After the reconstruction of the South had failed, the first civil rights movement began. The two most notable names from this movement were Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois. These two men had extremely different up brings, came from different sides of the country, but each wanted to bring about equality for blacks although they opposing ideas of how to bring it about. Washington wanted Blacks to work for it, proving they deserved it and earning equality slowly. Meanwhile, Du Bois wanted Blacks to be more aggressive and to fight for their rights.
Being a more conservative society at the time, Booker T. Washington’s methods were widely accepted as the correct means. Being the more radical of the two, William Edward Burghardt DuBois was often ignored and considered a dreamer by many. Yet in today’s modern society, DuBois methods would be considered politically correct and relevant to the cause.
Booker T. Washington was born a slave and worked as a janitor to get through school. Whereas W.E.B. Du Bois was born in the North and faced very little discrimination, and had an easier time getting into College. They were well educated, and the only difference between them was how they were raised in different environments. Both were on the journey to improve African American’s social and political status in America. However, they had different methods for getting what they wanted.
Sit Down or Stand up? I find it interesting how two people striving to achieve the same goal could have such different ways in which they plan to do so. In this case, they were polar opposites from each other. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. du bois both wanted equality of all races but their methods of how they were going to do that were very different. Booker T. and W.E.B. were both african american men that lived in a time period where african american people were discriminated against.
Their methods were almost the opposite of each other, but still the same goal. W.E.B. DuBois was going for the big splash and the big change all at once. That would be a very large change in what the culture was before and most people would not like the big changes all at once. DuBois did not care about the repercussions, he wanted drastic change. Booker T. Washington looked more at the big picture of how people were going to react and how we could make the change as gradual as possible.
Washington was born into slavery with a slave mother and a white father. Washington worked in a salt mine and as a domestic for a white family and eventually attended the Hampton Institute, one of the first all-black schools in America. Washington’s early life and education undoubtedly had a monumental impact on his views and ways of thinking. Washington believed that African Americans needed education,job skills,and an economic base more than an immediate end to segregation. Washington believed that economic independence and the ability to show that African Americans are a productive part of society it would lead to equality.
The late 19th to early 20th century was a time of differing ideologies when it came to African American advancement in the United States. On the one hand, there was the idea of self-help and economic progress that led to encouragements of black people uniting to help themselves and allowing their businesses to grow. Through this method, they would earn respect from whites and rid themselves of the prejudices that restricted and segregated them. These ideas were preached by many, but a prominent figure and spokesperson for the philosophy of accommodation was Booker T. Washington. On the contrary, there were also people who viewed expressing discontent and taking political action as the ideal way to attain rights.
Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois are two of the earliest and most well-known African-American reformers of the late 19th and early to mid-20th centuries. They both wanted African-Americans to be seen as equals to whites but had very different ideals and ways on how African-American should go about doing it. This paper will talk about each of their ideas and which one might have been better. Booker Taliaferro Washington was born April 5, 1956 as a slave in Virginia. When he was nine years old, he and his family were freed from slavery after the 13th Amendment and moved to West Virginia.
Two Great Men “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. ”- Thomas a. Edison Frederick Douglas and Booker T. Washington were both amazing civil rights activists. Frederick Douglas was a runaway slave who worked to end slavery.
Thesis statement: The two great leaders in the black community debating about the issues that face the Negro race and Du Bois gave a compelling argument by using pathos, logos and ethos to create an essay that will appear to all readers. Outline: This essay will showcase the contradicting philosophies between W.E.B Du Bois and Booker T. Washington. Also, paying close attention to the different types of leadership between the two historic leaders in the black community. Both W.E.B Du Bois and Booker T. Washington contributed to and helped shape the future of African Americans.
Achieving African American Equality Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois were two of the most influential advocates for African American equality during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (Blatty, 1). Although both men ultimately had the same goal, their methods for achieving African American equality were remarkably different. To begin, the men had conflicting ideas about what constituted as African American equality. Booker T. Washington argued that the accumulation of wealth and the ability to prove that Blacks were productive members of society would be the mark of true equality for African Americans (Painter, 155).
The early twentieth century was not a pleasant time for African Americans; they didn’t have many rights and they lost any gain that they made from their huge positive influence in the Civil War. Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois both saw all the issues that African Americans faced, and they both had the same goal: success for blacks in America. Washington’s approach was to accept the social inequality but in return get equal economics as whites. Du Bois wanted a more aggressive approach and wanted both social and economic equality, and he was hostile towards Washington because he didn’t demand social equality. In the time period, African Americans who demanded their social and economic rights sided with Du Bois because he would provide them the leadership to gain rights equal to whites.
W.E.B DuBois’ plan was smarter than Booker T. Washington’s because DuBois’ plan was to fight for the rights of African Americans, and give people a good and equal education. Booker T Washington’s plan was to ignore segregation and discrimination so he can just focus on the wealth and education of former slaves to win over the whites acceptance. One part of DuBois’ plan was the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, NAACP. This Association was one of the most influential civil rights organization. It “focused on legal strategies designed to confront the critical civil rights issues.”.
Du Bois believes that Washington exhibits an old attitude of submission. Whereas Washington sees starting from the bottom as necessary and beneficial Du Bois sees it as submissive and harmful towards the progression of equality. Both Du Bois and Washington believed that their viewpoint was going to lead to more equal treatment and overall improved quality of life for African Americans. Both Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois had ideas on how to improve African American lives, Washington believed in starting at the bottom and working up whereas Du Bois had an opposing viewpoint he saw starting from the bottom as submissive and believed African Americans should hold important jobs in
Both worked adamantly against lynching and opposed racially motivated violence. While Washington may have stressed industrial education over liberal arts, he did believe that liberal arts were beneficial (Washington 203). Furthermore, DuBois greatly appreciated and acknowledged many of Washington's noteworthy accomplishments (DuBois 68). The best plan in my opinion was from Booker T. Washington because he was able to live through slavery first hand he knows what they went through and how it felt. How can preach or speak on equality when you never had to experience the slavery first
