Don't Ask Me

Although I might be able to discuss personal experiences with Du Bois's concept of double consciousness from the perspective of a queer female, I acknowledge that I am not and do not try to be a voice for the experiences of all shapes and colors of the 'lower rungs' of society. I think it is dangerous waters to try to generalize an experience for a group of people or speak on behalf of a group you don't belong to. With that in mind, I decided to reach out and ask other individuals their take on this whole double consciousness idea, and the possible benefits and disadvantages that it provides. I would like to emphasize again that each person I interviewed is speaking on behalf of their own personal experience.
I gave each individual an overview of our class discussion and then I asked the same question, "Do you think your identity grants you perspective, knowledge, skills, or traits which the traditional white, middle/upper class male does not have? Would you say those perspectives, knowledge, skills, or traits are advantageous or not?" I intentionally left the word 'identity' broad as to allow for personal interpretations of what identity they perceive as causing a double consciousness.
Below are four of the responses I got:
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1. This is Bella. She is an AU student in my Arabic class.

2. This is Shawntrell. He is 22 years old and lives in Phoenixville.

3. This is Daisy. She is 26 and is one of my co-workers at the Sitar Art's Center.

4. This is Ms. Bev. She is a senior staff at the Sitar Art's Center.

Although I recognize this is no Gallup poll, there may have been bias in the wording of my question, and each of these conversations could certainly been expanded on, overall, I got the sense that people from all different backgrounds away from the traditional center of American society, feel as though they did gain some benefits for their struggles with double consciousness.