The Influence Of Du Bois On Progressive Education

Although Du Bois new that jobs and education were a good thing he didn’t feel like it was enough and he made sure to voice that. Du Bois believed that, African Americans rights and self-worth was more important and education would come with their rights, which is completely right. Du Bois plan was to fight for political power first, that way there is African Americans in office to let the African Americans voices be heard and let them have some say in the decisions being made about them. Once they received political power they then would fight for civil rights because once they received political power it would be harder for them to deprive African Americans of their rights when there is an African American in office with higher power. Du Bois then felt that once the political power and civil right were received then the fight for higher education for the African American youth would be the next battle. Once you have rights and political power to make decisions he felt higher education could be received and never taken from them again. Du Bois plan was problematic but

Thesis Statement: In “The Atlantic Exposition Address” by Booker T. Washington and “Of Mr. Book T. Washington and Others” by W. E. B. Du Bois three points of contention are civil rights, political rights and higher education.

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.

Tasked with a large-scale study of Philadelphia’s Black community by the University of Pennsylvania, Du Bois used it as an opportunity to conduct a sociological study which did not assume the inherent inferiority and pathology of Blacks. The veil prohibited Whites, including White scholars from the University of Pennsylvania, from seeing Blacks as equal members of American society. In turn, explanations for poverty and illiteracy between the races were inevitably traced back to a notion of inherent racial inferiority among Blacks. Though the study was commissioned in part to come up with solutions to deal with the “Negro Problem,” Du Bois considered African Americans as a relevant and worthwhile subject of study to understand inequality in an urban setting. He provided an explicit examination of the “color line” and conducted a study which explicitly included Blacks as worthwhile subjects of study. By not assuming their inferiority or eliminating their humanity, Du Bois was able to collect empirical evidence showing that instances of poverty in the Black community were not due to hereditary deficiency, but due to their environmental and social conditions, particularly the “historical circumstances and legacy of slavery, race prejudice, and competition with foreigners who had the experience of freedom and the advantage of white skin” (Du Bois

DuBois focused on developing education for the African American race and philosophy to develop. This is the second chapter in his book The Negro Problem. He talks about that with an educated group of exceptional leaders, the rest of the African American community would also benefit from this education. DuBois and Washington are rivals during the time that this document was written and DuBois is trying to focus on industrial education, as like Washington did in his speech. DuBois claims “to attempt to establish any sort of a system of common and industrial school training, without first providing for the higher training of the very best teachers, is simply throwing your money to the winds (3).” Whereas Washington believed in an industrial education, DuBois believed that African Americans needed a classical education. He seeks to promote, “intelligence, broad sympathy, knowledge of the world that was and is and of the relation of man to it” (33-4). DuBois, wants blacks to get a classical education so that they would be able to do something with their lives and reach their full potential. He believes they need to do this for their own self to be able to make a living. I feel like this is very important because I do not think the race of someone should affect the way they are treated in society. During this time, they were not always treated fairly, and most did not even get an education. DuBois just wanted what was best for

Education was not readily available for Southern blacks as it was for whites, and Du Bois took notice. In an effort to teach, he was taken aback by “how faithfully, how piteously, this people strove to learn.” (Du Bois, 12) While most African Americans devoted themselves to learning, the information was not presented in an understandable way, and most struggled to even make an advance in basic courses. Du Bois commented that education was a freedom denied to none, and the aggressive pursuit of a higher education was the way of crossing the threshold into equality. In a similar matter, Booker T. Washington praised the school house as a place with equal deliverance as heaven itself. His point of view came through the looking-glass of slavery, being raised a slave himself. As a child, when he carried his mistress’ books to her schoolhouse, he felt that “to get into a schoolhouse and study in this way would be about the same as getting into paradise.”(Washington, 3) Washington,

Growing up Du Bois often played with the white kids in school, and he strived to be recognized for being more knowledgeable in all aspects than they were, however, he came to realize that it would never be possible. Through interactions with other black boys Du Bois was made aware of his limitations, nevertheless, he, like many black people fought to be optimistic in finding ways to take these opportunities that were so rightfully theirs. However, the question emerged of how could a person strive to be prosperous and have everything that the race he so greatly detest has, without being considered dishonorable by his own people? Many African Americans are brainwashed and fall under the misconception that having an education, a career, or even speaking proper, falls into the category of acting white. This ideology places a lot of stress on many successful black people, who growing up faced bullying and were described as a disgrace to their own race.

