Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois are both writers who use realism as their literary mode. They both try to depict life the way it was and didn’t “sugar coat” it. They both also wanted more civil rights to be given to the blacks. Although they lived in the same era they had different opinions on how to get these rights. They think differently about education, racial advancement, and relationships between blacks and whites. Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois’ ideas are reflected in their different writing styles, and different backgrounds, along with his intentions, becoming important when their differences had one of the greatest impacts on the future. Booker T. Washington’s early life and his education throughout life shaped …show more content…
Du Bois wanted civil rights as well, but in contrast, he believe the only way to get it was through political action and demanding for equal rights. He also believed education would get the black race somewhere. “The South believed an educated Negro to be a dangerous Negro. And the South was not wholly wrong; for education among all kinds of men always has had, and always will have, an element of danger and revolution, of dissatisfaction and discontent. Nevertheless, men strive to know” (Du Bois Page) as W.E.B. Du Bois said. This quote explains how Du Bois felt about education, he thought education would put him at the top because the whites would fear the knowledge of educated African Americans. His main focus when writing was racial discrimination and the advancement of black people. His work was very broad and he combines history with proposals on how to change, like in this work “The Souls of Black Folks.” This is just a collection of autobiographies on the African American life. He mentions things like the “talented tenth” in The Negro Problem, which describes one out of ten blacks becoming leaders. He also coined several terms, including the “veil.” He says “the Negro is like the seventh son, born with a veil” (Du Bois 887). Du Bois believed a veil was being placed over African Americans so that they are not seen as they are. They are true Americans, but whites do not see that and blacks start to lose sight of that. Another important term, …show more content…
Du Bois way of helping African Americans, but Booker T. Washington’s way was the Tuskegee Institute. The Tuskegee helped to educate the black people with skills so that in the future the whites would accept them seeing that they work hard. Although many may think this was a great way to get civil rights, Du Bois did not. Du Bois founded the NAACP and used it for the power to have a say. “Through the publication Du Bois reached an increasingly large audience- one hundred thousand by 1919- with powerful messages that argued the need for black development and white social enlightenment” (Du Bois 884). Du Bois even writes about Washington and criticizes him in The Souls of Black Folk. He says “the time is come where one may speak in all sincerity and utter courtesy of the mistakes and shortcomings of Mr. Washington’s career (Du Bois 893). In this statement it proves that Du Bois and Washington did not agree on things, and this is why their writing styles were so different, because their opinions on gaining civil rights were also very
Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois are two incredibly famous civil rights activists in United States history. Although they both sought to uplift blacks socially and economically across the country, they clashed over the best strategy for doing so. Coming from vastly different backgrounds, it’s understandable as to why they disagreed. However, as is evident by our current societal problems, Du Bois was the one who had the correct plan. That doesn’t mean that Washington’s ideas were wrong, but they were a temporary solution to a permanent and systematic problem.
W. E. B. Du Bois and Booker T Washington had very different views about their culture and country. Du Bois, being born in the North and studying in Europe, was fascinated with the idea of Socialism and Communism. Booker T Washington, on the other hand, was born in the South, and like so many others, had a Black mother and a White father. Thus being born half-white, his views and ideas were sometimes not in the best interest of his people.
During the late 19th and early 20th century, racial injustice was very prominent and even wildly accepted in the South. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois were two of the most renowned “pioneers in the [search] for African-American equality in America” (Washington, DuBois, and the Black Future). Washington was “born a slave” who highly believed in the concept of “separate but equal,” meaning that “we can be as [distant] as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress” (Washington 1042). DuBois was a victim of many “racial problems before his years as a student” and disagreed with Washington’s point of view, which led
Moore, Jacqueline M. Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, and the Struggle for Racial Uplift. Wilmington, Delaware: Scholarly Resources Inc., 2003
Booker T. Washington's legacy is a troubled one. Dubois was right to say, "When Mr. Washington apologizes for injustice, he does not rightly value the privilege and duty of voting, belittles the emasculating effects of caste distinctions, and opposes the higher training and ambition of our higher minds" (afro 1). But can we really fault Booker T. for being misguided and flat-out wrong? Washington is not the first successful, insufferable man in America who rose from abject poverty to a life of bourgeois comfort, who then assumed that everyone else could too, if only they did as he did. This is not sycophancy. This is a classic case of projection and denial: myopic projection of his own experience, and flagrant denial of the horrors of white supremacy. To accuse Booker T. Washington of complacency is an insult to a good man's efforts in working ceaselessly for the betterment of several million newly freed, unemployed, African American slaves, of which he was one. The post-Civil War problems facing the nation were intractable and myriad. This was uncharted territory. In his defense, Washington founded a college made of mortar and brick which still stands today that has educated celebrated alumni like Eli Whitney, Ralph Ellison, and Damon Wayans. He opened a much-needed dialogue between the black community and the ruling (racist) white class in America. He paved the road for better thinkers, like Dubois, who saw the danger in Booker T's faulty reasoning.
Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois were very important African American leaders in the United States during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They both felt strongly that African Americans should not be treated unequally in terms of education and civil rights. They had strong beliefs that education was important for the African American community and stressed that educating African Americans would lead them into obtaining government positions, possibly resulting in social change. Although Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois had similar goals to achieve racial equality in the United States, they had strongly opposing approaches in improving the lives of the black population. Washington was a conservative activist who felt that the subordination to white leaders was crucial for African Americans in becoming successful and gaining political power. On the other hand, Du Bois took a radical approach and voiced his opinion through public literature and protest, making it clear that racial discrimination and segregation were intolerable. The opposing ideas of these African American leaders are illustrated in Du Bois’ short story, “Of the Coming of John”, where Du Bois implies his opposition to Washington’s ideas. He shows that the subordination of educated black individuals does not result in gaining respect or equality from the white community. In fact, he suggests that subordination would lead the black community to be further oppressed by whites. However contrasting their views might have been, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois were significant influential black leaders of their time, who changed the role of the black community in America.
The United States after the Civil War was still not an entirely safe place for African-Americans, especially in the South. Many of the freedoms other Americans got to enjoy were still largely limited to African-Americans at the time. At the beginning of the 20th Century, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois emerged as black leaders. Their respective visions for African-American society were different however. This paper will argue that Du Bois’s vision for American, although more radical at the time, was essential in the rise of the African-American society and a precursor to the Civil Rights Movement.
During his lifetime, Booker T. Washington was a national leader for the betterment of African Americans in the post-Reconstruction South. He advocated for economic and industrial improvement of Blacks while accommodating Whites on voting rights and social equality. Washington traces his life from his being born a slave to an educator. His writings and speeches, though initially was very influential for his race, later in his life began to be challenged by the new generation of African Americans and died as he did in 1915 with him. In this autobiography of his life, Washington’s generalizations and accommodations of the treatment and disregard for the African American by people of the White race was nonchalant, as though he felt that for some reason it was okay or necessary for African Americans to be treated as second class.
Malcolm X and W.E.B. Du Bois both grew up in different era; however, they both equally felt the burden of racism and of “the color line”. They both experienced racism when they were young, during their life, and until their death; furthermore, they knew it would be challenging to change the mindsets of millions of white, but that didn’t stop them from trying. Malcolm X and W.E.B. Du bois realized the inequalities that burdened African Americans, and will be remembered for their life’s work and contributions.
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.
In 1903 black leader and intellectual W.E.B. Du Bois wrote an essay in his collection The Souls of Black Folk with the title “Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others.” Both Washington and Du Bois were leaders of the black community in the 19th and 20th century, even though they both wanted to see the same outcome for black Americans, they disagreed on strategies to help achieve black social and economic progress. History shows that W.E.B Du Bois was correct in racial equality would only be achieved through politics and higher education of the African American youth.
On February 23rd, 1863 W.E.B. Du Bois was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. He was the only child that Alfred and Mary Du Bois had. His parents got a divorce when he was a child, and he lived with his mother until she died in 1884. He was one of 50 black people amongst 5000 white people where he lived at with his mother. This caused him to have a troubled life at an early age. (United States History 1) When he was fifteen he started to work at The New York Globe in which he became a local correspondent person. (Crossman 1)
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.
The differences of their philosophies were clearly shown in their writings—Booker T. Washington’s “Up from slavery” and Du Bois’s “The Souls of Black Folk”. Before we analyze the similarities and differences of both of the leaders, we have to look at their early life experiences as it can be an important factor on how and where they get their inspiration for their philosophies. Booker T. Washington was an influential leader during his time and a philosopher that always addressed the philosophy of self-help, racial unity and accommodation. He had preached and urged all the black people to simply accept the discrimination that they got and asked them to work hard to gain material prosperity (Painter 169). In his
E. B. Du Bois indicated that the dominant influence that Booker T. Washington had on Blacks came at a time when there was less attention on the memories of war and more focus towards the idea of commercialism. Du Bois stated that Washington’s plan of industrial education was not original, that he simply added great enthusiasm as a way to gain an interest of the people. He recognized Washington’s achievements in the South as being the founder of Tuskegee Institute and the most notable achievement in favor of African Americans, his “Atlanta Compromise” speech. As a result, radicals accepted this as an act of surrender to Whites, and conservatives received this as a mutual understanding. Washington then gained attention in the North by grasping the concept that now dominated that area, which was maximizing profits and material