Growing up as an African American in a white world in the late 1800’s was incredibly ruthless. Even after slavery, blacks had a hard time trying to get work, education or civil rights. Education was a major topic in debate for blacks and whites. Education, the most important thing in life, acts as the key to a person 's future. Education leads to knowledge, and knowledge leads to power. It teaches humans how to prosper and make good decisions. With a good education, people hold the ability to achieve all types of goals, and more doors will open for them. African-Americans held every right to obtain this basic human right. White and blacks took on many different paths with education and W.E.B. Du Bois tell a short story about it all. “Of the Coming of John” is the best example to show how whites and blacks took on their education pursuits. They each have journeys with different outcomes. There are two different Johns described in this story, a black John and a white John. The black John listens to everything his mother says, his mother wanted to send him off to school but people said it would ruin him. The white John was privileged: with a father as a judge he enrolled into Princeton. The black John however attended an unknown school with very little money. The black John went through a lot of difficulties during school. His behavior went downhill because he could not keep up with his work, almost having to leave for the remainder of the semester. John then decided he would
In America, we are told that it is the land where everything and anything is possible. For many years, it wasn’t like that for African American. With many hard work, strength, and courage African American manage to earn the right to an education. To the African American community education became more of a need than a want. We’ve learn that education is such a powerful asset that with it you are unstoppable. You can do so much if you put your time and energy to it. Having an education to African American is the one hope for a brighter and better
DuBois and Malcolm differ in their essentials pertaining to the “reeducation” of African Americans. DuBois argues traditional education as essential because it provides people of color a voice with which to protest and is the key to ultimately gaining success. He argues education will help lead racial progress in America, and he proves this by presenting statistical data on the career trajectory of black men who have received higher education.
This book, written by James Anderson, discusses the broad theme of the education of black people in the South from 1860 to 1935, which spans from the Reconstruction period following the Civil War to the Great Depression. Anderson looks at black education from a cultural, political, and economical perspective. One of the main points that this book discusses is the differing views of different groups when discussions about the education of black people first began. He discusses the original plans to create an educational system that would further develop emancipation for the black students, and how that did not actually end up occurring. Students were eventually forced into schools that were seen as suppressing black people, and eventually led
During the 19th and 20th century African Americans faced Discrimination in the United States. Three African Americans took roles of leadership and began trying to uplift the lives of blacks in society. Those who took control of this movement were Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey and W.E.B Dubois. These activists wanted the same result and implemented different techniques to follow their similar hopes for blacks in America. Each of these leaders has allowed America to develop in extensive ways for several years and those yet to come. Alternate pathways were taken by each leader to resolve the overall issue of racism. These issues include things such as not having the right to vote,own property and prevent lynchings. This paper will argue that had Garvey's theory of the new negro and Dubois’ ideas of education been implemented, racism in America would have been reduced because the allocation of education would allow for their to become a new negro. The application of Marcus Garvey's theory including thoughts of W.E.B Dubois’ on racism would have brought white power to an end.
The struggle for equality and the battle to have one’s suppressed voice be heard is prevalent throughout the history of the United States. The Native Americans, women, and even Catholics have all encountered discrimination and belittlement in one shape or form, which eventually urged individuals within those groups to rise up and demand equal opportunity. As the United States began to shift away from slavery, one of the most deep rooted, controversial dilemmas aroused- what do black people need to do in order to gain civil rights both economically and socially? Booker T. Washington’s “Atlanta Exposition Address” and W.E.B. Du Bois's “The Soul of Black Folks” were pieces of writings influenced by the puzzle that black people were left to solve. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois had contrasting ideas, but they both contributed a piece to the puzzle in hopes of solving the never ending mind game.
Education was not readily available for Southern blacks as it was for whites, and Du Bois took notice. In an effort to teach, he was taken aback by “how faithfully, how piteously, this people strove to learn.” (Du Bois, 12) While most African Americans devoted themselves to learning, the information was not presented in an understandable way, and most struggled to even make an advance in basic courses. Du Bois commented that education was a freedom denied to none, and the aggressive pursuit of a higher education was the way of crossing the threshold into equality. In a similar matter, Booker T. Washington praised the school house as a place with equal deliverance as heaven itself. His point of view came through the looking-glass of slavery, being raised a slave himself. As a child, when he carried his mistress’ books to her schoolhouse, he felt that “to get into a schoolhouse and study in this way would be about the same as getting into paradise.”(Washington, 3) Washington,
The school system in the country districts of the South is a disgrace and in few towns and cities are Negro schools what ought to be...and...when we call for education we mean real education,” he effectively made his audience view the logic in his claim about racial equality with a specific emphasis on the education of adults and more specifically children (DuBois 2). Mr. DuBois, being the well-educated man that he was, understood that by presenting his claim of educational importance in a logically and sound way, his audience would be exponentially more likely to agree with his view and act on his cause, which is exactly what transpired after his speech. In Mr. Washington’s attempt to persuade his audience in favor of educating the African American population, he chose to appeal to his perverse audience 's sense of desire and ambition. He stated that by “casting down [their] bucket among many people, helping and encouraging them as [they] are doing on these grounds, and to education of head, hand, and heart, [they] will find that [African Americans] will buy [their] surplus land, make blossom the waste of places in [their] fields, and run [their] factories” (Washington 2). In stating his claim the way he did, he hoped that his audience, which was comprised primarily of white, land-owning southerners, would realize the possible economic benefits that would result from educating the black population, and that their innate desire for material wealth would drive them to
W.E.B Du Bois presents his experience of teaching at a school in the hills of Tennessee in his article Of the Meaning of Progress from a first-hand perspective. The vivid characterizations and descriptions about the students he taught, the environment he was in, and the image of the hill when he visited back many years after his teaching made this story touching and impressive. In Of the Meaning of Progress, Du Bois uses narrative to convey the injustice and the hardship African Americans had to suffered behind the illusion presented by the world of progress, motivating and advocating people to understand their situations and take actions to make the real progress that can bring equality. Narrative allows Du Bois to draw a lively image about
Thesis Statement: In “The Atlantic Exposition Address” by Booker T. Washington and “Of Mr. Book T. Washington and Others” by W. E. B. Du Bois three points of contention are civil rights, political rights and higher education.
