Chapter 11 of "The Souls of Black Folk" is by far the most personal of all the chapters to this point by W.E.B. Du Bois. Mr. Du Bois tells us about the birth and death of his son Burghardt. From the joys of his birth, the worries of the world he was being brought into, the pain of his death, and lastly the thought that the child was probablly better off in death than in life, we are shown all. The ugliness of racism even in a man and womans time of loss will show just how bad and hurtful the actions of the worst of America were. The sad truth is, it's still going on. Another thing to keep in mind, even though Mr. Du Bois does not make the claim that racism caused the death, it was common in those days that white doctors would not treat black patients. One must wonder if that played any part in the loss of his son.