Sociologist and civil rights activist W. E. B. Du Bois coined the term “double consciousness” back in an 1897 article in Atlantic Monthly titled “Strivings of the Negro People.”

This is the idea:

It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his two-ness,—an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.

In other words, the way you see yourself isn’t always the way someone else sees you, regardless of the truth. For example, a black college student may have worked really hard to get admitted, while other students assume they have been accepted as part of an affirmative action deal. Or an immigrant working hard to provide for his natural family may be viewed as an illegal mooching jobs from the American workforce. Or a single mother trying to do the best she can for her family by enrolling in the welfare system may be viewed as a mooch living off the system. The point is people make judgments due to class and race without knowing the facts.

The way others see a person also influences the way that person sees their own identity, which is an important facet of double consciousness. It also leads to low self-esteem and perpetuates racism.

While racist actions and issues are prevalent throughout the entirety of Crash (2005), one scene in particular speaks directly to the idea of double consciousness. In the scene, the character of Anthony (Ludacris) is approaching the LA District Attorney Rick Cabot (Brendan Fraser) and his wife Jean (Sandra Bullock) on the street. Anthony is simply walking in their direction with his friend Peter (Larenz Tate), not doing anything odd. Nonetheless, Jean pulls her purse and her person closer to her husband as they approach their car. Anthony realizes this and makes a speech to Peter about how he and Peter could be educated, well-intentioned UCLA students out for a stroll. He shows resentment of the fact that just because they are black men on the street at night, Jean feels uneasy, and her physical actions convey an assumption that they are criminals. She’s making a judgment based solely on color, location, and environment.

Anthony and Peter then steal her car at gunpoint.

Despite the fact Anthony is aware of Jean’s racism and resents the fact she acted on it without merit, he perpetuates the exact behavior she feared. He sees himself through the light of the other person’s eyes, as Du Bois expressed, but then goes so far as to become that representation of himself.

A further example of this idea at work is seen in the scene where Cameron (Terrence Howard), a successful film director, and his wife Christine (Thandie Newton) get pulled over by the police. The senior police officer (Matt Dillon) talks down to Cameron and sexually assaults his wife in the street. From this point forward, Cameron realizes he’s not just viewed as a man, but as a black man. Even though he is wealthy and holds a position of status, he’s not seen that way by the police officer.