African-American History

Afri suffer-Ameri digest floor booker T. stimulateing capital and W. E. B. Du Bois had contrasting run intos on how to deal with the problems facing Ameri plunder-Americans. Which was superior in dealings with these conflicts? booking agent T. capital letter and WEB Du Bois are perhaps the two most important and authoritative macabres of the of late nineteenth century and they both played pivotal roles in the Civil Rights movement. However, as the question suggests, they excessively had very contrasting governmental beliefs when it came to impacting the Afro-American movement.To fully look where the two excreteers had similarities and contrasts in their policy-making views, I will freshman study upper-case letters contri andions to the African-American ca intake, and the reasons behind his choices. centering will then shift to Du Bois views and his main criticisms of cap, and whether these criticisms were valid or not. To fancy the methods and reactions of chap iter and Du Bois it is first essential to understand the background they were functioning in.During the late nineteenth century, when capital letter and Du Bois were at their peak, Reconstruction had failed and life for more than than African-Americans was intimately worse then it had been before the American Civil War and the abolition of thraldom. African-Americans found themselves in the worse paid jobs in both country-bred areas, where they were exploited by an unfair sharecropping system, and in to a greater extent urban areas, where the industrial revolution was beginning to take hold. Segregation was in any case rapidly paltry throughout American society beingness reinforced in 1896 by the Plessy vs.Fergusoncase where it was decided that segregation was constitutional under the argument that it was separate but equal. More worryingly, during this snip the number of African-Americans f eaching victim to lynch was rapidly growing. Due to these worsening conditions many an(prenominal) African-American leaders of the clipping developed a tolerating attitude towards the obvious oppression there hoi polloi were suffering, believing that outspoken protest would nevertheless lead situations worse, and so instead they would appeal for aid from wealthy and influential fairs and encourage African-Americans to lift themselves by their bootstraps1.When expression at the background context it becomes clear why capital of the United States and Du Bois had differing views when it came to Civil Rights. chapiter had been born a slave in the mho and grew up poorly fed and clothed and was denied an education. Growing up in the South uppercase would have had first go along experience with the behavior of discrimination many African-Americans were faced with at the time and would have also understood the real maintenance many African-Americans had of lynching.With this in mind it can be seen why working capital would have been more cautious in his methods of progressing Civil Rights. Du Bois by contrast was born a freeman in the North and didnt suffer discrimination until he entered higher education, and so it is grasp fitted why he would not have had the comparable reservations as working capital when it came to a more radical approach to dealing with the oppression of African-Americans. majuscules exertion for the African-American race can be most clearly seen when looking at the Tuskegee Institution, which still exists today.The take opened in July 1881 and was at the inception except space rented from a local church, with only one teacher, that being capital of the United States. The following year Washington was able to purchase a occasion plantation, which became the permanent site of the school, and the students themselves erected and fitted the buildings, as well as growing their take crops and rearing their own livestock. piece the Tuskegee Institute did offer some academician training for teachers, its m ain focus on was on providing applicatory skills inevitable to blend in rural areas, much(prenominal) as carpentry and modern hoidenish techniques.It can be lay outd that this more vocational slant towards teaching was modify in the progression of African-American rights, however Washington believed that to become socially equal to whites, African-Americans must first become scotchally equal and channelize that they are responsible American citizens, who had something to offer society. Also, it can be argued that the practical teaching of the Tuskegee Institute was remote more beneficial for the time than academic teaching would have been. The Institute is also a good precedent of why perhaps Washington had some merit with his views of appeasement.Washington was able to use his friendship with powerful white men to help finance the school and even got ex-slave owners, such as George W. Campbell, to support the new school. Without this aid it is tall(a) that the Tuskegee Institute would have ever evolved from a small rented room into the vast institution that it is today. While the Tuskegee Institute showcased Washingtons views on education the Atlanta jaunt Address illustrated what he supposedly believed African-Americans place in society should be. Washington delivered the ddress in 1895, and was designed to cement the friendship of the races and bring about solid cooperation between them 2. Washingtons main purpose with the Atlanta Address was to help fall upon a realistic settlement between Southern Whites, Northern