After the Civil War, African Americans were forced to deal with great discrimination. At the same time, two of the most influential black leaders of the time, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois, attempted to improve African Americans’ situations in two very different ways. Though these men had very different philosophies, they shared a mutual goal: gaining equality and civil rights for blacks.
Booker T. Washington was born a slave and emancipated at nine years old. He attended Hampton Institute in Virginia, a school run by whites. His school believed that African Americans needed to build up their character before pursuing an intellectual education. In Washington’s speech given in Atlanta in 1895, he speaks about his philosophies and what …show more content…
He advised blacks to remain in the South, accept segregation, and avoid politics. It sounds as if self-help and education were most important to Washington. Again, he encouraged blacks to build up their character, and also founded Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and modeled it after Hampton, which shows how important black education was to him. W.E.B. DuBois grew up in Massachusetts. He did not experience slavery, as his ancestors were free blacks. DuBois attended both Fisk University and Harvard, and obtained a Ph.D. in history. In DuBois’s essay, “Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others,” he shares his philosophies and opinions on how blacks should handle segregation. DuBois agreed with Washington that self-help was important for black advancement, but did not believe this would make a difference without the correct type of education and voting rights. He encouraged blacks to take political action, and had a full agenda for obtaining civil rights. Out of all his …show more content…
Washington experienced slavery, and knows that speaking out and fighting back is not the way to equality. DuBois believes that blacks should take action in order to have their opinions heard and agitate for voting rights. However, he was opposed to allowing uneducated blacks to vote. DuBois and many other critics called Washington’s approach accommodation. DuBois did not believe blacks should be “submissive.” He urged them to demand their rights and take action, and that this is how they would gain equality, self-respect, and dignity. DuBois also believes one problem is that Washington is teaching blacks the way to gain their reasonable rights is to “throw them away.” To this, he says, “Negroes must insist continually, in season and out of season, that voting is necessary to modern manhood, that color discrimination is barbarism, and that black boys need education as well as white
Booker T. Washington was born a slave and emancipated at nine years old. He attended Hampton Institute in Virginia, a school run by whites. His school believed that African Americans needed to build up their character before pursuing an intellectual education. In Washington’s speech given in Atlanta in 1895, he speaks about his philosophies and what …show more content…
He advised blacks to remain in the South, accept segregation, and avoid politics. It sounds as if self-help and education were most important to Washington. Again, he encouraged blacks to build up their character, and also founded Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and modeled it after Hampton, which shows how important black education was to him. W.E.B. DuBois grew up in Massachusetts. He did not experience slavery, as his ancestors were free blacks. DuBois attended both Fisk University and Harvard, and obtained a Ph.D. in history. In DuBois’s essay, “Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others,” he shares his philosophies and opinions on how blacks should handle segregation. DuBois agreed with Washington that self-help was important for black advancement, but did not believe this would make a difference without the correct type of education and voting rights. He encouraged blacks to take political action, and had a full agenda for obtaining civil rights. Out of all his …show more content…
Washington experienced slavery, and knows that speaking out and fighting back is not the way to equality. DuBois believes that blacks should take action in order to have their opinions heard and agitate for voting rights. However, he was opposed to allowing uneducated blacks to vote. DuBois and many other critics called Washington’s approach accommodation. DuBois did not believe blacks should be “submissive.” He urged them to demand their rights and take action, and that this is how they would gain equality, self-respect, and dignity. DuBois also believes one problem is that Washington is teaching blacks the way to gain their reasonable rights is to “throw them away.” To this, he says, “Negroes must insist continually, in season and out of season, that voting is necessary to modern manhood, that color discrimination is barbarism, and that black boys need education as well as white