Compare And Contrast Washington Vs. B Dubois

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.

The debate between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Dubois turned out to be one of the greatest intellectual as well as inspiring battles in our United States history. This great debate sparked the interest of African Americans and whites throughout the entire country. Both men had distinct views on how blacks should go about progressing politically, socially, as well as financially here in the United States. 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, while Washington, on the other hand, often ignored discrimination. He believed that it was important for blacks to develop

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

Washington feels that African Americans need to focus on physical labor and not try to expand their minds. Washington says, “…live by the productions of our hands, and fail to keep in mind that we shall prosper in proportion as we learn to draw the line between the superficial…” (573). One can see that Washington feels that all African American should do is physical labor and they should be fine. While, Du Bois feels the need to expand the mind and gain more knowledge and further their education. Du Bois feels that there is more the African American than just working the fields or in a factory. Du Bois says, “but if that reconciliation is to be marked by the industrial slavery and civic death of those same black men, with permanent legislation into a position of inferiority…” (701). One can see that Washington feels that African Americans need to just stick to what they know. This would be working in factories, fields, and other physical labor jobs. Du Bois believes that African Americans can further themselves in life if they get the proper education that they need. African Americans need to go to college so they can achieve a successful

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.

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

Furthermore, Booker T. Washington did not share strategies with Du Bois on one side, and the strategies of W. E. B. Du Bois did not share with Washington. Booker mostly focused on education and wanted African Americans to fight for what they’re worth, to work hard and become someone important in the community. On the other hand, Washington fought for equality. He wanted the White Americans to respect the blacks. His point view was that the community should be led by the most talented. Basically, he wanted blacks and

Du Bois relates his experiences as a schoolteacher in rural Tennessee, and then he turns his attention to a critique of American materialism in the rising city of Atlanta where the single-minded attention to gaining wealth threatens to replace all other considerations. In terms of education, African Americans should not be taught merely to earn money. Rather, Du Bois argues there should be a balance between the "standards of lower training" and the "standards of human culture and lofty ideals of life." In effect, the African American college should train the "Talented Tenth" who can in turn contribute to lower education and also act as liaisons in improving race relations.

Of the two most prolific and acclaimed voices in the anti-slavery movements of the early 20th Century, W. E. B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington stand as peerless giants across from one another. The former seeing the pursuit of education in a hallowed light, while the latter praising the simplicity of practicality; Du Bois and Washington clashed in their methods for African Americans to achieve equality, following the aftermath of emancipated slavery. At this time in the United States, African Americans still experienced severe segregation and discrimination, both socially and economically, with their newfound freedom only bringing them out of the frying pan and into the fire. While Du Bois advocated for blacks to educate themselves, with the same higher education whites received in order to advance both socially and politically, Washington called for blacks to immerse in vocational skills in order to win

DuBois’ and Washington’s ideas differentiate in a couple of ways. DuBois stressed that the only ways to reach equality were through intellectual views, education and civil rights. Washington believed equality could be obtained through economic independence and being a productive member of the society he lived in. DuBois strongly disagreed with Washington mainly because of Washington’s idea to put off the discrimination issues. Washington’s “Atlanta Compromise” speech was to advocate African American people’s agricultural and practical skills. DuBois felt these skills weren’t primarily important, since he had set his focus on intellectual views. Another difference between the two was DuBois demanded civil rights in the present, while Washington thought it was best to put them off for the time being. Washington had the accommodation for whites and African Americans to work together, yet DuBois wanted the talented African Americans to lead the struggle to secure civil rights. The greatest difference between them were their political views.

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 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.

This resulted from a divergence with the beliefs of Booker T. Washington, "the one Negro who had commanded national respect from both races" (Cronon, 34). Du Bois and other young, militant Negroes "resented Washington’s narrow philosophy of industrial and agricultural education and denounced his apparent submission to the increasing curbs on Negro civil and political rights in the South" (Cronon, 35). He felt that Washington was telling all blacks to accept their inferior role in society and to take on a vocation to improve their economic conditions.

What the blacks wanted was simply to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American, without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of opportunity closed roughly in his face. Du Bois learned at early age in elementary school that he was “different” when a white girl refused to share cards with him. He then