---
title: "Paul Laurence Dunbar — AP African American Studies"
description: "Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906) wrote \"We Wear the Mask,\" the poem AP African American Studies pairs with Du Bois's Veil to explain the color line in Topic 3.7."
canonical: "https://fiveable.me/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/paul-laurence-dunbar"
type: "key-term"
subject: "AP African American Studies"
unit: "Unit 3"
---

# Paul Laurence Dunbar — AP African American Studies

## Definition

Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906) was an African American poet whose 1895 poem "We Wear the Mask" uses the mask as a symbol for how Black Americans concealed pain and true emotion to survive racial discrimination, a core text in AP African American Studies Topic 3.7 alongside Du Bois's The Souls of Black Folk.

## What It Is

Paul Laurence Dunbar was one of the first [African American](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-2/10-black-pride-identity-and-the-question-of-naming/study-guide/sCMCOOHW7DRtM6jH "fv-autolink") poets to gain national fame, writing at the turn of the twentieth century when Jim Crow segregation was hardening across the United States. For the AP exam, he matters because of one groundbreaking poem, "[We Wear the Mask](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/we-wear-the-mask "fv-autolink")" (1895). In it, Dunbar describes the smiling face Black Americans put on in public while hiding grief and anger underneath. The mask is the poem's central symbol, and the CED treats it as a literary answer to a real social condition. Showing your true feelings in a racist society could be dangerous, so the mask became a survival strategy.

The course pairs Dunbar's mask with W.E.B. Du Bois's "Veil" from *The Souls of Black Folk* (1903). Both symbols capture the same idea from different angles. African Americans were legally free after [slavery](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-2/23-the-civil-war-and-black-communities/study-guide/izqwf48keJf083W0 "fv-autolink") but still shut out of full participation in American society by discrimination and segregation (EK 3.7.A.1). Dunbar shows what that exclusion felt like from the inside, in verse, while Du Bois theorizes it in essays. Together they sparked a dialogue about Black humanity and the psychological cost of racism that defines Topic 3.7.

## Why It Matters

Dunbar lives in **[Unit 3](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-3 "fv-autolink"): The Practice of Freedom, Topic 3.7 (The Color Line and Double Consciousness in American Society)**. Learning objective 3.7.A asks you to explain how groundbreaking texts like Dunbar's "We Wear the Mask" and Du Bois's *[The Souls of Black Folk](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/the-souls-of-black-folk "fv-autolink")* portray Black humanity and the effects of racism at the turn of the twentieth century. That means Dunbar isn't just a name to memorize. He's one half of a paired-text comparison the CED builds directly into the course. The mask (Dunbar) and the Veil (Du Bois) both represent African Americans' separation from full American life under the color line (EK 3.7.A.1 and 3.7.A.2), and Dunbar's poem gives you the most vivid, quotable example of what double consciousness felt like in everyday life. If you can read a stanza of "We Wear the Mask" and connect it to Du Bois's concepts, you've nailed the skill Topic 3.7 is testing.

## Connections

### [We Wear the Mask (Unit 3)](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/we-wear-the-mask)

This is Dunbar's signature text and the reason he's in the CED. The poem's title image, a smiling mask covering torn and bleeding hearts, is the symbol you'll be asked to interpret on multiple-choice source questions.

### W.E.B. Du Bois and The Souls of Black Folk (Unit 3)

The CED deliberately pairs Dunbar with Du Bois. Dunbar's mask and Du Bois's Veil are two metaphors for the same barrier, and the exam loves asking how a poet and a sociologist made the same argument in different genres.

### [Double consciousness (Unit 3)](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/double-consciousness)

Du Bois named the internal conflict of being both Black and American, and Dunbar's poem dramatizes it. [The mask](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/the-mask "fv-autolink") is double consciousness in action, one self performed for a white audience while another self stays hidden.

