Booker T. Washington And W. E. B. Du Bois

Following emancipation and during the period of Reconstruction African American men sought rights and privileges previously denied them such as voting and holding of various political offices. These men embodied African American leadership at the time; however, widespread disenfranchisement erased the political avenues that allowed these men to be leaders among African Americans. The denial of political participation for African American Men causes a restructuring of African American Leadership. African Americans would no longer look to elected African American officials as leaders; Instead, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois along with others African American activist would constitute African American Leadership in post Reconstruction America. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois were both distinguished educators and authors and both desired equality for African Americans; however, Du Bois and …show more content…
Washington from his base at the Tuskegee Institute founded the National Negro Business League where he sought to further African American business opportunities. As the vile affects of Jim Crow took hold in the South and a surge of lynching’s occurred Washington laid out what he believed was the path forward for African Americans in a speech known as the “Atlanta compromise.” In his speech, Washington espoused the belief that progress for African Americans would come through education and entrepreneurship, rather than demanding social equality. “The wisest among my race understand that the agitation of questions of social equality is the extremist folly, and that progress in the enjoyment of all the privileges that will come to us must be the result of severe and constant struggle rather than of artificial forcing. ” Washington’s acceptance of Jim Crow and his subsequent urging of African Americans to simply accept the severe oppressions and day-to-day struggles of life in racist America served as the point of contention between he and Du