How Did African Americans Contribute To Civil Rights

Booker T Washington was one of the best advocates in his time. Growing up in slavery and out coming the horrifying struggles of the 1870’s was a great effort. Born in the era were black people were like flies he found a determination to succeed and discovered many powers in life.

When it all comes down to it, one of the greatest intellectual battles U.S. history was the legendary disagreement between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois. This intellectual debate sparked the interest of the Northerners as well as the racist whites that occupied the south. This debate was simply about how the blacks, who just gained freedom from slavery, should exist in America with the white majority. Even though Washington and DuBois stood on opposite sides of the fence they both agreed on one thing, that it was a time for a change in the treatment of African Americans. I chose his topic to write about because I strongly agree with both of the men’s ideas but there is some things about their views that I don’t agree with. Their

“Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome” –Booker T. Washing. Booker Taliaferro Washington was born in Hale’s Ford, Virginia on April 5th, 1856 to Jane Burroughs and an unknown White man. Washington was married three times. His first wife was Fannie N. Smith from Malden, West Virginia. Booker and Fannie were married in the summer of 1882 and had one child together named Portia M. Washington. Fannie died two years later in May 1884. The second wife was Olivia A. Davidson in 1885. Olivia was a teacher in Mississippi and Tennessee. She then worked as a school teacher in Tuskegee and that is how she met Booker T. she was an assistant principal. Olivia and

It is evident that Washington felt that the best way for blacks to better their future was to make themselves a necessary need in society. Therefore, he urged blacks to deal with discrimination for the time being and focus on economic prosperity for themselves through hard work and vocational training believing that it will pay off. For example, Washington believed that an educated black would eventually win the respect of whites and lead to blacks being accepted into society. He felt that speaking up would do more damage to the black race. Granted that he promoted segregation to maintain a racial identity, he states, “To those of my race who depend on bettering their condition in a foreign land or who underestimate the importance of cultivating, making friendly relations with the Southern white man, who is their next door neighbor, I would say: Cast down your bucket where you are,” “cast it down making friends in every manly way of the people of all races by whom we are surrounded.” (Atlanta Cotton States) Washington believed that people should make the most of any situation they are in.

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Booker T. Washington’s philosophy and actions betrayed the interests of African Americans because he was more interested on the blacks getting educated and getting the respect of the white authorities, instead of worrying on getting their political and social equality right away, which was the main interest of the African Americans. In “The Atlanta Exposition Address”, Washington said that blacks would sacrifice their civil rights and social equality for the time being, as long as whites guaranteed that they would receive industrial education and jobs because he believed that in order to fully obtain equality, the blacks should improve themselves. “It is at the bottom of

In this essay the author argued the strategy employed by Mr. Booker T. Washington during a period in history where race relations were hyper sensitive. Mr. Washington felt that the only chance for the survival and development of the Negro race was to submit to the white man by giving up three critical rights of American society; those were, the right to vote, civil rights, and access to higher education. In doing so, he calculated that if black people focused on industrial education, wealth accumulation, and conciliation of the South, they’d stand a better chance of advancing as a race. As Du Bois argued,” In other periods of intensified prejudice all the Negro's tendency to self-assertion has been called

The common school teaches their students math, reading, science, and history, but this predictable curriculum is a newer concept. Many freed slaves did not know the basics of self-preservation, so it was irrational to teach them multiplication prior to hygiene. Booker T. Washington devoted his entire day to teaching "emancipated slaves basic math and reading as well as personal hygiene: how to comb one's hair, bathe regularly, and use a toothbrush." (Goldstein, 2015, p.53) Washington shows that education is not limited to a singular form or subject, however, it ranges from simple life lessons to learning the equation of a line.

The United States societal system during the 19th century was saturated with a legacy of discrimination based upon race. Cultivating a humanitarian approach, progressive intellectuals ushered in an era of societal reconstruction with the intention to establish primary equalities on the pervasive argument of human race. The experiment poised the United States for rebellion and lasting ramifications. The instantaneous repercussions for both races evolving from the emancipation of African-Americans were plainly stated by the daughter of a Georgia planter in the summer of 1865: "There are sad changes in store for both races" (Nash 469). The long-term

1a. Booker T. Washington had a very different social philosophy than most African Americans pursuing their freedom had during this era. This philosophy brought upon much tension and many tended not to agree with Washington’s ways of thinking. One of the people who disagreed with Washington was W.E.B. Du Bois. Both Washington and Dubois were essentially striving towards the same outcome, but they both had different approaches. Booker T. Washington argued that African Americans must educate themselves and eventually this would show white Americans that they were valuable to society. However, W.E.B. Du Bois was completely against this ideology. He did not want to sit back and prove anything to white Americans who put them through treacherous conditions while they were slaves. He wanted to stand up and fight for his rights and the rights of his fellow African Americans. Du Bois’ goal was to gain every privilege that white Americans had. He wanted the right to vote, the right to education, and high economic standards for all African Americans. Washington on the other hand accepted racial segregation, which is clear in the statement he made that said, "In all things social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress." However, he also pushed for African Americans to be included in the economic growth of the South. This ideology of accepting racial segregation infuriated Du Bois because he felt that with this mind

In this essay you will read about numerous similarities as well as differences between these two gentlemen. Their names are Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois. But before I explain the differences between these two gentlemen, I will give you a more in depth background on each of them. This information that I will provide for you will give you a clearer thought on how they were raised and their beliefs.

The era of Jim Crow began after the end of Reconstruction in 1877, in which through the rebuilding of the South, whites established laws and customs that forced freed slaves to stay marginalized and targeted by Southern whites. The purpose of these Jim Crow ideas was to keep blacks and white separated, and to also keep blacks from progressing in society. For instance, Southern whites forced blacks to take literacy tests before they could be considered able to vote. From the start of this Jim Crow era, racial compromise was already occurring. One of the most obvious examples of this compromise comes from the real name of the era. “Jim Crow” was a name used in a

During the 18th century, religious leaders started efforts to educate slaves in religious instruction. This instruction was given to the slaves to purify them of their sins. Whites viewed their practices as barbaric, so teaching them the correct method of worship would help the purify the world.

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.

Booker T. Washington was one of the most well-known African American educators of all time. Lessons from his life recordings and novelistic writings are still being talked and learned about today. His ideas of the accommodation of the Negro people and the instillation of a good work ethic into every student are opposed, though, by some well-known critics of both past and current times. They state their cases by claiming the Negro’s should not have stayed quiet and worked their way to wear they did, they should have demanded equal treatment from the southern whites and claimed what was previously promised to them. Also, they state that Washington did not really care about equality or respect, but about a status boost in his own life. Both