Comparing and Contrasting the Ideolodies of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois

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William Edward Burghard Du Bois and Booker Taliaferro Washington were both civil rights leaders of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Du Bois was born as a freeman in Massachusetts, he studied at Harvard University and became the first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard. . Washington was born as a slave in Virginia, he worked in the salt mines while attending school, and later attended the Hampton Institute to learn trade skills. Although Du bois and Washington had the same goal of achiving equality, they sharply disagreed on strategies concerning voting rights, social change, education, and the role of the black man in the South, Washington had a gradual approach as opposed to Du Bois who wanted immediate equality.
Du Bois and Washington differed greatly on voting rights. Du Bois was outraged at racial injustice and inequality. He demanded that African Americans be given the right to vote, equal rights, and more educational opportunities. . On the other hand, Washington agreed that African Americans needed to become economically independent and better their place in the world and gradually gain their rights. Washington also believed that that the literacy test should be given to all races equally as he stated in Up From Slavery, "whatever tests are required, they should be made to apply with equal and exact justice to both races." (Document 10) While Du Bois wanted immediate voting rights, Washington preferred that African Americans work to get their voting rights.
Du Bois and Washington's approaches towards social change differed greatly. Du Bois stated in The Negro Problem, "The Negro race, like all races, is going to be saved by its exceptional men...developing the best of this race that they may guide...

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...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.

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