Thadious Davis, G.C. Vanderbilt Professor of English at Vanderbilt University spoke to a crowded chapel Thursday as guest in a lecture series to commemorate Black History Month. The series celebrates the centennial of W.E.B. DuBois's work, The Souls of Black Folk and Black History Month. Davis said of the book, "it is primarily a book deeply engaged in feeling." She went on to say that it "changed forever the methodology of racial research and the language of racial discourse." The lecture was sponsored by the President's office, with assistance from the Black Student Union.
Davis's lecture focused on DuBois's concept of the veil, what Davis refers to as "raced space." DuBois raised the question "what does it feel like to be a problem," Ellison asked what it feels like to be invisible. Davis explained this concept as "neither solely process nor merely the final result… taken together it provides a container for a life." She envisions the veil separating black space with a fog-like view, giving people a glimpse of the outside, while carefully keeping all within contained. When asked if am analogy of a glass wall might be better suited, Davis rejected this proposal. "That would make it easy wouldn't it?" she asked the student, "that way it could be broken with one mighty blow, the veil can not be seen through, the veil will not collapse with a single blow, it moves, and the loss of one string will not bring the entire structure down."
Davis went on to highlight DuBois's use of the veil concept in some of his later works addressing women's rights and the veil keeping them separated from the rest of society. When asked if she thought DuBois accomplished with his work what he set out to do, Davis replied, "oh definitely, I remember a time in the 70s when people would admit to shedding a tear reading DuBois, though I haven't heard it mentioned in years, I would guess tears are still shed in its reading."
