Jean Booker T. Washington. B. Dubois

William Edward Burghardt Dubois was the first African-American to earn a doctorate and lived Atlanta Georgia. He was civil rights activist and historian. In 1903 he wrote The Souls of Black Folk where he disagreed with Washington because he felt the color-line was performing a disservice to the black population. While Dubois acknowledges him as, “a compromiser between the South, the North, and the Negro” : he also said,” Mr. Washington is especially to be criticized.” Dubois believed the exact opposite of Washington, he said, “Such men feel in conscience bound to ask of this nation

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

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 beginning founding fathers of the African American progression although both are noted for having different methodologies on how the goals should be accomplished.

Dr. W. E. B. DuBois was known as an African American hero who truly believed that a person's vocational calling should be dictated by ability and choice, not by race. DuBois, unlike Booker T. Washington, not only demanded an immediate change but also drastic change, and was not afraid to challenge both blacks and whites on social and educational issues to accomplish change because he knew at that point, something needed to happen now. His strong activism and courage set the stage for future changes in the African American and White American race relations.

African-Americans in the 1920’s lived in a period of tension. No longer slaves, they were still not looked upon as equals by whites. However, movements such as the Harlem renaissance, as well as several African-American leaders who rose to power during this period, sought to bring the race to new heights. One of these leaders was W.E.B. DuBois, who believed that education was the solution to the race problem. The beliefs of W.E.B. DuBois, as influenced by his background, had a profound effect on his life work, including the organizations he was involved with and the type of people he attracted. His background strongly influenced the way he attacked the "Negro Problem." His

W.E.B Dubois is a proficient scholar, who studied multiple subjects at the time where most African Americans did not receive higher education.

This higher power represented by Dubois was the white population. Even after emancipation, the slaves were still captive. They worked only for a place to live and food to eat because they had no money to enter the world as working men in business or in anything other than their learned skill of farming and raising the household. Similarly, Dubois lives in a generation where the black man is free, yet he is still segregated in nearly everything he does. He claims how “The Nation has not yet found peace from its sins; the freedman has not yet found in freedom his promised land”(8). By writing this, he claims how America is still not perfect, yet no matter how far they have come, “the shadow of a deep disappointment rests upon the Negro people”(8). His

W.E.B. DuBois worked his entire life to fight the injustices that occupied blacks’ lives daily. W.E.B DuBois worked alongside the NAACP in hopes of ending racial discrimination, and his worked proved to be crucial to advocating civil justice.

Du Bois was born February 23, 1868 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, a town that mostly white people resided. It was a small community where he encountered little overt racism and developed a passion for knowledge (Hines 345). After high school, Du Bois attended Fisk University in Nashville where he graduated at the age of 20 and moved on to Harvard University. In 1895, he became the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in history from Harvard University. Du Bois was well educated, did many research and wrote many books to enlighten the black community. Elliott Rudwick states that, “Du Bois had originally believe that social science could provide the knowledge to solve the race problem, he gradually came to the conclusion that in a climate of virulent racism, expressed in such evils as lynching, peonage, disfranchisement, Jim Crow segregation laws, and race riots, social change could be accomplished only through agitation and protest” (Rudwick para. 3). W.E.B Du Bois knew that in order to stop whites from ridiculing blacks was for blacks to become educated. Whites were upset at the very idea that blacks should attend schools because then will there be a social change. Du Bois wanted blacks to stand up for their political and civil rights and education was the jump starter for that. “In this view, he clashed with the

W.E.B Dubois was known for many things from a historian, novelist, journalist, editor, political advocate and a sociologist (Horne). Dubois was known for his writing and had novels anywhere from fiction to nonfiction. He served as a founder and a principal operative of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and he was a leader of the council of African Affairs (Horne). Being born a free man, but battling prejudice and discrimination Dubois did most of his studies on being African American in a predominately white world. W.E.B Dubois predicted that in the 20th century that “the color line” would become the foremost problem (Horne). He also coined the term double consciousness in sociology.

William Edward Burghardt (W.E.B.) Dubois was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts in 1868. As a child, he did not have much experience with racism. He completed high school at the young age of 16 and went on to attend Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee where Dubois experienced racism and segregation for the first time. He then went to Berlin to earn a second B.A. and then became the first African American to earn a doctorates degree from Harvard University in 1895. While at Harvard University, he wrote a doctoral dissertation named The Suppression of the African

William Edward Burghart DuBois, more commonly known as W.E.B. DuBois, was born February 23, 1868. Raised in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, he grew up in what was considered to be a moderately well integrated and tolerant community. His mother’s family was included in the miniscule population of free black people— because of this, he was certainly considered privileged as opposed to people of color who were much less fortunate or who lived in highly segregated communities. DuBois attended the town’s local public school, both elementary and high school levels, and excelled. His teachers recognized his abilities and often encouraged him in his academic pursuits. DuBois graduated at the top of his class in 1884, and he was determined to attend college as well. DuBois was set on attending Harvard, however, he didn’t have the funds available to do so. With receiving donations of twenty five dollars a year from from four different congregational churches in his hometown of Great Barrington, DuBois was able to attend Fisk University instead.

W.E. B Dubois was a very significant political activist, socialist, and writer during the Harlem Renaissance. His writings and influence played a big role in how and why the Harlem Renaissance literary aspect got a shove in the right direction, him along with many others. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Dubois grew up to become the first black student to graduate from Harvard University, as well as study at many other universities, making him an intellectual way before his time. “Dubois studied with some of the most important social thinkers of his time and then embarked upon a seventy-year career that combined scholarship and teaching with lifelong activism liberation struggles.” Dubois gained recognition in the black community

I believe anyone can admired W.E.B Du Bois struggle at that point in time, where hate was a norm, but most important his ability to overcome adversity. Dubois was raised in New England he completed his undergraduate, master's, and Ph.D. degrees at Harvard University becoming the first African American to attend Harvard. His impressive education makes him a famous scholar and an incredible man for his time. In his essay it shows how much he had to endure just because of his skin color. Although we live in a new age the soul of Black Folks give its readers hope and it’s something I can relate to Dubois was a man with conviction, and although I have never experienced being discriminated like he did, his words resonated deeply and profoundly inside of my soul. He was a fighter, and I can relate to that. To compare my own story to his would only downplay his words, for the battles I have fought are anthills compared to his mountains. The most important lesson I took from reading from Dubois life was to never give up and to keep fighting for what I believe.

W.E.B DuBois was a 19th century African American Sociologist who is remembered today for his immense contributions to society. DuBois served as an advocate to eradicate the prejudice in America. He, in part with other sociologists, carried out extensive research that would find racial inequality to be a major issue in the United States. Dubois served as an activist who fought for African American rights and even cofounded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (Schaefer, 2015). For many years, he worked for the NAACP serving in many capacities, to include editor of its journal, the Crisis. This allowed him to be the voice of those minorities unheard. Aside from his written works in the Crisis, DuBois also wrote several books that gave perspective to the issue of racial bias, to include Souls of Black Folk and The Negro Church (W.E.B. Du Bois, 2015).