---
title: "We Wear the Mask — AP African American Studies Guide"
description: "Dunbar's 1895 poem 'We Wear the Mask' shows African Americans hiding pain behind a smiling face. Key to Topic 3.7, double consciousness, and Du Bois's Veil."
canonical: "https://fiveable.me/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/we-wear-the-mask"
type: "key-term"
subject: "AP African American Studies"
unit: "Unit 3"
---

# We Wear the Mask — AP African American Studies Guide

## Definition

"We Wear the Mask" is an 1895 poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar in which "the mask" symbolizes how African Americans concealed their true feelings behind a smiling exterior to survive racial discrimination and exclusion from full participation in American society (Topic 3.7, EK 3.7.A.1).

## What It Is

"We Wear the Mask" is a short poem published in 1895 by [Paul Laurence Dunbar](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/paul-laurence-dunbar "fv-autolink"), one of the first nationally famous Black poets in the United States. The speaker says "we wear the mask that grins and lies," describing a public face of cheerfulness that hides "torn and bleeding hearts" underneath. The mask is the poem's central symbol. It stands for the emotional performance African Americans put on for a white society that refused to see their real pain, and for their separation from full participation in American life because of [discrimination](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-3/10-hbcu-black-greek-letter-organizations-and-black-education/study-guide/kP0Y57GAauhTajQD "fv-autolink").

In the [AP African American Studies](/ap-african-american-studies "fv-autolink") CED, the poem pairs with W.E.B. Du Bois's *The Souls of Black Folk* (1903) as one of the groundbreaking texts at the turn of the twentieth century that portrayed Black humanity and the psychological effects of racism. Think of the mask and Du Bois's "the Veil" as two metaphors aimed at the same wound. Dunbar describes what Black Americans had to *show* the world; Du Bois describes how the world refused to truly *see* them. Together they capture life behind the color line in the era after Reconstruction.

## Why It Matters

This poem 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. It directly supports learning objective 3.7.A, which asks you to explain how Dunbar's poem and Du Bois's *[The Souls of Black Folk](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/the-souls-of-black-folk "fv-autolink")*, plus the dialogue between them, portray Black humanity and the effects of racism around 1900. EK 3.7.A.1 names the mask and the Veil as parallel symbols of African Americans' exclusion from full participation in American society. The poem matters on the exam because it gives you concrete literary evidence for the psychological cost of segregation. When a question asks how Black writers responded to the color line, Dunbar's mask is one of your best go-to examples.

## Connections

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

Du Bois defined [double consciousness](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/double-consciousness "fv-autolink") as the internal conflict of seeing yourself through a society that devalues you. Dunbar's mask is what that conflict looks like from the outside, a performed smile covering a divided inner self. Practice questions regularly ask you to connect the poem to this exact concept.

### The Veil and The Souls of Black Folk (Unit 3)

Published eight years after Dunbar's poem, Du Bois's 1903 book uses "[the Veil](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/the-veil "fv-autolink")" as its central symbol. The CED treats the mask and the Veil as a matched pair, both representing African Americans' separation from full participation in American society. Knowing one without the other is only half the answer.

### The color line (Unit 3)

Du Bois called the color line "the problem of the twentieth century," meaning the racial discrimination and legalized segregation that outlasted slavery. [The mask](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/the-mask "fv-autolink") is a survival strategy for living behind that line. The poem is the human, emotional side of the legal and social barriers.

### [Paul Laurence Dunbar (Unit 3)](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/paul-laurence-dunbar)

Dunbar, the son of formerly enslaved parents, gained national fame writing in both standard English and dialect verse. "We Wear the Mask" is his most-tested work in this course because it speaks directly to the gap between his public success and the racism he and his readers lived with.

## On the AP Exam

Multiple-choice questions tend to do one of three things with this poem. They ask what the mask symbolizes (concealment of true emotions in the face of discrimination), they identify the poem's central theme (the hidden suffering behind a forced public smile), or they ask you to link the poem to double consciousness. Source-based questions may give you lines from the poem and ask you to interpret them in the context of the post-Reconstruction color line. For free-response writing, the poem works as strong evidence when you argue about how Black writers documented the psychological toll of segregation around 1900. The highest-value move is pairing it with Du Bois, since LO 3.7.A specifically asks about the dialogue these texts generated together.

## We Wear the Mask vs the Veil (The Souls of Black Folk)

Both symbols represent African Americans' separation from full American society, but they come from different texts and work differently. The mask (Dunbar, 1895, a poem) is something Black Americans actively put on, a performed smile hiding real pain. The Veil (Du Bois, 1903, an essay collection) is a barrier hanging between Black Americans and white society that blocks true sight in both directions. Quick check for the exam: mask = Dunbar = hiding emotion; Veil = Du Bois = barrier to being seen.

## Key Takeaways

- "We Wear the Mask" is an 1895 poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar in which the mask symbolizes African Americans concealing their true emotions behind a smiling face to cope with racial discrimination.
- The CED pairs the mask with Du Bois's Veil; both symbols represent African Americans' separation from full participation in American society (EK 3.7.A.1).
- The poem is evidence of double consciousness in action, showing the gap between the self African Americans presented publicly and the pain they carried privately.
- Dunbar's poem and Du Bois's The Souls of Black Folk together portray Black humanity and the effects of racism at the turn of the twentieth century, which is exactly what LO 3.7.A asks you to explain.
- Remember the matchup for the exam: mask goes with Dunbar (1895), Veil goes with Du Bois (1903), and both respond to the color line.

## FAQs

### What is "We Wear the Mask" about in AP African American Studies?

It's an 1895 poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar about African Americans hiding their grief and anger behind a cheerful public face. In Topic 3.7, the mask symbolizes the emotional cost of racial discrimination and exclusion after Reconstruction.

### What does the mask symbolize in Dunbar's poem?

The mask symbolizes the concealment of African Americans' true selves and emotions, a survival strategy in a society built on discrimination. The CED frames it as representing separation from full participation in American society (EK 3.7.A.1).

### Is the mask the same thing as the Veil?

No. They're related but distinct symbols. The mask (Dunbar, 1895) is a performed smile African Americans put on to hide pain, while the Veil (Du Bois, 1903) is a barrier between Black Americans and white society that prevents them from being truly seen. The exam expects you to keep the author-symbol pairings straight.

### Did W.E.B. Du Bois write "We Wear the Mask"?

No. Paul Laurence Dunbar wrote "We Wear the Mask" in 1895. Du Bois wrote The Souls of Black Folk in 1903, which introduced the Veil and double consciousness. The CED studies the two texts together because they generated a dialogue about Black life at the turn of the twentieth century.

### How does "We Wear the Mask" connect to double consciousness?

Double consciousness is the internal conflict of viewing yourself through the eyes of a racist society. The mask is the outward result of that conflict, the public performance that hides the inner self. Practice questions often ask you to explain exactly this connection.

## 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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