### The color line (Unit 3)

Dunbar wrote during the era Du Bois called "the problem of the twentieth century." The mask only exists because [legalized segregation](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-3/7-the-color-line-and-double-consciousness-in-american-society/study-guide/miqlM7jEZXSNhzbp "fv-autolink") and discrimination after slavery made honest self-expression risky, so the poem is evidence of the color line's psychological effects.

## On the AP Exam

Dunbar shows up mainly through "We Wear the Mask" as a source. Expect multiple-choice stems that quote the poem and ask what the mask symbolizes (concealing true emotions from a discriminatory society), what literary device drives the poem (the extended symbol/metaphor of the mask), or how the poem illustrates double consciousness in African Americans' lived experiences. The higher-level move, and the one LO 3.7.A rewards, is comparison. Be ready to explain how Dunbar's mask and Du Bois's Veil both represent exclusion from full participation in American society, and how a poem and a work of sociology generated a shared dialogue about Black humanity around 1900. On a short-answer or project-style response, quoting or paraphrasing a line of the poem and tying it to EK 3.7.A.1 is exactly the kind of source-based analysis the course wants.

## Paul Laurence Dunbar vs W.E.B. Du Bois

Easy to blur because the CED pairs them constantly. Dunbar is the poet, and his symbol is the mask, something worn deliberately to hide emotion. Du Bois is the scholar, and his symbol is the Veil, a barrier imposed by society that separates Black Americans from full participation. Quick check for the exam: mask = Dunbar = "We Wear the Mask" (1895); Veil and double consciousness = Du Bois = The Souls of Black Folk (1903).

## Key Takeaways

- Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906) was an African American poet whose 1895 poem "We Wear the Mask" is a required groundbreaking text in Topic 3.7.
- The mask in Dunbar's poem symbolizes how African Americans concealed their true emotions and pain to survive racial discrimination at the turn of the twentieth century.
- The CED pairs Dunbar's mask with Du Bois's Veil because both symbols represent African Americans' separation from full participation in American society (EK 3.7.A.1).
- Dunbar's poem gives a lived, emotional illustration of double consciousness, the internal conflict Du Bois described in The Souls of Black Folk.
- On the exam, the key skill is explaining how Dunbar and Du Bois portrayed Black humanity and the effects of racism, not just identifying who wrote what.

## FAQs

### Who was Paul Laurence Dunbar in AP African American Studies?

Dunbar (1872-1906) was one of the first nationally famous African American poets. In the course he appears in Topic 3.7 for "We Wear the Mask" (1895), a poem about how Black Americans hid their true emotions in a racist society.

### What does the mask symbolize in "We Wear the Mask"?

The mask symbolizes the cheerful public face African Americans wore to conceal grief, anger, and pain caused by [discrimination](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-3/10-hbcu-black-greek-letter-organizations-and-black-education/study-guide/kP0Y57GAauhTajQD "fv-autolink"). Per EK 3.7.A.1, it represents Black Americans' separation from full participation in American society.

### Did Dunbar invent the idea of double consciousness?

No. "Double consciousness" is W.E.B. Du Bois's term from The Souls of Black Folk (1903). Dunbar's 1895 poem came first and illustrates the same internal conflict, but the named concept belongs to Du Bois.

### How is Dunbar's mask different from Du Bois's Veil?

The mask is something an individual chooses to wear to hide emotion, while the Veil is a barrier society imposes that separates Black Americans from white America. They describe the same color-line problem from opposite directions, which is exactly the comparison LO 3.7.A asks you to make.

### Is Paul Laurence Dunbar on the AP African American Studies exam?

Yes. "We Wear the Mask" is named in learning objective 3.7.A, so expect multiple-choice questions quoting the poem and asking about its symbolism, its main literary device, or its connection to double consciousness.

## Related Study Guides

- [3.7 The Color Line and Double Consciousness in American Society](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-3/7-the-color-line-and-double-consciousness-in-american-society/study-guide/miqlM7jEZXSNhzbp)

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