Home › Glossary › Letter C

Colour line

Black American
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

The social, legal, and psychological boundary separating Black and white people.

Detailed Definition
The colour line, famously named by W. E. B. Du Bois, marks the structure of racial division in modern life. In poetry, it appears as borders, walls, signs, schools, neighbourhoods, and inner wounds, helping poets expose how racism shapes both public space and private consciousness.
Example
Example in poetry:
A poem uses railway carriages, schools, or neighbourhoods to show racial division; The colour line appears as both a visible boundary and an inner wound; A speaker sees America split by laws, customs, and fear; A poet challenges the false boundary between Black and white humanity
Additional Notes
The colour line, a concept strongly associated with W. E. B. Du Bois, is central to understanding African American literary treatments of racial division. In poetry, it may appear through images of segregation, exclusion, boundaries, psychological conflict, or social invisibility. Students should understand it not merely as a legal separation but as a broader structure shaping identity, opportunity, perception, and emotional life across American history.
Also Known As
Race line
Skip to main content