- According to Du Bois, the significance of what he calls the “sorrow songs”to African American American history and culture is because those songs hold very deep and rooting significance to what African Americans experienced in the dirty grasp of slave owners and slavery in general but it doesn’t only hold significance to that it also acts as sort of a “coping mechanism” for the people and how they held joy and meaning into the words spoken out as retaliation for the sanity they still hold and to heal with the people around them also affected which brought them all in unity.
- The song that is featured in this chapter that is the most significant in my opinion is “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” because it holds the meaning of abolition and being set free which is what the whole point of these songs are and help hold up why the significance of these “sorrow songs” are so important because it holds a special place in African American history in gaining freedom.
ENG 101: an Introduction to Composition and Research (Fall 20)
Ways of Seeing/Ways of Hearing
Hello Jason! I liked how you mentioned that these songs also act as a “coping mechanism” for African Americans. I had a very similar response and felt that “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” was the most significant due to its deep message of hope. Great work!