This specific work by Du Bois redefines Civil Rights as it inspires the future of the Civil Rights Movement and activists, and calls on blacks to demand the same rights and opportunities(for education) as their white counterparts. While writings like Du Bois' stood as important pieces in the positive redefining of Civil Rights, progression of Civil Rights for black Americans was heavily impacted by the altering of the constitutional meaning behind “separate but equal” (Document 8). Plessy v. Ferguson was a 1896 Supreme Court case that concluded that the separation of races did not imply inferiority. This ideal stood until 1954 the concept of “separate but equal” arose in the decision of Brown v. Board of Education. Eventually, the court decided that “in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place [and] separate educational facilities are inherently unequal” (Document 8).

The school system in the country districts of the South is a disgrace and in few towns and cities are Negro schools what ought to be...and...when we call for education we mean real education,” he effectively made his audience view the logic in his claim about racial equality with a specific emphasis on the education of adults and more specifically children (DuBois 2). Mr. DuBois, being the well-educated man that he was, understood that by presenting his claim of educational importance in a logically and sound way, his audience would be exponentially more likely to agree with his view and act on his cause, which is exactly what transpired after his speech. In Mr. Washington’s attempt to persuade his audience in favor of educating the African American population, he chose to appeal to his perverse audience 's sense of desire and ambition. He stated that by “casting down [their] bucket among many people, helping and encouraging them as [they] are doing on these grounds, and to education of head, hand, and heart, [they] will find that [African Americans] will buy [their] surplus land, make blossom the waste of places in [their] fields, and run [their] factories” (Washington 2). In stating his claim the way he did, he hoped that his audience, which was comprised primarily of white, land-owning southerners, would realize the possible economic benefits that would result from educating the black population, and that their innate desire for material wealth would drive them to

DuBois stresses the importance of education amongst the black race. He believes that African Americans should be educated in order to guide and

Everyone has a contribution in this world to make, even African Americans. DuBois continually stressed this to his fellow black community in his book The Souls of Black Folk. What they learn in schools will help the students determine what they will do further in life. If they choose to be the “talented ten” and choose academics, the black world will need them. African Americans need other African Americans to fill all occupations that a white man would. “Who

The same year the dissertation was published, Du Bois began to teach Latin, Greek, German, and English at Wilberforce University in Ohio. After teaching for several years, Du Bois conducted an exhaustive study of the social and economic conditions of urban blacks in Philadelphia in 1896 and 1897. The results were published in the Philadelphia Negro (1899). This was the first sociological text on a black community published in the United States.

On the opposite side of Washington’s argument for occupational training was W. E. B. Du Bois. Du Bois, who came from Harvard, had higher aspirations than occupational education, “with a conviction that Black life and culture should be a primary topic of Black thought and investigation” (Anderson, n.d. p.1). Considering the value of a general degree in comparison to a technical

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.

Including the right to vote, Du Bois also hoped that his people would one day be able to achieve equality in education. To Du Bois “education [was] the development of power and ideal” (Niagara Movement 2). If African Americans could not reach this they would never be seen in the eyes of the whites as equal. He wanted his people to been seen as bright and capable. He refused the idea that little black boys and girls should be trained as nothing more than servants. African Americans deserved to get a real education yes, “[they were] workers, but work [was] not necessarily education” (Niagara Movement 2). To Du Bois education meant more than having the skill to work as a laborer it meant his race would have a brighter future ahead of them. They could take what they had learned in school and with it would be able to gain jobs, and a relatively satisfying living, they would be seen as more alike to the whites, they after all had the “right to know, to think, to aspire” (Niagara Movement 2). Without an education blacks were merely playing into the stereotype they had been cast. An education could change this they would no longer be seen as criminals. As Du Bois points out that out of