Booker T. Washington was an educator, and one of the most influential black leaders of his time. Washington preached to the black people that of self-help, being united as one race and accommodation to the whites, would make white people accept blacks. He encouraged blacks to submit to racial discrimination at the moment, and focus on proving themselves by doing hard
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.
He fought to change how people fought racial inequality, especially through his work in the South. Booker T. Washington achieved great progress for African Americans by introducing a new way to gain racial
Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois were both highly regarded as early advocates for equality for African American civil rights post emancipation and are highly regarded as the founding fathers of the African American progression, although both are noted for having different methodologies on how the goals should be accomplished. Booker T. Washington was known as the first of black activist. Born on a slave plantation in Franklin County, Tennessee somewhere between 1858 and 1859 (pg.572), and his family was later freed by the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. It was his belief that for African Americans to become successful in progression they would need to “conform to the dominant myth of individualism” (pg.571) During the Atlanta
Washington was a complicated person living in a complicated time. He tried to advance the people of his race in the best way he thought possible, and in secret battled the system of segregation that tried to limit the newly gained political rights of African Americans. He built connections among the most powerful people of his time and used their resources to fund the Tuskegee institute so he could give impoverished African Americans vocational training. Despite advocating for black people to stay within the bounds of segregation and internally sabotaging his political opponents, it's clear that Washington had the interest of his people at heart. But Harlan also makes it clear that Booker T. also had his own interests at heart, seeing as how he went through great lengths to silence his critics and slow down organizations that opposed him.
“I will allow no man to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him (Booker T. Washington).” Booker Taliaferro Washington was one of the foremost African-American leaders of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Virginia born and educated he was from the last generation of African American leaders born into slavery. He would become the voice of former slaves as well as their descendants. An advocate for education as well as an accomplished writer and political advisor the impact he had on the world was definitely felt.
They tried to get the highest positions they could in the church, government, etc. Booker did not think this was right. He knew the blacks were not as experienced as the white people, and they could not do the jobs as well. He believed the blacks should work their way to the top through hard work and diligence. He thought that if they continued to persevere, they could eventually become important in the government, etc., but they should not be placed at the top with no practice or experience.
Impact of the Booker T. Washington Strategy on the African-American Agenda Introduction The end of slavery in the South presented challenges for the freed black men and women in the region that continue to affect the social progress made ethnic minorities in the United States to this date. While slavery was undoubtedly a major contributor to the degradation process of the humanity and intelligence of the colored race at the time, the real problem for the leaders of the communities was the integration of their people into the American system. For the white men, their issue was how to not cede power to a growing population of black people that could till the lands better than them and were filled with hatred for the atrocities committed against them by several
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).
Booker T. Washington has been considered one of the most predominant leaders in the African American community. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington acted as a key spokesperson and was very influential in the movement towards equality. During this time African American citizens were still transitioning from slavery to freedom. Although they were now considered free, the social and economic divide that was a consequence of many years of slavery, resulted in the two races having distrust of one another. Opportunities for black Americans were scarce and Booker T. Washington addressed this issue at the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta in 1895.
However Booker T. Washington believed in having a more skillful education, consisting of learning how to trade, mastering agriculture skills and more things one would need to get a job. However, W.E.B DuBois also put many efforts to achieve equal rights towards African Americans which Booker T Washington put on hold. Booker T Washington’s plan was to make it so that “Blacks would [have to] accept segregation and discrimination but their eventual acquisition of wealth and culture would gradually win for them the respect and acceptance of whites”. This vision that Booker T Washington had “practically accepts the alleged inferiority of the Negro race”. W.E.B commented on this process saying it was an attempt, “to educate black boys and girls simply as servants and underlings.”
In the mid-to-late 1800s the African American community faced opposition and segregation. They were segregated from the whites and treated as second-class citizens. This segregation was caused in part by Jim Crow laws. Jim Crow laws separated races in schools, hospitals, parks, public buildings, and transportation systems. 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 order to demand equal treatment.
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
The following two quotes from Souls of Black Folk summarizes Du Bois attitude towards Booker T. Washington’s political plan and idea of industrial education. Both quotes are taken from CHAPTER III: Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others. Here is how W.E.B. Du Bois felt about Washington’s industrial education solution, “His programme of industrial education, conciliation of the South, and submission and silence as to civil and political rights, was not wholly original; the Free Negroes from 1830 up to war-time had striven to build industrial schools, and the American Missionary Association had from the first taught various trades; and Price and others had sought a way of honorable alliance with the best of the Southerners.” Du Bois made it known
