The American Fiction encompasses a series of incidents throughout American history that have shaped the nation into what it is today. One of the significant issues that arose was slavery, and the subsequent emancipation of slaves, which led to much confusion regarding the identification of these new citizens and whether they fit the American narrative as it existed. In The Souls of Black Folk, W. E. B. Dubois introduces the concept of double consciousness as “the feeling of always looking at oneself through the eyes of others” (Dubois 3). This later became the standard for describing African American fiction because of the spectrum of racial identification it formed. The question of double consciousness is whether African Americans can identify as Americans or whether the African designation separates them from the rest of society. President Barack Obama and Booker T. Washington, both of whom have emerged as prominent figures representing great social change and progress for the African-American race in America, further illustrate the struggle for an identity. DuBois presents the question “[how] does it feel to be a problem?”, introducing the attitude towards African Americans at the time of their emancipation (DuBois 3). The idea of ​​freedom for slaves meant equality, but "the freedman has not yet found his promised land in freedom [...] the shadow of a profound disappointment hangs over the black people" (6). The challenge faced in this period was how to deal with now freed slaves who once had no rights. DuBois states that African-Americans simply wish to “make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American, without being cursed and spat upon by his fellow-men, without the doors of opportunity being abruptly closed…middle of the paper…the marginalized group of that established range attempts to conform. The meaning of who is an American continues to gradually change over time, spanning different cultures and races in that definition, but the task is nowhere near completion while hyphenated racial classifications and double consciousness still exist. Works Cited Bumbaugh, Steve. “Barack Obama: The Next in a Long Line of Bicultural Black Leaders.” The Washington Post. 7 December 2012. Web. 5 April 2014Du Bois, WE Burghardt. The souls of the black people. Chicago: A.C. McClurg & Co.1903. Press. 1-12Washington, Booker T. Up from Slavery, An Autobiography. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc. 1963. Print. 218-237