Booker T Washington and W.E.B Dubois offered different strategies for dealing with the problems of poverty and discriminations faced by Black Americans at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th Centuries.
Using the documents and your knowledge of the period 1877-1915, assess the appropriateness of each of these strategies in the historical context in which each was developed.
Kaamilyah Sabir
In this time period, life was extremely hard for African Americans simply because they were slaves and even though they were emaciated in 1863 by the Emancipation Proclamation. They were still treated with such disrespect...to the point where they were considered not to be humans. They were instilled with so much fear that the thought
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Have African Americans complain to no end doing these times was not the best idea he had.. To agitate a race that already dislikes you and can careless if you are gone or not because they didn’t need your labor any more because immigrants was steadily coming to America looking for jobs. Also the lynching rate was extremely high during these times, according to Document C, the rates of lynching became progressively lower over time but still they were high and African Americans was constantly getting killed for no reason at all, what DuBois was asking would give them a reason now. His argument would have worked a couple years later...sometime in the future but not in the 18th and 19th Centuries.
Booker T. Washington on the other hand was thinking more realistically for his time. His plan consisted of African Americans sticking together, helping each other up the social and economic ladder in society. In Document D Booker T stated: “ ‘Cast down your bucket where you are.’ Cast it down among the eight million Negroes whose habits you know, whose fidelity and love you have tested in days when to have proved treacherous...” Here he is telling African Americans to stick together, be your brother support. Then later on he addresses the white people to cast their buckets on African Americans and trust them to work on their land to make money, to work in their
The debate between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Dubois turned out to be one of the greatest intellectual as well as inspiring battles in our United States history. This great debate sparked the interest of African Americans and whites throughout the entire country. Both men had distinct views on how blacks should go about progressing politically, socially, as well as financially here in the United States. Both Du Bois and Washington wanted African-Americans to have the same rights as white Americans; But Du Bois encouraged African-Americans to demand equal rights, while Washington, on the other hand, often ignored discrimination. He believed that it was important for blacks to develop
W. E. B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington were both highly intelligent African American men who wrote about the disparities between the lives of whites and blacks in the United States during the nineteenth and into the twentieth centuries. Each man saw the way in which his fellow African Americans were being treated by the white majority and used their intelligence and persuasive skills to bring attention to this very serious issue. Both men fought for equality through nonviolent protest and the application of logical argument and reasoning in order to better their lives and those of their social and ethnic brothers. Despite their shared goal of racial and sociological equality, the two men had very different ideas about how equality would be achieved and about what the African American community should or ought to expect in terms of actually obtaining that equality.
Both, W. E. B. Du Bois believed and Booker T. Washington was academic, black leaders, who represented the fight against the segregation but yet, both had different perspective of the future education of black Americans.
Furthermore, Booker T. Washington did not share strategies with Du Bois on one side, and the strategies of W. E. B. Du Bois did not share with Washington. Booker mostly focused on education and wanted African Americans to fight for what they’re worth, to work hard and become someone important in the community. On the other hand, Washington fought for equality. He wanted the White Americans to respect the blacks. His point view was that the community should be led by the most talented. Basically, he wanted blacks and
Two great leaders of the black community in the late 19th and 20th century were W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington. However, they sharply disagreed on strategies for black social and economic progress. Their opposing philosophies can be found in much of today's discussions over how to end class and racial injustice, what is the role of black leadership, and what do the 'haves' owe the 'have-nots' in the black community.
Although Booker T. Washington and WEB Dubois both share a handful of qualites, such as working to achieve social and economic equality for African Americans, their philosophies on how to do that were drastically different. Born into slavery, but freed after the Civil War, Washington believed that African Americans should work from the bottom up; he thought a gradual approach would be the best method to achieve social equality. He preached a philosophy of self-help and racial solidarity and urged African Americans to accept discrimination for the time being, while they worked to socially elevate themselves through means of material wealth and hard work. Washington believed that African Americans would achieve full social equality only after they proved their economic value in society. Therefore, he thought that African Americans should receive vocational training and founded the Tuskegee Normal and
W.E.B. DuBois was a very strong advocate for black people being treated equally to white people. He co-founded the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) Which was a very important part of the civil rights movement. The NAACP was “created to work for the abolition of segregation and discrimination in housing, education, employment, voting, and transportation; to oppose racism; and to ensure African Americans their constitutional rights”. He also created a book called “The Souls Of Black Folk” Which made him more popular, with the main Idea of the book being that the “central problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color line.” He was a man who fought for equality, where Booker T. Washington, on the other hand, did not. Booker T. Washington thought that black people should in fact have different rights then white people, and that instead of fighting it, black people should just accept it, and focus on economic self-improvement. He also believed that black people should not fight for equal rights, because it would lead to more anti-black violence, such as lynching which is the act of killing someone, most commonly by hanging, by mob action and without legal authority. By these facts you can tell that Washington and
W.E.B Du Bois and Booker T. Washington were two important African Americans back in their time they contribute towards the world to help the world become a better place not for just African Americans but for all people. Du Bois wrote a book called “Of Our Spiritual Strivings” and in this book, he talks about African Americans and how they can get freedom. Washington gave a speech called the “Atlanta compromise” and in this speech, he talks about how African Americans can better themselves by focusing on things other than social equality. Dubois and Washington both use rhetoric devise in their work to either persuade or put more power behind their point of view.
