Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois had contrasting views on how to attain racial equality. In the time following the Civil War the rebellious South was readmitted to the Union with conditions set forth by the federal government. One important condition was granting the full political equality for blacks and ending “the problem of the color line” (The Souls of Black Folks, 1). This was the premise of the Reconstruction time period. However, Reconstruction was an unsuccessful effort. The South refused to work with the North to form a united nation, and the newly freed slaves were reluctant to exercise their new civil liberties, in part, due to the rise of the Klu Klux Klan and other white supremacy groups. The North was at odds and distracted …show more content…
However, two influential and contrasting individuals, Booker T. Washington and WEB DuBois decided to address the matter of equality amongst black and white Americans. Booker T. Washington 's key strategy can be summarized in one word, practicality, here and now. His strategies were based upon the realities of the color line. White Americans still associated with the idea of slavery will fight to keep African Americans down, as second class citizens, because of one attribute that whites hold over blacks, power. He believed that in order to become equals, the black community needed to climb to the level of whites. To do so blacks would need to be educated and to get involved in practical occupations. Washington believed that education was the key to Black economic success, thus his intended Faustian Bargain. He argued that giving up civil rights, higher education, and political rights, blacks would be given an economic opportunity. Washington suggested such a bargain, because he believed that races needed to start at the bottom, and work their way up gradually, as he states, “I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.” (xroads.virginia.edu). A lot of what Washington believes in has come from his own …show more content…
DuBois criticized the, “here and now” approach, because his concern was with the future of the black and white world in which they lived. In Souls of Black Folk, DuBois mentions a veil that needs to be uncovered for blacks and whites to “come tenderly and cheerily into those sad little lives and brush the brooding hate away” (The Souls of Black Folks, 91). Removing such a veil would difficult, but with a proper education, DuBois believed one day someone would lift the it. What was a proper education? DuBois, unlike Washington, believed that proper education was with a higher education, and not an industrial one. A clear example of his disagreement with Washington was when he states in his address to the country, “when we call for education we mean real education. We believe in work. We ourselves are workers, but work is not necessarily education” (www.digitalhistory.uh). He made this address to help spark the Niagara movement, because he wanted African Americans to fight and protest to achieve their equality. At the very least he sought out to achieve the right for blacks to vote. “With the right to vote goes everything: freedom, manhood, the honor of our wives, the chastity of our daughters, the right to work, and the chance to rise, and let no man listen to those who deny this” (www.digitalhistory.uh). In his time period and even present time period, that right to vote means the right to move the country in a
W.E.B. DuBois was an educator, writer, scholar, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, and later in his life a communist, whose life goal was to gain equal rights for all African Americans around the world. DuBois’ writings were mostly forgotten till the late 1960s, because of his involvement in communism and his absence during the civil rights movement in America. Even though his writings were temporarily forgotten because of his tarnished reputation, his legacy has since been restored allowing for his writings to be reprinted becoming a major influence for both academics and activists. DuBois’ accomplishments include his part in the creation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and his support for the civil rights movement advocating for equal social and economic rights for all African Americans. His accomplishments and efforts in order to gain equal treatment for African Americans outweigh his shortcomings and failures.
African-Americans in the 1920’s lived in a period of tension. No longer slaves, they were still not looked upon as equals by whites. However, movements such as the Harlem renaissance, as well as several African-American leaders who rose to power during this period, sought to bring the race to new heights. One of these leaders was W.E.B. DuBois, who believed that education was the solution to the race problem. The beliefs of W.E.B. DuBois, as influenced by his background, had a profound effect on his life work, including the organizations he was involved with and the type of people he attracted. His background strongly influenced the way he attacked the "Negro Problem." His influence continues to affect many people.
After the Civil War, African Americans encountered great discrimination and suffering. During this era, two influential leaders emerged from different philosophical camps. Brooker T. Washignton of Virginia and William Edward Burghardt Dubois of Massachusetts proposed, different means to improve African Americans’ conditions. These men had a common goal to enrich the black community. However, the methods they advocated to reach these goals significantly differed.
W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington were two predominant African American leaders, whose views on how to progress the African American community both socially and economically sharply differed. Their perception of education, its purpose, advantage, and limit for African Americans, varied greatly. Booker T. Washington believed in training African Americans to develop crafting, industrial and farming skills, while W.E.B. Du Bois believed in educating only the top 10% of the African American community. Their views polarized the African American community into two distinct groups with very different views on education and progress. Together, these two leading points of views are part of the cause of the African American low level of labor force participation, high unemployment rate, and low rate of higher education completion.
Booker T. Washington believed that blacks should not push to attain equal civil and political rights with whites. That it was best to concentrate on improving their economic skills and the quality of their character. The burden of improvement resting squarely on the shoulders of the black man. Eventually they would earn the respect and love of the white man, and civil and political rights would be accrued as a matter of course. This was a very non-threatening and popular idea with a lot of whites.
