preview

The Harlem Renaissance : Dubois And The Literary Movement

Decent Essays

DuBois was considered to be the inspiration for the literary movement known as the “Harlem Renaissance.” Du Bois also believed that if a small group of young black Americans could stay and retain the information in college educations, then they could be leaders of the race and encourage other black Americans to do the same and to reach a higher level of education. Contrary to Booker T. Washington. W.E.B. Du Bois assumed that if you wanted to achieve something and be good at it, you have to just got for it without turning back. Altered from Booker T. Washington, Du Bois understood that not all black men could go to college, but he believed that the ones that could, should, and should be able to succeed. There were six black institutions, and they were “Atlanta, Fisk, Howard, Shaw, Wilberforce, and Leland, and in those six institutes, only seven hundred and fifty were black college students.” Du Bois take on a trade school was different then Washington’s take on a trade school. Du Bois had said that “trade schools cannot teach people skills and how to fund themselves while keeping industries on a commercial basis.” W.E.B. Du Bois had said that he thinks that there should be social change, and that this could happen if there was a small group of college educated blacks that would be called “the Talented Tenth.” With this Du Bois says: "The Negro Race, like all races, is going to be saved by its exceptional men. The problem of education then, among Negroes, must first of all deal with the "Talented Tenth." It is the problem of developing the best of this race that they may guide the Mass away from the contamination and death of the worst." Both Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois recognized that there was a gap between them that took completely different approaches to achieve one goal. Until the time of Du Bois, Washington was among many of the black activists. Many people today still condemn the views of Washington and his “racial uplift.” Washington being educated in Hampton, a Freedman’s Bureau, believed that if you were taught the skills, African Americans would be able to improve themselves economically and the rest of equality would follow. But DuBois on the other hand was educated at Harvard, and he

Get Access