The Souls of Black Folk: Chapter 8 Summary & Analysis

The chapter begins with a passage by William Vaughn Moody. Du Bois asks the reader if they have ever seen a cotton field “white with the harvest,” and compares the look of the cotton to the Golden Fleece from the Greek myth of Jason and the Argonauts. Du Bois discusses changes to the “Cotton Kingdom,” including the revolutionary presence of the cotton mill and debates over whether or not the Black Belt is still the center of cotton production. Du Bois argues that black people are not studied enough, and that white people wrongfully presume they “know it all” when it comes to the lives of African Americans. To counter this trend, Du Bois will examine the lives of the black farm laborers who work in the Black Belt.

In 1890, 10,000 black people live in the Black Belt, along with 2,000 whites. Du Bois notes that “the country is rich, but the people are poor,” and that debt dominates life in the area. Slavery and Emancipations, combined with the impact of war, left a legacy of financial disaster. Du Bois notes that the black laborers in Dougherty County, where his focus lies, live in the same cabinsthat existed during slavery. The cabins are overcrowded, run-down, and poorly ventilated, which has a negative effect on the productiveness of the workers who reside in them.

Due to economic hardship, the black families in the area are smaller in size than they used to be, and few young people are married. Du Bois notes that it is common for couples to separate, and laments the “easy marriage and easy separation”—a legacy of slavery—that is common within African-American communities. He refers to the ease with which marriages are broken as an “evil,” and points out approvingly that the black church is making strides to end this tendency. However, Du Boisalso argues that in many cases, couples split due to economic pressures and other factors beyond their control.

Du Bois explains that all but about 10% of the black population of Dougherty Country is very poorly educated, and about two-thirds cannot read or write. However, illiteracy is only part of the story. During slavery, information about economics, government, and other fundamental aspects of society was deliberately hidden from black people, and the consequences of this are still strongly felt. Du Bois argues that when we talk about groups of people in broad terms, it can be easy to forget about each person’s individual soul, and to really consider the vast range of emotion felt by each person.

Having said this, Du Bois then returns to portraying the black community of Dougherty County in broad, statistical terms. He explains that the vast majority of the population work as farm laborers, that child labor is a significant problem in the county, and that 94%of people work—both men and women. Du Bois describes meeting a former slave who complains about the fact that he cannot afford his rent, and that the only way to make money is to own land. The man protests that the “world called him free,” but that his reality is “a mockery of freedom.” Although poor black workers in the South might legally be free, the reality of their lives is often indistinguishable from slavery.

Cotton is the currency of the Black Belt, and it is a currency “bound to bankrupt the tenant.” Many black people are in debt from which they can never hope to recover; this is partly the result of a racist belief among white employers that unless they are bound by debt, black people will not work at all. Thus the poorest black workers in the South remain in a form of slavery, and “the Thirteenth Amendment is sadly broken.” These workers’ ignorance of the broader labor market leaves them vulnerable to exploitation.

Du Bois also describes the aggressive harassment and violence black people are forced to face in the Jim Crow South. He notes that much of this is written into Southern culture, but not into law. Du Bois says that black people can find greater safety by living in communities that have a large black population; however, this also means that people stay living in communities where there is little hope for economic growth. Du Bois argues that it is a mistake to view black people as lazy, when in fact they are generally dedicated and enthusiastic workers, but he suggests that they perhaps lack the greed that can motivate people to aggressively pursue opportunities to make money.

Du Bois explains that white employers refuse to improve the working conditions of black people, claiming that such a move would be disastrous and blaming the dilapidated Southern landscape on “Negro freedom.” Indeed, Du Bois argues that both white and black men blame their problems on the other, such that a mutual understanding becomes impossible. White men refuse to acknowledge why black men would want to seek better opportunities and quality of life.

Du Bois explains the different socioeconomic classes that exist among black people at the time he is writing. At the bottom is the “submerged tenth,” sharecroppers who are “entirely without capital. Above them are metayers (tenant farmers) and semi-metayers, who pay rent in cotton. Above this, 5% are “money-renters,” and only 6% actually own any land. The system of renting through cotton leaves workers extremely vulnerable to exploitationand in an impoverished, “wretched” position. Du Bois suggests that the money-renters are often more intelligent than the metayers, and are in a better position because they have been able to negotiate fairer arrangements for themselves.

Du Bois notes that tax records suggest that there are no black landholders in Dougherty County, but that it’s possible there were some whose land was under white patron’s names, a practice that began during slavery. In total, only 185 black people have owned land in the county since 1875; collectively, they have owned 30,000 acres, yet only half of this is currently under black ownership. However, given all the obstacles that the black community of Dougherty County have faced, Du Bois holds that this is impressive. More privileged people cannot fathom the “soul-sickening battle” these black communities in the South face. Du Bois concludes the chapter by noting that the very few families who have been able to achieve a degree of financial security through land ownership tend to move to the cities.