Two men with the same goals but different views on how they should be achieved is exactly how Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois’ controversy should be described as. Their debate revolved around the idea of abolishing slavery as well as paving the way for the modernized Civil Rights Act in America to take place. Washington and DuBois were born in the same time period with the same intentions, yet had different methods of approaching how to do them. Both of their ideas were focused on how America could be best improved for the future in political, social and educational ways. Booker T. Washington’s perspective and ideologies were better than DuBois’ for
Over 100 years ago W.E.B DuBois and Booker T. Washington began a debate over strategies for black social and economic progress, which is still prevalent today. Booker T. Washington believed that the role of education for African Americans should be an industrial one, where as W.E.B DuBois wanted African Americans to become engaged in a Liberal Arts education.
Booker T. Washington and W.E.B DuBois have been prominent figures of Black history since the beginning of their careers. Both men are known for attending to issues of their community, as well as leaving a permanent mark on the question as to how Blacks should achieve equality in America. Although both of them fought for a common cause, each of them approached the question differently. Washington endorsed a slow process of independence which focused more on economic issues while DuBois strived for a much broader spectrum of freedom, insisting on full civil rights in all areas. One could even say that their different points of view on the subject divided the Black community into two different camps. After reviewing the life and the work of both men one can come to the conclusion that W.E.B DuBois, although the more radical, and the less preferred of the two, made contributions far more significant to the advancement of Black people than Booker T.
Booker T. Washington’s approach on ending racism was very different then other’s at the time, but it was still extremely effective. Washington thought the best
Booker T. Washington was a very well respected man who also had many people that questioned his knowledge and beliefs. One of the most prominent men that questioned Washington was W.E.B. Du Bois. Du Bois believed differently than Washington and raised numerous questions about Washington’s achievements, but they both ultimately were striving for the same goal. They both wanted African Americans to be equals, and furthermore wanted a level playing field for all, regardless of their skin color. The problem was that they differed on the way to achieve this goal. Du Bois was critical of Washington in the way he handled the civil and political rights of African Americans, the way he stressed industrial revolution over higher education, and the time frame in which to accomplish this ultimate goal they both strove for. To understand all the differences between these two men, we must first look to how and where they were raised.
Booker T Washington and W.E.B Dubois are two African American leaders who took a different look at discrimination and segregation experienced by African-Americans. Booker T Washington wanted to take an approach to being discriminated against African Americans are going to have to learn how to put up with this. Washington took what he considered to be a more practical approach to these problems he emphasized discrimination and segregation for the time being. He also said that if African Americans would like to make more money than they need to do things that people need or want. Basically, he said African American people need to be or learn skilled trades to earn more money and improve their lives. Booker T Washington didn't want anybody else he just wanted African-American people to put up with discrimination. He wanted African Americans to cope with this. Booker T Washington also didn't challenge social segregation. He did not want to be a part of any violence so that's why he didn't challenge it because he knows that if he would have challenged the racist people then he probably would have got killed. He wanted black people to prove themselves to racist people. Black people would need to be able to do certain things that racist people can do but African
In the 19th century, many African Americans have faced great discrimination and suffering. During this time of racism, there were two main leaders that wanted to help resolve the issues. Their names were Booker T. Washington and William Edward Burghardt DuBois. These two men had different views regarding the method that would benefit African Americans within society. Since they did not support each other, this caused the African American community to split in half. While their methods may be different, both of these men agreed on the fact that it was time for a change in the treatment of African Americans.