W.E.B. DuBois vs. Booker T. Washington´s Ideas on Civil Rights

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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)

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