How the differences between our early civil rights leaders affected the way we live
today
The United States of America, home of the brave and land of the free right? Maybe for some this may be true but for the person of color, it has never been that simple. Slavery has been used by all societies in all regions for millennia but this is the first time in human history when it got racial. I bring up slavery because it is, if not the biggest, one of the biggest reasons why people are so biased toward people of African descent. I believe this is because when slaves were brought to the the United States, the people who were ripping them from their homes had no regard and or knowledge of their culture or their customs and traditions and this is
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what made it so easy for everyone to dehumanize them. Africans were seen as nothing but property that you could use and abuse to your desire. All of this abuse and degradation paved the way to racial bias that is still so prevalent in today's society. Many have devoted their lives to this cause and may have even died for it and while we have gotten somewhere in our society, we still have a long way to go. There have been many to fight for equality in our country such as Martin Luther King Jr.
and Malcolm X to name a couple. Some people who are lesser known but had a huge impact on the civil rights movement would be Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois. Booker T Washington was an American Scholar, educator and author who was born into slavery and played an active part in the early civil rights movement. He took a more passive approach to protesting things such as the Jim Crow laws. In 1895 Booker T gave the speech “Atlanta compromise” this was the speech that brought him national fame. In this W.E.B Du Bois was a sociologist, historian, and Pan-Africanist. W.E.B believed in taking direct but peaceful action to tackle the issue of racism. For example, W.E.B was a cofounder of the NAACP in 1909, he wrote several essays and books on the matter of racism as …show more content…
well. Booker T and W.E.B were very different in their approaches to fighting racism and inequality but they both had a similar end goal.
Booker T made his beliefs known in the speech he gave in 1895 called “atlanta compromise” where he said that the southern black person should succumb to white southern standards as in not asking for the right to vote, they would not fight against racist acts, segregation or discrimination. In return to being so obedient to the white man, Booker T says that education would be free but basic. Education would only be vocational or training for industrial skills such as being a teacher or a nurse and college education in things such as humanities, arts, or literature would be outlawed. Booker T says that he will complain,one as long as things such as the due process laws would be applied to the people in the African American community. W.E.B, however, demanded that black people received complete civil rights and more political representation. He firmly protested against lynching, Jim Crow laws, and general discrimination toward people of color. He wrote some very influential books a one being a book of essays called the souls of the black folk. In this book there is one particular essay where he goes over the main basis of his book, that the black person should not stay quiet, they should have the right to speak up about their opinions in the form of having the right to vote, political representation and in proper
education. Booker T. and W.E.B are very much different win their political views but in their main goal, they are very much the same. Both Booker T and W.E.B want for the African American individual to have basic human rights. While Booker T doesn't believe that fighting against the majority is the right way to go, he still demands that African American people deserve the right to some form of education in order to live a good productive life and provide for your family. W.E.B believes that African Americans should protest when something discriminatory is done towards them and that African Americans deserve to have every right that a white person has. Both of these men are fundamentally correct, everyone deserves to have some form of educational equality. The men I have talked about here have both done more than any prof us might have done if we were a person of color in this time period and we faced as many dangers as both of these men did. Everything g that they have said, done, and written has helped us be where we are today and for this i am forever grateful. Many have devoted their lives to the cause of civil rights and may have even died for it and while we have gotten very far in our society, we still have a long way to go.
Dr. Maulana Karenga was a black civil rights activist. He studied at Las Angeles community college and became active in the civil right movement shortly after. He created the African-American holiday of Kwanzaa. He was a very smart man, he earned two doctoral degrees and authored several books on African studies. He looked up to many famous civil rights activists of his time including W.E.B. DuBois and Martin Luther King Jr.
Throughout the course of American history, there have been many historical figures who have been responsible for, or were a part of the gradual change of our nation. In the early to mid 1900's, the United States was racially segregated, and African Americans were looked at as second class citizens. In the mid-1900's, a time period which is now known as the Civil Rights Movement, there were a number of different people who helped lead the charge to desegregate the United States. Some of the historical figures, who's names are synonymous with the Civil Rights Movement, include political activist Martin Luther King, NAACP officer Medgar Evers, Baptist minister Malcolm X, and normal citizen Rosa Parks. All of these people were a very large part of the Civil Rights Movement and attempted to recognize African Americans as equals to Whites.
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.
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.
The United States will forever have a bad rep for what happened to those who were once enslaved in this country. The two sides of this controversy, being Pro Slavery and the Abolitionists, set one of the main splits in this country that was supposedly a place for anyone to have “freedom”. What started this affair was the overall reality that African Americans were represented as unusually different, there were many reasons for the white man to justify slavery, and what became the practice of being racial prejudice. The ideas behind what the Pro Slavery activists believed versus the Abolitionists, each to their own, have an attitude towards what they thought was right and wrong for the well being of their country, but
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...
The Similarities and Differences of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois’s Views 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
Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois were both pioneers in striving to obtain equality for blacks, yet their ways of achieving this equality were completely different. W.E.B. Du Bois is the more celebrated figure today since he had the better method because it didn’t give the whites any power, and his method was intended to achieve a more noble goal than Washington’s. Booker T. Washington was born into slavery on a plantation in Franklin County, Virginia. Like many slaves at that time, historians are not sure of the exact place or date of his birth (Washington, Up From Slavery 7). Washington had absolutely no schooling while he was a slave; he received all his education after he was set free.... ...
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 resting squarely on the shoulders of the black man. Eventually they would earn the respect and love of the white man, and civil and political rights would be accrued as a matter of course. This was a very non-threatening and popular idea with a lot of whites.
...to be equally educated. His speeches not only attracted the black people but also, northern and southern white people. Booker worked hard for all that he achieved during his life time. People all over were followers of Booker T. Washington. One example of how much these followers appreciated Washington is through raising money for a trip to Europe. Not just anyone went to Europe in those days. The trip showed how much the people appreciated Booker’s efforts for civil rights and education of blacks. They sent
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.
My name is Winifred Thompson, and I’m writing to you to tell you my viewpoint on a former citizen who deserved a national holiday. This citizen has done great things to serve the United state, and he has influenced a lot of change for the African American population. His name was Booker T. Washington and just like other great leaders such as Martin Luther King, he deserves to be honored. Booker T. Washington was one of the former African-American leaders of the early 20th centuries, who founded the Tuskegee University. Booker T. Washington was born in Virginia to a slave on April 5, 1856, Booker T. Washington had lived a difficult life. His mother was a slave and worked as a cook for a plantation owner and that made Booker T. Washington a
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.
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 was under reconstruction. The Civil War was over and blacks were, by law, equal to any other human being. Slavery was abolished and many southerners had a problem with that. To many whites, black people didn't deserve and weren't intellectually "ready" for such freedoms. The South had such a hard time accepting it that Union troops were stationed in southern states who couldn't cooperate. Booker T. Washington is a prime example to southerners who think that blacks can amount to nothing. In my paper I will talk to you about the many accomplishments he has made and the hardships that were attached to his achievements. As always a lot of people tried to pull Booker down. Some were even of the same race as Mr. Washington. But along the way a lot people helped Booker. People who he helped, his family, his community, and others who felt he was just a really great guy.
The Civil Rights Movement is one of the most important events of the history of the United States. Although many people contributed to this movement, Martin Luther King, Jr., is widely regarded as the leader of the movement for racial equality. Growing up in the Deep South, King saw the injustices of segregation first hand. King’s studies of Mahatma Ghandi teachings influenced his views on effective ways of protesting and achieving equality. Martin Luther King’s view on nonviolence and equality and his enormous effect on the citizens of America makes him the most influential person of the twentieth century.