the veil causes Blacks to accept the false images that whites see of Blacks. Du Bois although not explicitly in *I*Souls of Black Folk*/I* critique's Booker T. Washington for accepting the veil and accepting white's ideas of Blacks. Booker T. Washington an accomidationist accepts the white idea that blacks are problem people; not a people with a problem caused by white racism.*A href=#Footnote25B name=Footnote25A*Footnote25*/A* Booker T. Washington seeks to work behind the veil by pursuing polices of accommodation. Du Bois in contrast wants blacks to transcend the veil by politically agitating and educating themselves. *br* Du Bois's conception of the veil contradicts some of the other theme's in *I*Souls of Black Folk*/I*. First, how can the problem of the twentieth century be that of the color-line when blacks are invisible behind a veil of prejudice? Second, how can Du Bois speak from behind the veil as he does in parts of certain chapters and yet present a resemble critique of society? Third, how can the veil both make blacks invisible and separate them at the same time and make the separations so apparent to society. Fourth, how can Du Bois say blacks are gifted with "second sight" when Du Bois says blacks are looking at their past and present through a veil? And Fifth, Du Bois's prescription for lifting the veil, education and political activism, are only small steps to lifting the stifling iron veil that keeps blacks invisible and separated from white America. Du Bois's metaphor has limitations and internal contradictions; but these internal contradictions are minor compared to the power that "the veil" has as a symbol of black existence in America. *br* The veil in *I*Souls of Black Folk*/I* is a metaphor that connotes the invisibility of black America, the separation between whites and blacks, and the obstacles that blacks face in ...