Whites and the African-American community in a time when race relations were only getting worse. Washington was no inquiry anxious not to subvert the white population who held African-Americans at their mercy, and so he urged blacks to remain in the South, work at the common occupations of life, and accept the fact of white supremacy 3.When addressing the white population in his speech Washington reas confident(predicate)d them that African-Americans had no intention or interest in securing social equality, that all they needed was economic cooperation, In all things that are purely social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress 4. The work Washington did for African-American crossed over into the twentieth century with the entry of the guinea pig Negro Business Leaguein 1900.The aim of the League was to help throw out and further the commercial and financial development of African-American business 5, not only in the South but also the North of America. The launching of the League empathized Washingtons belief that to become socially equal to whites that African-Americans must first become economically equal. However it can be argued that the League held diminutive immenseness when considering African-American business as it did little to assist, but that it allowed Washington to have a stronghold of men in every black population of impor tance 6.Compared to Washington Du Bois governmental views can be seen as being quite radical for the social climate of the time. Du Bois probably had more radical views because of his different background, as he didnt have a history of slavery and did live in fear of lynching the way many African-Americans did at the time. However, Du Bois did share some similarities in thought with Washington, for example Du Bois also believed that African-Americans needed to help bring themselves out of social inequality.However, unlike Washington, Du Bois believed that African-Americans needed leadership from a college-educated elite and that simple vocational education wasnt adequate to elevate the position of African-Americans in society, Men we shall have only as we make manhood the object of the work of the schools intelligence, broad sympathy, knowledge of the domain of a function that was and is, and of the relation of men to it this is the curriculum of that Higher Education which mu st be true life.On this foundation we may build bread winning, skill of hand and quickness of brain, with never a fear lest the child and man fracture the means of living for the object of life7, Du Bois set out the brains of an elite group of African-Americans teaching other African-Americans in his The Talented ten percent article, the idea being that there was one in ten African-Americans, the talented tenth, was open of becoming an influential leader, who would lead other African-Americans to a better future.Du Bois had many criticism of Washington, many of which he set out in an probe in 1903 titled Of Mr Booker T Washington and Others. Du Bois felt that Washington focused too much on vocational education and that his educational program was too narrow 8. This particular criticism no doubt evolved from Du Bois own education which was wide and varied, and his more privileged background which allowed him the high life of exploring avenues of education that wouldnt directl y lead to work. Du Bois also believed that Washingtons methods and arguments practically accepts the alleged low quality of the Negro races9.This criticism is almost entirely valid as Washington himself stated that African-Americans should accept White Supremacy in his Atlanta transit Address, and while it is doubtful that Washington himself saw the African-American race as inferior, he did little to try and convince the general population otherwise. Washington urged African-Americans to earn security through economic means and technical skills, and he put little importance on higher education and political and social rights, believing that they would follow naturally from economic freedom.However Du Bois argued that this approach would lead to many African-Americans living below the poverty line, because he believed that it was im likely for most people to gain economic rights and freedoms when they were unequal socially. Du Bois also clashed with Washington overdue to their diff ering political ideologies. While Washington championed capitalist ideals, Du Bois, who became a leading corrosive Marxist, felt that any social freedoms gained by economic progress would make the African-American population into double-dealing money makers 10.Du Bois Marxist views came into play with other disparagements he had with Washington, most apparent in 1903 when Du Bois tried to prove Washington was using hush money to control the African-American press, to make sure his own views were the more favoured in print 11. To some degree Du Bois criticisms of Washington were valid, as Washington did little to resolve the social issues that plagued the African-American race, so as not to seem controversial or threatening to the white population. However, when looking at the backgrounds of the two leaders it becomes obvious why they had such opposing views.Washington had been born a Slave in the South and so he would naturally be more cautious and reserved when dealing with the w hite population as he knew the damage that a legal age population could cause to African-Americans. He matured in a time when the number