W.E.B. DuBois was an educated civil rights activist who graduated from Harvard. He grew up in a neighborhood that was quite tolerant to blacks. By this happening, he did not experience racism till a later time in his when he was in the south of the United States. After graduating Harvard with a doctorate he became a cofounder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People or NAACP in 1909. After experiencing racism he argued that the black community could become equal to the white community by educating themselves to the point they were acknowledged. Booker T. Washington on the other hand had other ideas for blacks. Both were great segregation leaders that brought great change to the country. Booker T. Washington wanted opportunities for the blacks, but he did not want equality. On the other hand W.E.B. DuBois focused on the exact opposite of Washington. He believed that blacks should be considered equal to whites. With a high education and high intellectual that comes from reading and writing. He wanted blacks to advance to a point they would have no choice but to acknowledge them. DuBois asserted that economic security to achieve was not enough and that black should chase an education. By chasing a successful education blacks would achieve equality, acknowledgement, and economic security. (Moore) Comment: “I feel like Washington was right in his views of how blacks should act after being freed from slavery. In reality we are all still living in slavery and are living in the way that he described in his speech rather we realize it or not.” (Cunningham) My Response: The NAACP used peaceful protest methods such as marches, public speeches, and boycotts to achieve aspirations. This was also done by Martin Luther k... ... middle of paper ... ...ich was more realistic then a university school. Booker T. felt African American could benifit from learning and mastering a trade that would help in real life not just having book smarts and I agree. Of course times have changed and we still have vocational schools and university school. Students today in university attend to master a particular job, rather it be becoming a teacher, lawyer, doctor etc.... (Neuble) My response: It is true that Washington had a more realistic goal for the black community compared to the one DuBois had. It was not an easy task for a black person to attend college at the time, but desperate times call for desperate measures. By blacks going to college at the time it would show what they were capable of. Being at the top with the white community would leave them with no choice but to be accepted and recognized by them. (Gates and McKay)
Comparing W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington. W. E. B. -. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington had very different views about their culture and country. Du Bois, 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.
Washington was a prominent public figure from 1890 to 1915; many even considered him as a spokesman for the African American Community, especially after the Atlanta Compromise speech in 1895. In his speech, he asked white Americans to help blacks find employment and gain knowledge
Washington’s suggestion was one that the Negro race was familiar with. The southern and northern whites accepted his plan because it acknowledged the inferiority of the black race. The Negro "Okayed" it b...
“It should come as no surprise that Washington’s historical conflict culminated as a struggle between him and DuBois” (Gibson III 66). To say the least, both men were very active in the upbringing of African-Americans, but their differences in displaying out the solution was what brought them apart. Washington wanted the education system to enforce industrial teachings that started at lower economic power, while DuBois had more abstract ideas of equality and voting for African-Americans. Washington was conservative in the matter of African-American inclusion into society, hoping that given enough time and progress, people would learn to accept them, rather than fight for social power like what DuBois stood for. Despite Washington’s program that appealed to White-Americans, he was involved in politics and spoke about the disfranchisement of African-Americans. His idea of easing tensions with the superior gathered him more publicity, as to DuBois’s plan of protesting. As a result, DuBois’s idea became more prominent as it branches into what we know now as the civil rights movement. Historically, Washington and DuBois has made a name for themselves, through their intentions for the good will of African-Americans, and that is something that will always hold true in these two notorious
Education is an ideological mechanism African-Americans used to enhance their social standing in the United States soon after liberation. During the period of W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington, the sort of education explored by African- Americans was the focus of intense discussion. Washington was an enthusiastic supporter of industrial/vocational education while DuBois supported both higher and industrial education, but greatly emphasized on the higher education (Ogbu 23). A lot of people in the Black society accepted DuBois’s stand on higher education remained the better proposal because it was thought to uplift the community. They thought that Washington’s approach was inefficient and left the whole race exposed to violation by White Americans.
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.
Both Washington and DuBois wanted the same thing for blacks—first-class citizenship—but their methods for obtaining it differed. Because of the interest in immediate goals contained in Washington’s economic approach, whites did not realize that he anticipated the complete acceptance and integration of Negroes into American life. He believed blacks, starting with so little, would have to begin at the bottom and work up gradually to achieve positions of power and responsibility before they could demand equal citizenship—even if it meant temporarily assuming a position of inferiority. DuBois understood Washington’s program, but believed that it was not the solution to the “race problem.” Blacks should study the liberal arts, and have the same rights as white citizens. Blacks, DuBois believed, should not have to sacrifice their constitutional rights in order to achieve a status that was already guaranteed.