The turn-of-the-century W.E.B Du Bois wrote his seminal text The Souls of Black Folk in response to what was then called the 'Negro Problem.' The 'Negro Problem' was the question of whether African-Americans should be treated as equal within the firmament of American society and whether integration or separate but equal were more viable doctrines. Du Bois wrote against such advocates of acceptance like Booker T. Washington, and instead demanded parity for his people in terms of opportunities. In the first essay of Du Bois' book entitled "Our Spiritual Strivings," Du Bois writes of his frustrations as a young, African-American child who was intelligent and thoughtful yet all too well aware of how his race would limit his ability to pursue his studies although he
Including the right to vote, Du Bois also hoped that his people would one day be able to achieve equality in education. To Du Bois “education [was] the development of power and ideal” (Niagara Movement 2). If African Americans could not reach this they would never be seen in the eyes of the whites as equal. He wanted his people to been seen as bright and capable. He refused the idea that little black boys and girls should be trained as nothing more than servants. African Americans deserved to get a real education yes, “[they were] workers, but work [was] not necessarily education” (Niagara Movement 2). To Du Bois education meant more than having the skill to work as a laborer it meant his race would have a brighter future ahead of them. They could take what they had learned in school and with it would be able to gain jobs, and a relatively satisfying living, they would be seen as more alike to the whites, they after all had the “right to know, to think, to aspire” (Niagara Movement 2). Without an education blacks were merely playing into the stereotype they had been cast. An education could change this they would no longer be seen as criminals. As Du Bois points out that out of
W.E.B. Du Bois is considered one of the top five people of the twentieth century. He is an intellectual, who is admired by both his supporters and adversaries. Du Bois, in his essay, tells his audience that he is not only a genius among blacks, but he is also a revered scholar of humankind. He is well educated among prestigious universities such as Fisk, Harvard, and Heidelberg, and is the first African American to earn a Ph.D. degree from Harvard University. Mr. Du Bois is not a meager intellectual, whose intelligence is measured by the capacity of his knowledge, but he also uses his knowledge to fight for the equality of his people. Among the different identities of Du Bois, he is also the founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). As a reader, one interprets that Du Bois' essay is an authentic narration of the life of African Americans. Du Bois uses context from his point of view as a free man; therefore, his words are less biased than his counterparts. He allows the readers to freely establish their own perspective on the problem of the color people by giving them the chance to see the lives of African Americans before the Civil War through Reconstruction. Du Bois also uses historical references, case studies, and personal storytelling examples to define the problem of the people of African heritage in the United States. The first chapters of The Souls of Black Folk contain historically relevant material,
Racial discrimination, political, social and economic inequality during the late 19th century and early 20th century led various leaders within the black community to rise up and address the appalling circumstances that African Americans were forced to endure. Among these leaders were Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois whom possessed analogous desires as it pertained to the advancement and upliftment of the black race. While both individuals were fighting for the same cause and purpose they embraced contrary ideologies and approaches to African American struggle. In Booker T. Washington’s book “Up from Slavery” African Americans were encouraged to be passive and focus on vocational education whereas in W.E.B. DuBois book “The Souls of Black Folk”, African Americans were encouraged to fight for their merited rights and focus on academic education. However, although Washington was convinced that his ideologies would sincerely uplift the black race, they actually proved to be detrimental, leaving DuBois ideology to be the most reasonable and appropriate solution for the advancement of the black race.
For generations African Americans have been disadvantaged in America and effects of these injustices have made a lasting impression. Education is one of the leading problems in the black community. Though there have many reforms in education over the years, racial injustices still exist because no attention in placed on how legislature affects people of color. I was raised in a middle-class family of educators. My entire life I’ve been told to “stay in school, get an education, and work hard so that you can beat the system.” Recognizing the structural forces in my life has helped me understand my place in society. Being able to “understand everyday life, not through personal circumstances but through the broader historical forces that
DuBois stresses the importance of education amongst the black race. He believes that African Americans should be educated in order to guide and