During the mid 19th and early 20th century, education was a contested topic among the Black community, which created a massive split between Black scholars. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois are mainly focused on in the debate about what type of education education should be taught to Blacks in order to raise their social mobility, but there is also a variety of different scholars that advocated for different forms of education. Education was contested among Black scholars because the Jim Crow system effected Blacks socially, economically, and politically, which made Black scholars believe that universal education was the solution to raising Black social mobility, but due to the various problems that Blacks faced it formed Black scholars’ …show more content…
Washington argued that an industrial education, “was not to teach them to work the old way, but to show them how to make the forces of nature air, water, steam, electricity, horse-power- assist them in their labour.” This demonstrates that Washington believed that the key of industrial education was to modernize the Black population by teaching them new skills that would allow Blacks to enter industrial jobs where they would be able to earn money and end the widespread poverty they faced. Washington’s theory of an industrial education exhibits that poverty was a problem in Black communities due to Jim Crow laws like …show more content…
In addition, Washington argued that Blacks that received liberal arts educations tried to live rich lives like elite Whites, but many only received “four dollars a week and wasted their money on buggies to convince people that they were rich, which led them into debt and poverty rather than saving and investing their money.” This demonstrates that Black scholars believed that a liberal arts education was useless as it did not suffice Black poverty because Blacks were unable to obtain a job. Washington’s argument demonstrates that even though industrial and liberal arts educational scholars believed that education was needed for Blacks they believed in separate forms of education because of the different problems Blacks faced from Jim Crow laws. Therefore, in the case of industrial advocates, they saw economic problems like poverty as the main concern in Black communities and believed that the solution was for Blacks to obtain an industrial education as it would provide them with
Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. DuBoise. 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 rests squarely on the shoulders of the black man.
Alridge, Derrick P. The Educational Thought of W.E.B. Du Bois: An Intellectual History. New York: Teachers College, 2008. Print.
... 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.
"The federal government and northern reformers of both races assisted this pursuit of education. …Given the eventual failure of Reconstruction, the gains that African-Americans made in their daily lives often proved the most enduring." --pg 460 Nortan
During the pre-Civil War America, the enslaved African American’s were not recommended to be taught any form of education such as reading or writing. Many of the white people believed that if the slaves were to learn how to read and write that they would then start to think for themselves and create plans of a rebellion. There was sure to be a rebellion if they were to be taught any form of education. To make sure that the African American slaves did not try to become educated they had harsh punishments for anyone that tried to learn how to read and to write. Education during the pre-African-American Civil Rights Movement was a lot different from how it was during pre-Civil War America. The African American’s had schools that they could attend, but they were separated from the white people. There schools were not located in spots as pleasant as the schools that the white people attended. The African American’s did not have the same quantity and quality supplies as the white schools. Examples of how the African American’s did not receive the same type of tools to help with their education was shown in A Lesson Before Dying. The African American’s had books that had pages missing and that were falling apart, limited amount of chalk, pencils, paper, and other learning utensils while the schools that the white people attended had more than enough supplies and new books
In 1881, I founded and became principal of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute. I started this school in an old abandoned church and a shanty. The school's name was later changed to Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University). The school taught specific trades, such as carpentry, farming, and mechanics, and trained teachers. As it expanded, I spent much of his time raising funds. Under Washington's leadership, the institute became famous as a model of industrial education. The Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site, established in 1974, includes Washington's home, student-made college buildings, and the George Washington Carver Museum.
Beginning in the 1890’s Jim Crow laws or also known as the color-line was put into effect in the Southern states. These laws restricted the rights of blacks and segregation from the white population. These laws were put into effect as partially a result of the reaction of the whites to blacks not submitting to segregation of railroads, streetcars, and other public facilities. African Americans Ids B. Wells, Booker T. Washington, and W.E.B Dubois had differing opinions on the color-line. Wells and Dubois felt the color-line created prejudice toward blacks and that the black population could not become equal with the whites under such conditions. On the other hand, Booker T. Washington thought the laws were a good compromise between the parties at the time.
Washington wanted to ensure the white race that education of colored individuals would not lead to a decrease in domestic services, as this was one of the main fears presented throughout. The beginning of the Institute started with only Washington as the teacher, and thirty students (Washington 58). While the Tuskegee Institute did an excellent job in developing students minds and reading abilities, Washington wanted to also teach his students practical life skills. Understanding that his students came from homes with little opportunities, Washington made it a priority to teach students how to care for their themselves. Students were taught how to bathe, care for their teeth, wash their clothing, and even what to eat and how to eat properly (Washington 61). Along with these basic skills, students were taught in a way so they could both become teachers and return to the plantation districts (Washington 61). Rather than simply studying books, students engaged in labor and physically saw what it meant to pave one’s own way. Washington wanted to implement a set of agricultural skills that would allow students to gain a new set of ideas and energy that could improve the industry. Soon after Washington found a new location to move his growing school, students were in charge of completing all the chores needed to successfully move to the farm. While
Booker T. Washington was the first African American whose likeness appeared on a United States postage stamp. Washington also was thus honored a quarter century after his death. In 1946 he also became the first black with his image on a coin, a 50-cent piece. The Tuskegee Institute, which Washington started at the age of 25, was the where the 10-cent stamps first were available. The educator's monument on its campus shows him lifting a symbolic veil from the head of a freed slave.
Booker T. Washington Booker T. Washington was a great leader. He was all for helping the black community become stronger. His goal was very hard to achieve considering the period in which he lived. America, during Washington's time under reconstruction. The Civil War was over and blacks were, by law, equal to any other human being.
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.
Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. African Americans are fortunate to have leaders who have fought for a difference in Black America. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X are two powerful men in particular who brought hope to blacks in the United States. Both preached the same message about Blacks having power and strength in the midst of all the hatred that surrounded them. Even though they shared the same dream of equality for their people, the tactics they implied to make these dreams a reality were very different. The background, environment and philosophy of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X were largely responsible for the distinctly varying responses to American racism.
W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington were two very influential leaders in the black community during the late 19th century, early 20th century. However, they both had different views on improvement of social and economic standing for blacks. Booker T. Washington, an ex-slave, put into practice his educational ideas at Tuskegee, which opened in 1881. Washington stressed patience, manual training, and hard work. He believed that blacks should go to school, learn skills, and work their way up the ladder. Washington also urged blacks to accept racial discrimination for the time being, and once they worked their way up, they would gain the respect of whites and be fully accepted as citizens. W.E.B. Du Bois on the other hand, wanted a more aggressive strategy. He studied at Fisk University in Tennessee and the University of Berlin before he went on to study at Harvard. He then took a low paying research job at the University of Pennsylvania, using a new discipline of sociology which emphasized factual observation in the field to study the condition of blacks. The first study of the effect of urban life on blacks, it cited a wealth of statistics, all suggesting that crime in the ward stemmed not from inborn degeneracy but from the environment in which blacks lived. Change the environment, and people would change too; education was a good way to go about it. The different strategies offered by W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington in dealing with the problems of poverty and discrimination faced by Black Americans were education, developing economic skills, and insisting on things continually such as the right to vote. ...
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
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