The term ‘double –aimed struggle’ as used by Du Bois describes the conflicting interests that the African Americans faced in the United States during the time. The society discriminated against the blacks and they had to take actions to survive the racial bias. To survive in an environment where they were perceived as inferior to other races, the African Americans had two aims that they struggled to balance. They first aim entailed proving that they had skills that were worthy to the white world so that they could secure jobs. The second aim was to work hard within their communities ((Rangel 195). It was not easy to balance the aims as they could only concentrate with a single aim at a particular time. Double-aimed struggle was mainly experienced by the black artisans as they had to prove to the whites that they were as qualified as any other artisan from other ethnic communities. At the same time, they were expected by their community to be active in community activities thus creating a struggle.
The expression of double-aimed struggle by Du Bois is similar to El Plan de Santa Barbara manifesto, which is formed to help the Mexicans deal with the struggle of achieving the American Dream (Rangel 193). The primary issue with the Mexicans is that they have to compromise their culture to some extent so that they achieve the American Dream. The main struggle they face is whether to stick to their culture in a world where it is not recognized, or to be assimilated to Americans. The manifesto aims at encouraging the Mexicans to maintain their cultural identity, to achieve their political, social and economic welfare.
Works Cited
Rangel, Javier. “The educational legacy of El Plan de Santa Barbara: An interview with Reynaldo Macías.” Journal of Latinos and Education 6.2 (2007): 191-199.