A Veil divides the world of the white from the world of the black. The Veil divides more than color; it splits the varying degrees of acceptance, freedom, and prosperity. The Veil cuts the "souls if black folk" in half. A part stays rooted into heritage while another part longs to agree to an unfair compromise just to get a glimpse of the other side of the Veil.
The split soul was formed over time. African traditions were broken down, and replaced by a corrupted form of Christianity. This was fed to African Americans with discretion. It was used to propagate the idea of slavery, promising the soul an eternity of salvation to follow an inevitable lifetime of suffering. It resigns the individual, and thus the soul, to submission. As time went on, Christianity was warped by the slaves into something to inspire and bring hope. The soul sprouted wings even while the ankles were in chains. Their souls became defined by their faith.
With abolition, the spirituality of African Americans was consummated; if abolition was the coming of the lord, he came. Spirituality was maintained, but the souls were not joined by the common bond of slavery any longer. Divisions were made within the African American community that caused the souls themselves to divide. Some longed for recognition from whites, others wanted to express themselves freely as individuals. Most wanted a combination of the two. In the world of the "negro problem," it would be impossible for a soul to be whole.
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