Passive vs. Aggressive Fight for Rights There was no right to vote, no right to education, no freedom of speech or religion, no fair treatment by the law which means there was no equality. Even though these are rights and principles of the American Constitution, these did not apply to all races during the 19th and 20th centuries, especially African Americans. Even though these are rights that should apply to all people African Americans didn’t not apply to these laws, especially in the Southern United States. Black Americans were not seen as equal to white Americans under the law, or in the eyes of the American people, and African Americans were constantly subject to racism and discrimination. Because of this, two men, Booker T. …show more content…
He decided that African Americans should temporarily accept discrimination and racial inferiority from white Americans. He believed that over time, African Americans would earn their equality and fair treatment as they rose economically and became more educated. His focus was in teaching industrial education or education about entering the workforce to African Americans, so they could learn and also economically prosper. In his Atlanta Compromise speech, Booker T. Washington showed what he believed about education and work by saying, “No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem.” (Washington). This quote shows that he believes education is just as important as work, and he believed both are needed to be successful. This connects with his own life where he was constantly working but also getting educated. Also in his Atlanta Compromise speech, Booker T. Washington publically declared that he would accept segregation and inferiority of the black race in exchange that white Americans would allow education opportunity, economic growth and fair court justice for African Americans (“Booker T. Washington” PBS). He thought that if African Americans had these rights, they would eventually be able to prove themselves worthy of equality. Finally, Booker T. Washington opposed directly fighting back for rights and equality because he thought it would only lead to more violence against
To me it is obvious why many whites agreed with Washington and many blacks disagreed with him. I agree with Washington by not demanding our rights because making demands would be met with opposition and nothing will be done that is necessary to bring blacks up to the equality line. On the contrary, I disagree with the way that Washington believed that blacks should just ignore how whites treated us with violence then turn around and try to earn their respect. African Americans during this time wasn’t trying to hear this because just 3 years before his speech in Atlanta, 156 blacks were lynched in one year alone. To the blacks of that time, forgetting that was too big of a pill to swallow and it is obvious why blacks second-guessed the views of Booker T. Washington.
washington knew that blacks would never be equal to the whites. DuBois wrote a book called, "We want to be Americans, full-fledged Americans, with all the rights of American citizens." DuBois also criticized Washington's Tuskegee approach as an attempt "to educate black boys and girls simply as servants and underlings." DuBois had become the leading black figure in the United States. Dubois encouraged African-Americans to work hard, regardless of their careers. Both Du Bois and Washington wanted African-Americans to have the same rights as white Americans. But Du Bois encouraged African-Americans to demand equal rights. Washington, on the other hand, often ignored discrimination. He believed that it was important for blacks to develop good relationships with whites. He was afraid that blacks who demanded equal rights would create ill will between themselves and white Americans. Washington said to an all white audience that "In all things social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress." That quote meant that blacks and whites can all do the same things. In conclusion, Booker T. Washington focused on having education for real life jobs and not asking for equality from the
For African Americans, Jim Crow laws encompassed and affected every part of American life. The racial slur synonymous with negro and the laws used to discriminate against them. Two of the most recognizable figures advocating against of Jim Crow were Booker T. Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Though they lived through different times, they both shared the same goal of bettering circumstances of the African Americans people. While sharing a same common goal, Booker T. Washington and Martin Luther King, Jr. had different approaches to confronting the color line, each approach with its positive and negative attributes.
Booker T. Washington believed that blacks should not push to attain equal civil and political rights with whites. That it was best to concentrate on improving their economic skills and the quality of their character. The burden of improvement resting squarely on the shoulders of the black man. Eventually they would earn the respect and love of the white man, and civil and political rights would be accrued as a matter of course. This was a very non-threatening and popular idea with a lot of whites.
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
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
and got a job as a waiter. Soon after this period of time he got a
African Americans were freed after the Civil War with the thirteenth amendment, which emancipated all slaves in the United States. Even though they were free, African Americans were not treated as equals because of the Jim Crow Laws, sharecropping, and segregation. Two African American leaders in the late 19th and 20th century – Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois – both longed for black equality and civil rights, yet each had a very different method to achieve this. Booker T. Washington intended for African Americans to eventually obtain equality, but his plan of racial accommodation betrayed their interests. However, W.E.B Du Bois had a better method for bringing social equality to the African Americans, since he made gaining equality one of his main focuses; therefore, he was right between the two.
W. E. B. Du Bois and Booker T Washington had very different views about their culture and country. Du Bois, being born in the North and studying in Europe, was fascinated with the idea of Socialism and Communism. Booker T Washington, on the other hand, was born in the South, and like so many others, had a Black mother and a White father. Thus being born half-white, his views and ideas were sometimes not in the best interest of his people.
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
Two men with the same goals but different views on how they should be achieved is exactly how Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois’ controversy should be described as. Their debate revolved around the idea of abolishing slavery as well as paving the way for the modernized Civil Rights Act in America to take place. Washington and DuBois were born in the same time period with the same intentions, yet had different methods of approaching how to do them. Both of their ideas were focused on how America could be best improved for the future in political, social and educational ways. Booker T. Washington’s perspective and ideologies were better than DuBois’ for
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.
Booker T. Washington was known as the premier of black activist. His theory for the African American progression or “racial uplift” was that African American’s would remain without objections and silence themselves regarding the issues of disenfranchisement and social segregation if whites supported the black progression in education, economics, and agriculture.
Women should not have the chance for an academic education. They should be trained to cook, clean, and take care of children. What better way would a woman help society? Would she help her neighbor more by teaching them mathematics they will never use or by helping their neighbor raise children? This is similar to what Booker T. Washington claimed about African Americans. He stated that the African Americans should attend vocational schools rather than receive an academic education so they could better further social change. W.E.B DuBois had a different approach to further social change by stating that some African Americans should go to academic schools, while others had trades, and some were considered fools who cannot learn.