Blackness is not an abstract concept; rather it is a sense of being. Blackness in America has been determined by the ideas of society and every day experiences within the Black Community. However, members of the Black community did not always accept being black. Members within the community saw the act of being black as shameful or roadblock on the path to success. Thoughts of passing, trying to go by a white identity, have existed on full and semi-conscious levels. The works Quicksand and Passing by Nella Larsen and The Autobiography of An Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson all show examples of these different streams of consciousness,
             Since the era of slavery in the United States being Black has been stigmatized. Blackness brought pain, suffering, subordination, and the eternal struggle. The history of Blacks in America has also been one of suffering, especially in the Southern states. Lynching, segregation, Jim Crow, violence and racism in its many forms became part of the African American experience. Society had harsh reactions towards Blackness. These attitudes began to affect the Black psyche.
             Black is defined as, "angry, threatening, wicked, sinister, and deadly". The strong abhorrence society had for blackness soon began to affect those within "The Veil". W.E.B. DuBois used the words "The Veil" to show the ambivalency of the African American within American society. Most immigrants assimilated into society however, African American could not just assimilate due to the color of their skin. Other immigrants who came to America and who obviously looked different from Caucasian America also began to persecute the Blacks. The African-American then became the interloper. The African-American did nto develop a distinct consciousness of self. DuBois penned these feelings perfectly in his sociological masterpiece The Souls of Black Folks:
             Why did God make me an outcast and a stranger in mine...