After reading about both Washington and Du Bois, I found out just how different the both of them were and how much their opinions differed from one another. First, Booker T. Washington’s argument was about working now and worry later. He was an educator and no one devoted more time towards race relations in America than he did (Levine 447). He was an influential black leader during his time. He delivered a speech that is known as the “Atlanta Compromise” and it was about the significance of self-help and racial uniformity (447). He pushed the blacks to not let the discrimination bother them and focus on bettering themselves through hard work. “His writings argue that success should be measured not so much by the position a person has reached as by the obstacles overcome while trying to succeed” (448). Washington believed in education, mechanical and farming skills, and economics. Agriculture was Washington’s most important theory that he proposed. He believed in the virtues of patience, …show more content…
Dubois’s argument was about not waiting for freedom and how the blacks needed to fight for their freedom. He was an intelligent black man, who also was a political thinker (531). He encouraged political action and help find the NAACP (532). In Du Bois’ “The Souls of Black Folks, he criticized Washington and his approach and went on to demand full civil rights for blacks. His protest for civil rights led into the Civil Rights movement in the 1950’s. He also argued that a social change would occur when he developed the small group of college-educated blacks (531). In contrast to Washington, Du Bois felt that education and civil rights were the only way to equality and if they didn’t reinforce this, it would keep the blacks as second-class citizens. Du Bois disagreed with many of Washington’s opinions but even though he disagreed with him, he still had respect for Washington and saw him as one of the first black individuals who attempted to help the black race
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.
W.E.B Du Bois had a very prominent role, when it came to changing the lives African American people in the United States. He had many positions; he was a writer, an editor, a historian, a civil right activist, and the father of sociology. African Americans in the United States would not have the advantages and privileges they have today, if it wasn’t for the works of Du Bois. He constantly fought for the rights of African Americans. Du Bois used his incredible mind, to change the lives of many people. He not only changed people lives, he changed the country as a whole.
While DuBois respected Booker T. Washington and his accomplishments, he did not. felt that blacks needed political power to protect what they had and what they earned. DuBois called for a new plan of action. He felt that the The greatest enemy of blacks was not necessarily whites but it was the ignorance of the whites concerning the capabilities of the black race. DuBois's answer was to encourage the development of black youth in America.
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.
Du Bois, was the competing ideology at the time. Du Bois rose to prominence and became a great African-American leader in his own right around the time Washington was at his peak. Du Bois respected Washington but largely disagreed with his vision of black society and progression. Du Bois was a leader in several radical (at the time) organizations such as the Conference of Negro Problems and the Niagara Movement. (Lecture 9/27). With a background steeped in education, Du Bois also has a significantly different up-bringing than Washington. In part, this may explain some of the differences in their ideologies. In his book, The Souls of Black Folk, Du Bois addresses Washington and his vision directly. Although Du Bois recognizes Washington’s successes and the caution in which Washington has had to employ in the South, Du Bois is still critical of him. “But aside from this, there is among educated and thoughtful colored men in all parts of the land a feeling of deep regret, sorrow, and apprehension at the wide currency and ascendency which some of Mr. Washington’s theories have gained.” (Du Bois, Souls of Black Folk, pg.36). Washington’s Atlanta Compromise received acclaim but the submissive tone and ideology is what Du Bois is critical of. This quote expresses the emotions felt by not just Du Bois but other educated black men and women throughout the country realizing the errors made in the speech. The acclaim the speech received is also an issue here
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. 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.
Women should not have the chance for an academic education. They should be trained to cook, clean, and take care of children. What better way would a woman help society? Would she help her neighbor more by teaching them mathematics they will never use or by helping their neighbor raise children? This is similar to what Booker T. Washington claimed about African Americans. He stated that the African Americans should attend vocational schools rather than receive an academic education so they could better further social change. W.E.B DuBois had a different approach to further social change by stating that some African Americans should go to academic schools, while others had trades, and some were considered fools who cannot learn. I believe that all children have the ability to learn whether they are black, brown, honeysuckle, or blue. Children all learn in different ways and in order to teach all children we must discover what way each child learns best. John and Evelyn Dewey demonstrate learn by doing and say that is the best approach to learning. I believe they are correct in some aspects. I will attempt to explain my philosophy on the best way to teach all children regardless of race or gender.
Considering the time, I would have been a Du Bois supporter. Washington’s passive patient approach wouldn’t have satisfied me. Blacks had been oppressed for quite some time and wanted to see change immediately. I’m sure the last thing they wanted to hear was that they should continue doing manual labor, being submissive to Whites, and wait for change. However, Washington was very clever in his “Atlanta Compromise” speech to compare the thirsty sailors in the tale of a lost ship to Blacks as a way of persuading them to better their conditions. Quite the opposite, Du Bois’s character and approach was more in line with my personality. I am a person who likes to see quick results or at least some signs of change along the way to completing my goal. Again, Blacks had been patient long enough. It was time to fight back, and the way to do it was through higher education and the demand for equal rights. Du Bois said it best, “The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color
Washington, W.E.B. DuBois believed that black people should be fighting for equality on all levels, not just economically. DuBois was a formally educated black man that was from a Northern family of free black people that had a history of formal education. DuBois wished to directly address the divide between the black and American identities, “He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American, without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of Opportunity closed roughly in his face” (695). DuBois wished to see his fellow black man in positions of authority so that there would be equal opportunity for everyone despite their race. Washington and DuBois were in direct contact with one another and would often criticize one another. Economic equality was a talking point for both writers; however, DuBois would not place as great of importance on money as Washington. “To be a poor man is hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is the very bottom of hardships. He felt the weight of his ignorance,—not simply of letters, but of life, of business, of the humanities; the accumulated sloth and shirking and awkwardness of decades and centuries shackled his hands and feet” (DuBois
To understand the viewpoint of W.E.B Dubois and his argument for having a well-educated African American population, his own background and life experience of the struggle to be African and American must be considered. DuBois is born in the north in Massachusetts where the so-called Negro problem paralyzing the
Like Washington, Dubois agreed that “blacks” needed to become economically independent and find civil equality. However, W.E.B Dubois was offended at racial injustice and inequality. Du Bois understood Washington’s program, but believed this wasn’t the solution Unlike Washington, he demanded that African Americans should immediately have the right to vote, equal rights, and be granted equal educational opportunities. WEB Dubois wanted educational reform in a way that fulfilled requirements for African American students. WEB Du Bois declared African American demands through his “Declaration of the Principles of the Niagara Movement,” in which he demanded social equality.
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
Dubois expressed his view that full enfranchisement, civic equality, and education were the appropriate techniques for the advancement of African-Americans, instead of the previously described methods of Mr. Washington, in the following excerpt from his speech “Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others.” “They do not expect that the free right to vote, to enjoy civic rights, and to be educated, will come in a moment. They do not expect to see the bias and prejudices of years disappear at the blast of a trumpet; but they are absolutely certain that the way for a people to gain their reasonable rights is not by voluntarily throwing them away and insisting that they do not want them; that the way for a people to gain respect is not by continually belittling and ridiculing themselves. That, on the contrary, Negroes must insist continually, in season and out of season, that voting is necessary to modern manhood, that color discrimination is barbarism, and that black boys need education as well as white boys.” Through this passage, Dubois asserted his belief that the appropriate way to ensure racial equality is by way of insisting on education, and enfranchisement being available to all races. Dubois also discredited the attitude Washington had about his fellow African-Americans which was that they believed they could receive full equality quickly through artificial forcing instead of fighting to “earn” rights and privileges over the long
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.