Black Leaders: Booker T. Washington and William Edward Burghardt Du Bois

The time period of 1877 to 1915 was a period in history when the people of the Black race were being granted a free status, but equality, on the other hand, was not an option to some higher white officials. During this time period, many leaders started to fight for what they believed in by appealing to the white governing body for social equality. Two of the leaders that came out of that uproar were the well-known Black equality activists of that time, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois. Both of these leaders ultimately had the same goal, however, the paths that they took to achieve

W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington were two very influential leaders in the black community during the late 19th century, early 20th century. However, they both had different views on improvement of social and economic standing for blacks. Booker T. Washington, an ex-slave, put into practice his educational ideas at Tuskegee, which opened in 1881. Washington stressed patience, manual training, and hard work. He believed that blacks should go to school, learn skills, and work their way up the ladder. Washington also urged blacks to accept racial discrimination for the time being, and once they worked their way up, they would gain the respect of whites and be fully accepted as citizens. W.E.B. Du Bois on the other hand, wanted a more

W. E. B. Dubois and Booker T. Washington were well known civil rights activists who had practical ideologies for the progress of African Americans. Both Dubois and Washington made many important points to support their philosophy. Both men’s concepts provided great support, though they shared different beliefs. Washington believed that blacks should focus on education and economic progress than ending segregation, discrimination and getting voting rights; on the other hand, Dubois thought that discrimination was unacceptable and did not agree on blacks losing their rights in spite of their differences, they both were well educated men who wanted change in the black community.

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was born on February 23, 1868 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Du Bois had a poor but relatively happy New England childhood. While still in high school he began his long writing career by serving as a

Booker T. Washington was born during the civil war and was a slave. He lived on a plantation where is mother was the cook and he did not know who his father was. After the Emancipation Proclamation was passed Booker T. Washington along with all the other African Americans during this time period became free. Booker T. Washington always had a desire to read and write. Booker T. Washington earned himself an education and eventually

The status of the African-American increased little after Reconstruction. Some blacks were starting to accept their situation but two African American leaders did not. W.E.B Dubois and Booker T. Washington saw that the situation of poverty and social inequality were bringing down their race in the late 1800's and early 1900's. They came from completely different backgrounds, one rich and one a former slave, but they had the same purpose: they sought equality in the American society for African-Americans. Washington was more for slow integration into society and working your way up where as Dubois wanted immediate equality, which he thought the blacks deserved. Despite their differences two speakers would help to change the

Booker T. Washington was born in around 1950s in Franklin County of Virginia and spent the better part of his childhood as a slave. Following the emancipation, majority of the black community including Washington ware convinced that obtaining a formalized education was the best approach to improve their lifestyles and social class. The Blacks had a fairly limited opportunity to access education due to the prevalence of social segregation.

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.

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. 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.

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 wanted to obtain equality for his people by working within system. Du bois on the other hand did not, he wanted his people to take up arms and fight for their rights. Whose ideals were more suited for the job of fighting for equality? Both men were huge forces in the United States Social movement and much can be attributed to both. But for the time period and the specific conditions Booker T. Washington was much more suited for the challenge.

Booker T. Washington had a different concept of the type of liberation African-Americans should seek that can be considered fairly different from other concepts of racial leadership in that he believed in economic autonomy being the best path towards racial emancipation. Washington he was born into slavery and he didn’t hold whites in contempt. On the contrary he believed that because of slavery African Americans were in a “stronger and more hopeful condition, materially, intellectually, morally, and religiously” (Washington 8) than other black people around the world. Washington was a strong proponent of industrial education for African-Americans and thought they should learn skills and trades and work hard instead of pushing for civil rights right away. Washington believed that African-Americans should seek

Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois had significantly different views on how blacks could move towards attaining racial equality during the late nineteenth century in the United States. Washington believed that blacks should work hard to earn economic freedom by means of striving for strong education objectives. Du Bois believed that only political empowerment and voting could end African Americans oppression. Washington had the better solution to the racial inequality issue; if blacks could show whites that they could be valuable members of the workforce, while still experiencing segregation, they would win the respect of whites, which would then lead to them getting civil rights. Du Bois’ solution of demanding black suffrage upon a white population, which was still acclimating itself with the decree of blacks becoming free men, would seemingly end in anger and violence. Washington developed a solution to end racial equality in the United States that solves the problem from the ground up, which started first with obtaining the respect of the general white populace, and then leading to more civil rights laws passed by lawmakers. With a vastly different ideas, Du Bois devised a solution that solved the problem from the top down, with lawmakers forcing legislation that would only confuse and anger a white population that was already confused and angry.

Since their arrival in North America, Blacks have been abused and oppressed into a state less than human. In an article written by W.E.B. Du Bois he said, “The sincere and passionate belief that somewhere between men and cattle God created a tertium quid, and called it a negro” (Du Bois). In the late 19th and 20th centuries a strong push for economic and social progress for African-Americans was being made. The prominent leaders of this movement amongst the Black community were Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois, however they had very differing views on how to achieve this goal (PBS.org). Washington and Du Bois essentially split the Black community into two parties, radical and conservative. Du Bois, the radical, preached for a