Following the enforcement of emancipation and the passage of the thirteenth amendment in 1864, African Americans found themselves in a contradictory position of both newfound freedom and great discrimination. The newly freed slaves of America faced a society that mere years ago, considered them as nothing greater than property. During this period, two leaders of monumentally opposed schools of thought emerged in the African American community. Booker T. Washington, and William Edward Burghardt (W.E.B) Du Bois. These two thinkers were some of the most influential educators, authors, and orators of the American 19th century, and were also frequent critics of the other's methods and ideas. This was due to a sharp disagreement on the ‘right’ strategy for improving the condition of the black community. While they might not have agreed on the means, both of these remarkable men at least shared that common goal, and their efforts are best demonstrated by looking to the long standing success of institutions they founded and worked ( the Tuskegee institute and Atlanta University respectively). That being said, the diametrically opposed philosophies they supported still stand today, and each 'camp' can be identified in many contemporary debates over discrimination, society, and how to end racial and class injustice.
The United States societal system during the 19th century was saturated with a legacy of discrimination based upon race. Cultivating a humanitarian approach, progressive intellectuals ushered in an era of societal reconstruction with the intention to establish primary equalities on the pervasive argument of human race. The experiment poised the United States for rebellion and lasting ramifications. The instantaneous repercussions for both races evolving from the emancipation of African-Americans were plainly stated by the daughter of a Georgia planter in the summer of 1865: "There are sad changes in store for both races" (Nash 469). The long-term ramifications are still in progress. The combination and division of commerce and virtue, north and south, white and black, violence and empathy, and personal and political agendas, created the birth and death of the era of Reconstruction that began during the Civil War and ended in 1877. However, the period of Reconstruction provided the entry for two African-American men, Booker T Washington and W.E.B. DuBois, to rise to leadership positions while propelling radically opposing ideologies. The two differing ideologies served as anchors in a society adrift. Both races, being tossed about by the storm Reconstruction had unleashed upon society, were compelled to reach-out for the anchors that symbolized the prospect of stability. Washington and DuBois anchors were thrust in different bodies of water, but both men's proclamations existed in currents that surged toward a collective body of water. Washington and DuBois's positions on the collaboration amongst the races had extreme variations due to their...
In this essay you will read about numerous similarities as well as differences between these two gentlemen. Their names are Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois. But before I explain the differences between these two gentlemen, I will give you a more in depth background on each of them. This information that I will provide for you will give you a clearer thought on how they were raised and their beliefs.
When Booker T. Washington speeches the Atlanta Compromise, it is still a big step to talk about equality and social problems of the white and black races, even though it is after the Civil War. However, it is necessary to agitate to reach complete liberty and social change ultimately, which address Washington to have an oblique approach to express the purpose of the speech. He announces his intention of the black race, simultaneously, he wants to make the Southern white men feel relief and relaxed about talking about it. It supports the reason he speaks meek and polite all the time, not to offend the white audience. He insists that the importance of having a business is greater than getting a social equal for African-Americans, which makes
...ncerning voting rights, social change, education, and the role of the black man in the South. Du Bois Believed that African Americans should get social and political equality immediately and through education, while Washington thought that African Americans should get social and political equality gradually and through trade skills. Although both offer valid points and arguments, Washington has a more convincing and beneficial philosophy than Du Bois. Booker T. Washington had a gradual approach towards political and social equality which allowed society to slowly accept African Americans into their society which allowed society to adjust better unlike Du Bois who wanted a drastic change. Washington also focused on having an education on trade skills that allowed African Americans to work and contribute to the economy, which allowed them to have a place in society.
Booker T. Washington believed in political and social economic acceptance of passive and self-improvement rather than demanding the rights that were given to white male counterparts. This examination of the how Booker T. Washington’s political and social acceptance changed not only the landscape of African American history while setting a mentality that continues even in the twenty-first century. The ideal agreement would be Southern blacks would work under white political rule, while Southern whites guaranteed that blacks would receive basic tutelage and due process of the law. Dr. Washington believed
DuBois and Washington came from extremely different backgrounds. These differences are essential to understanding why each of these men went about trying to achieve progress for their race in the way they did. DuBois, the son of free parents, was born a free man and grew up in a white environment with more privileges and advantages than the majority of African Americans living in the United States at that time. He suffered neither severe economic hardship nor from repeated encounters with racism. In contrast, Booker T.
When it all comes down to it, one of the greatest intellectual battles U.S. history was the legendary disagreement between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois. This intellectual debate sparked the interest of the Northerners as well as the racist whites that occupied the south. This debate was simply about how the blacks, who just gained freedom from slavery, should exist in America with the white majority. Even though Washington and DuBois stood on opposite sides of the fence they both agreed on one thing, that it was a time for a change in the treatment of African Americans. I chose his topic to write about because I strongly agree with both of the men’s ideas but there is some things about their views that I don’t agree with. Their ideas and views are the things that will be addressed in this essay.
Booker T. Washington thought that Blacks should earn their respect gradually after getting an education and becoming business man of the industrial world. W.E.B Du Bois was more of demanding it and he also thought they should try everything they could to earn the respect they needed. Although Booker and W.E.B had there differences, Booker's strategy was more appropriate for the time period and that W.E.B wanted the Blacks to make some sacrifices in order to achieve there goals.
Booker T. Washington is arguably the most famous African American Education Activist for his multiple contributions to giving African Americans the equal education rights in the United States as white