Du Bois, a towering black intellectual, scholar and political thinker (1868-1963) said no--Washington 's strategy would serve only to perpetuate white oppression. Du Bois advocated political action and a civil rights agenda (he helped found the NAACP). In addition, he argued that social change could be accomplished by developing the small group of college-educated blacks he called "the Talented Tenth:"
Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois, both early advocates of the civil rights movement, offered solutions to the discrimination experienced by black men and women in the nineteenth and twentieth century. Despite having that in common, the two men had polar approaches to that goal. Washington, a man condoning economic efficiency had a more gradual approach as opposed to Du Bois, whose course involved immediate and total equality both politically and economically. For the time period, Washington overall offers a more effective and appropriate proposition for the time whereas Du Bois's approach is precedent to movements in the future. Both have equal influence over African Americans in politics. Washington's proposal excels in reference to education while Du Bois can be noted for achieving true respect from white Americans.
...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.
After Reconstruction, Democratic lawmakers attempted to regain power for white supremacists that was lost when black Americans were enfranchised. Although these lawmakers used tactics such as Jim Crow laws and poll taxes to restrict the rights of black citizens, some black activists, like Washington, argued that social and political equality should not be priorities. DuBois countered this opinion in The Souls of Black Folk when he states, “[Washington] insists on thrift and self-respect, but at the same time counsels a silent submission to civic inferiority such as is bond to sap the manhood of any race in the long run,” (DuBois 1759). DuBois’ statement relates a lack of social and political equality to inferiority, and suggests that Washington’s belief in economic equality first will leave black citizens in the same inferior position they have been trying to escape from. DuBois goes on to write, “We have no right to sit silently by while the inevitable seeds are sown for a harvest of disaster to our children, black and white,” (DuBois 1761). This quotation represents the view that the lack of rights of black Americans will be detrimental to the future of equality, and suggests that the only path to sanctuary for all people, not just black citizens, is to establish complete equality for all
While trying to help make life easier for African Americans in the south, Washington also tried to ease the fears of the whites on blacks wanting to integrate socially. Even though Du Bois understood the importance of the speech, he felt Washington was asking’s blacks to give up pushing and wanting equality in education for their youth and civil rights, which he felt were the exact things that they needed to be trying to
Booker T. Washington was an African American leader who established an African-American college in 1181. Then in 1895 delivered the Atlanta Compromise Speech to an audience of mainly Southerners, but some Northerners were present. In his speech he made a few points. He said, “No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem.” Washington believed that the African American race needed to learn first that manual labor was just as important as the work of intellects. He thought that until they learned this they were not worthy of becoming intellects themselves. The color line is thus important in teaching them this lesson. He also said, “It is important and right that all privileges of the law be ours, but it is vastly more important that we be prepared for the exercise of these privileges.” His opinion was that one day blacks would deserve to have equal rights with the whites, but right now in 1895 the blacks needed to be...
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 was a young black male born into the shackles of Southern slavery. With the Union victory in the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, Washington’s family and blacks in the United States found hope in a new opportunity, freedom. Washington saw this freedom as an opportunity to pursue a practical education. Through perseverance and good fortunes, Washington was able to attain that education at Hampton National Institute. At Hampton, his experiences and beliefs in industrial education contributed to his successful foundation at the Tuskegee Institute. The institute went on to become the beacon of light for African American education in the South. Booker T. Washington was an influential voice in the African American community following the Civil War. In his autobiography, Up from Slavery, Washington outlines his personal accounts of his life, achievements, and struggles. In the autobiography, Washington fails to address the struggle of blacks during Reconstruction to escape the southern stigma of African Americans only being useful for labor. However, Washington argues that blacks should attain an industrial education that enables them to find employment through meeting the economic needs of the South, obtaining moral character and intelligence, and embracing practical labor. His arguments are supported through his personal accounts as a student at Hampton Institute and as an administrator at the Tuskegee Institute. Washington’s autobiography is a great source of insight into the black education debate following Reconstruction.