Identities have been undergoing significant changes for the past few decades. For example, the phrase “(verb) like a girl” means something very different than it did many years ago. It might spur a slew of thoughts about what it means to be a girl or woman. This shifting in the meanings of identities can also be seen in LGBTQ groups. Inherently, the shifting in identities will cause changes in other identities. By redefining what it means to be homosexual you will inevitably be redefining what it means to be heterosexual as well. With recent court cases like Obergefell v. Hodges and The Women’s March on Washington reaching 470,000 participants according to the New York Times, there is growing support behind these identity changes. This can create a confusing environment for previously “dominant” identities or groups. One question that can arise from this confusion is when it is acceptable to take pride in your identity. Identity is the human attempt to find belonging in a specific group, often for the purposes of comfort. Knowing this, we can postulate that we cannot take pride in our identity due to its creation of division between groups. Unless, however, in the process of taking pride you weaken a sense of alterity between groups. The only means for being prideful in your identity is when it weakens a sense of otherness for all groups. This idea is furthered by W.E.B. Du Bois’s powerful metaphor of “the veil” (2) in his book, The Souls of Black Folk and a greater solution to taking pride in your identity is provided in James McCrae’s, “Confessions of a Straight White Male.”

W. E. B. Du Bois, an American sociologist, historian, and civil rights activist brings light to the perspective that minorities, namely Black Americans, have that the majority don’t typically understand. Du Bois elaborates on the sense of otherness that is felt specifically by African-Americans by giving us a metaphor of “the veil”.
In summary, this metaphor states that African-Americans living in the prominently white United States are not only viewed differently because of their race but see and interact with the world around them in two separate ways as well. They see the world around them in terms of a societal veil that they have been born with and in their own terms. Thus, it is something that they cannot escape from. African-Americans are left to interact with a white society in white terms; however, understand a different way of viewing the world. These societal standards that black Americans are held to are due to the dominance of white Americans, especially circa 1903 the time of his books publishing. Du Bois calls this type of dual perception of the world, double consciousness.

Double consciousness is somewhat of a blessing and a curse in Du Bois eye’s. He states that African-Americans are “gifted with second-sight”(3). Earlier in the passage he states that he has “no desire to tear down that veil” (2). He is aware of the two ways he views the world and is viewed by others almost as if this double consciousness is a type of extra capability. Yet this extra vision hinders him in most interactions with the world around him. The veil that others see him through before his actual self, regardless of his abilities, impedes Du Bois’s ability to attain the same opportunity that white citizens would. Put more elegantly, “he (a figure for all black Americans) simply wishes to make it possible for man to be both N**** and an American, without the doors of Opportunity closed roughly in his face” (3). While Du Bois’s veil applies specifically to black Americans, this same thought process can be applied to many other racial minorities and groups.

The idea of the veil and double consciousness is essential in attempting to find when it is acceptable to take pride in your identity. This is because it provides a standard or measure for social interactions between identities.  How should someone that isn’t a racial minority or a male create an identity surrounding this current environment of identities? This question is complicated, but Du Bois’s “veil” helps give insight. Everyone should be able to create an identity and a sense of “I” or self-esteem; however, if it is created by placing yourself over someone else, it is wrong. There should be no power ladder of identities, but instead a more horizontal appreciation of them. This idea is emphasized in James McCrae’s blog post “Confessions of a Straight White Male.” McCrae talks about how the ego is the source of the good and the bad in taking pride in your identity. Your ego is described as a “double edged-sword” for this reason. It is acceptable to take pride in your identity because it creates self-esteem but will inevitably go too far. Your ego will crave power. This is when it becomes an issue. When an egotistical person is placed in society, a myriad of problems arises as they try to grasp for power. Put more gracefully by McCrae:
when we view the human race as one collective whole, no single body part can benefit from the destruction of others. When cancer enters a body and spreads, nobody would envy the position of the cancer. It succeeds by throwing the system out of harmony. In such a situation, there is no winner. Everybody loses.

Thus, it is necessary to control your ego to create a more positive interaction between yourself and others, or else everyone suffers. This simple solution also helps to answer our question of taking pride in our own identity.
Identities allow us to separate and group ourselves together. Which means that they can become a positive and a negative in society. Thus, the idea of identities can begin to seem ridiculous as they are a basis for detaching ourselves from others. We no longer become humans, but instead become white or black, man or woman, heterosexual or homosexual. We become what we label or group ourselves as instead of simply being united. Thus, our current environment of identities is only separating us further. Many social, political and economic issues would be solved if we began to diverge from separating ourselves via our differences and instead made our distinctions by something more level and relevant like ability.

If we feel the need to take pride in our identity, then we should do so with caution as to not let our ego be the drive for doing so. Further, we should not take pride in our identity unless it weakens a sense of double consciousness, veil, or any alterity in all other groups. However, the way we identify, and the separation that this entails, can be of little use when trying to achieve equality. Often this Identification is more problematic than rewarding. We should not dwell on being how we label ourselves, but instead on simply being human. Not until we realize we are a collective consciousness under our identities will we stand united with pride. 

 
Works Cited:

Du Bois, W. E. B. The Souls of Black Folk. Chicago: A.C. McClurg & Co.; [Cambridge]:
University Press John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A., 1903; Bartleby, 1999.

McCrae, James. "Confessions Of A Straight White Male." The Huffington Post.  TheHuffingtonPost, 12 July 2016. Web. 18 Apr. 2017.

Parlapiano, Tim Wallace and Alicia. "Crowd Scientists Say Women's March in Washington  Had 3 Times as Many People as Trump's Inauguration." The New York Times. The  New York Times, 22 Jan. 2017. Web. 25 Apr. 2017.  .