job application been discarded due to racial profiling and stereotyping? And let’s not get started on police brutality with people of color (That’s another article entirely). We also have de facto segregation in public schools and neighborhoods where they are predominantly black.

So how does a society go about ridding itself of the multiple color lines present? If the answer was that simple then I believe this problem would be a thing of the past. Maybe the only solution is for each generation to get a little better than the previous but then how long would that take?

Well if there is a solution, I do believe we are on the right track. The engine that is social media and its ability to push for transparency is a thing we need. Trending topics dominated through hashtags have brought small local issues into the eyes of millions of Americans. The ability to post a video and have 20 million views within a day is astounding and can bring relevant issues to the eyes of the people (although the sea of cat videos can be a bit distracting). Luckily social media isn’t stopping anytime soon and it’s growing ridiculously fast. It will only get more difficult for issues to stay hidden from the masses and trolls of the internet.

Now I’m not saying that social media is the current and only solution for the color line problem. But it definitely aids in combating the many stories by bringing them to light. There’s also the issue with seeing the problem and not acting on it. Many people can watch a video, write a meaningful response yet do nothing to better the situation. Ignoring racism is a thing sadly. However I do believe that as generations pass, the color line problem will lessen. Too many issues are being made present online for it to not happen. Those who oppose it and fight are usually attacked verbally and criticized publicly, I can almost see DuBois smiling.

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