In Chapter XI in The Souls of Black Folk, "Of the Passing of the First Born," Dr. DuBois discusses the death and "escape" of his son. He struggles emotionally when he notices the white characteristics of his child. As he perceives the white blood that is flowing through his black child's vein, DuBois writes: "...(I) felt a vague unrest. Why was his hair tinted gold? An evil omen was golden hair in my life. Why had not the brown of his eyes crushed out and killed the blue? ...And thus in the Land of the Color-line I saw, as it fell across my baby, the shadow of the Veil" (p 160, Bedford ed.). Du Bois's reaction to the racial duality of his child and the "awful gladness" he feels when his son dies is indicative of the way in which race and the metaphorical "veil" pervade every aspect of life. DuBois sees the veil as a result of double consciousness, "a sense (for the African-American) of always looking at oneself through the eyes of others;" of being compelled to judge oneself as others see you.
For DuBois, the inner struggle for the African-American lies in the attempt to escape this veil. For a black individual, the fight consists of trying to see oneself apart from the eyes of white society. The irony for Du Bois's son is: how could one "escape" this veil when his physical features expose both his black and white ancestries? He is born into a predicament that causes him to have physical characteristics of his oppressors, therefore he cannot take himself out of the context of white society. He cannot see himself as autonomous from white culture and is therefore unable to comprehend his true identity. DuBois expresses concern because he realizes the burden that the veil will have on his son.
