I think the greatest gift of the Soviet Union to modern civilization was the dethronement of the clergy and the refusal to let religion be taught in the public schools. Du Boiss The Soul of Black Folk begins and ends with the symbol of the 'Veil,' Du Boiss apt metaphor for ' the color line ' of racial oppression and injustice which, in 1903, he prophetically announced to be ' the problem of the twentieth century. From my 30th year on I have increasingly regarded the church as an institution which defended such evils as slavery, color caste, exploitation of labor and war. When Archdeacon Henry Phillips, my last rector, died, I flatly refused again to join any church or sign any church creed. Here, Du Bois records the cruelties of racism, celebrates the strength and pride of black America, and explores the paradoxical 'double-consciousness' of African-American life. When I became head of a department at Atlanta, the engagement was held up because again I balked at leading in prayer. The Souls of Black Folk (1903), his most influential work, is a collection of fourteen beautifully written essays, by turns lyrical, historical, and autobiographical. In Germany I became a freethinker and when I came to teach at an orthodox Methodist Negro school I was soon regarded with suspicion, especially when I refused to lead the students in public prayer. By the time of graduation I was still a 'believer' in orthodox religion, but had strong questions which were encouraged at Harvard.

At the heart of its legacy is victory in the face of adversity. “My 'morals' were sound, even a bit puritanic, but when a hidebound old deacon inveighed against dancing I rebelled. The Souls of Black Folk holds an exceptional position as a religious commentary, a social analysis, evidence to the human spirit, a literary wealth, and a pragmatic investigation of political and economic conditions.

The souls of black folk by web du bois