Tresconsciousness and the Black Community
African American Identity in the Twenty-first Century
W. E. B. DuBois once wrote, "The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line." The DuBosian color-line still is evident in American corporations, American universities and American government. Yet most importantly, the DuBosian color-line lives within us, each person of African descent. In the 21st century, the DuBoisian color line intersects with the class line. Thus the double consciousness of the 20th century has expanded to a triple consciousness we call "tresconsciousness".
Tresconsciousness is the reality that each Black person has three significant aspects of their identity and personality: the impact of "western"/American culture, the idea of Black success and the importance of Black struggle. Each person chooses to balance these conflicting sides in their own personal way.
Black America is not the community that it was throughout the 1960s civil rights movements. In the sixties, somewhere between segregation and redlining, African-Americans lived together, worked together and learned together. The opportunities that were born out of the Civil Rights movement created a huge divide between the Black haves and the Black have-nots. Tresconsciousness deals with consciousness of that great divide juxtaposed to the greater American society.
The more a Black person identifies with main-stream American culture, or the more main-stream American society accepts the Black person, the more his authenticity is called into question. Is he Black enough, others will ask?
The more a Black person strives for academic, professional or monetary success, the more her sincerity is called into question. She forgot where she came from, many will say.
The more a Black person commits and relates to everyday Black people, the more they will be labeled, pigeon-holed and type-cast.
All three aspects define what it means to be Black and what it means to be American in the 21st century. The healthy black life includes all three aspects of the Black American identity without shame or suppression of any of the three.
Whether one calls it "tresconsciousness" or not, triple consciousness is present in every black person, family, congregation, and institution. How can a black person mingle with non-black culture, without being scrutinized as an uncle tom? How can a black person strive for success, without being labeled a sell out? How can a black person support and uplift his brothers and sisters, without being ostracized or alienated by other communities?
These are the questions to which we are all searching for the answers. Each person must figure out how to handle being Black in a non-black workplace or school; how to earn degrees or money without looking down on your own race; and how to support fellow blacks without becoming embittered or prejudice towards non-black people, schools, institutions and corporations. Tresconsciousness: making the most of the Black American experience.
Lhea J. Love
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