Walking the Colour Line: A Comparative Analysis of Double Consciousness in African American Characters in Movies Between the 1960s and the Present

Abstract

W.E.B. Du Bois’ concept of double consciousness is the phenomenon of a sense of two-ness, a double identity that exists in African Americans. This double consciousness arises from being black in a white dominated society. This research has looked at the historical context of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement and Black Power Movement, and the current-day Black Lives Matter Movement in order to analyse the concept of double consciousness in A Raisin in the Sun (1961) and Black Panther (2018). This research has found that the historical context influences the self-identity and double consciousness of African American characters in A Raisin in the Sun and Black Panther.