of lynchings was ever growing, and so he would fully recognise and understand the fear most African-Americans lived with. Du Bois by contrast, was born a freeman in the North, which was far more liberal and accepting than the South and so he didnt have a proper grasp of the everyday problems and anxieties many African-Americans dealt with.It can also be argued that while Du Bois spent large amounts of his time criticising Washington, he actually did nothing practical to forward the progress of African-Americans the way Washington did with the Tuskegee Institute. While Du Bois was Washingtons most vocal and famous opponent, he was far from the only challenger. A black president of Atlanta University, John Hope, was vocal of his variability with Washingtons Atlanta Address, stating in 1896 I regard it as cowardly and dishonest for any of our sour men to tell white people and coloured people that we are not struggling for equality.Now catch your breath, for I am going to say that we demand social equality 12. While this view was to be expected among Northern black leaders, Hope shattered the hallucination that all African-Americans in the South were willing to simply accept their lower social status. William Monroe Trotter, editor of the capital of Massachusetts Guardian, was another of Washingtons most unforgiving critics and claimed that Washington, whatsoever good he may do, has injured and is injuring the race more than he can aid it by his school.Let us hope that Booker Washington will remain mouth-closed at Tuskegee. If he will do this, all his former sins will be forgiven13. Trotters views are to some degree far harsher than Du Bois were, but the general idea theme is the same, that Washington was not help the African-American race by deemphasising the importance of social equality, and that he was in fact hindering to movement. Trotter also challenged Washington at a National Negro Business League meeting in capital of Massachusetts while Washington was giving a speech.Trotter posed a number of questions that challenged Washington and his views, before he was arrested. While Washington did not suffice to the challenges, Trotter made his point and the incident was reported as The Boston Riot the next day in papers. As can be seen, Washington and Du Bois had to some degree very opposing views on how to turn and progress the African-American race. Washington put great empathise on vocational education that would give practical skills to African-Americans living in the South.Rather than focus on social and political equality, Washington stressed the importance of economic advancement, believing that once the average African-American had the power of wealth that political and social freedoms and powers would follow. Washington felt there was great importance in appeasing the white majority, for the economic and political power it breaking him in furthering the African-American cause and because he lived in the turbulent South, where it was dangerous to be a radical black man.Du Bois political ideas contrasted with Washingtons idea of appeasement and he had a far more radical approach to Civil Rights. Du Bois didnt think that it was possible for African-Americans to achieve economic equality before they had achieved social and political equality. Du Bois more radical approach stems from his background, as he did not share the same fear as Washington and did not experience the same forms of racism. Bu Bois could afford to be more radical has he had not experienced slavery and his placement in the North meant that he did not share the fear of lynching that many in the South had.Du Bois also put more empathise on academic teaching and did not feel that Washingtons vocational education would be useful in helping the progress of African-Americans. However, Washington and Du Boi s did share some similarities in political thought. They both recognised the importance of having the support of powerful white men, who could both finance and encourage their cause. While both Washington and Du Bois had good arguments for doing things in their particular ways, it is probably full to say that neither had perfect strategies. Washington was too timid to argue for equality, and Du Bois had no practical ideas he could implement.It is fair to suggest that a smorgasbord of their two views would have been the best way to progress the African-American cause, as Washington had practical methods of improved the average African-Americans life, such as the Tuskegee Institute, and Du Bois was able to protest the obvious oppression that African-Americans suffered.Bibliography American Memory from the Library of Congress, 2008, National Negro Business League,http//lcweb2. loc. gov8081/ammem/amrlhtml/dtnegbus. html Fairclough, Adam, 2002, Better Day Coming Blacks and Equality, 189 0-2000, bare-ass York Penguin Books Franklin, John H. Meier, August, 1982, Black Leaders of the Twentieth Century, Illinois University of Illinois Press History Matters, 2006, Booker T. Washington Delivers the 1895 Atlanta Compromise Speech,http//historymatters. gmu. edu/d/39/ History Matters, 2006, W. E. B. DuBois Critiques Booker T. Washington Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others,http//historymatters. gmu. edu/d/40 TeachingAmericanHistory. org, 2008, The Talented Tenth by WEB Du Bois,http//teachingamericanhistory. org/library/index. asp? document=174 White, John,1985, Black leaders in America 1895-1968, New York Longman Inc.