Lena West Red 9-23-12 Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois Essay Booker T. Washington and W.E.B.

DuBois had contrasting views on how to attain racial equality, though the views of DuBois sparked the Civil Rights Movement. Booker T. Washington considered that social equality would come naturally when African Americans were economically powerful. W.E.B. DuBois thought that political and social equality was necessary, so he created movements such as the Niagara movement to push for equality. Washington and DuBois were both African American leaders who wanted racial equality, though Washington believed that black people must work hard to gain respect from others, while Dubois believed that people must have been actively fighting for their rights. According to Booker T. Washington, racial equality could be developed by hard work. He believed in a large industrial education and a basic schooling so African Americans could run successful businesses and hire African American people in these businesses. Booker T. Washington founded and helped run the Tuskegee Institute, an industrial school for African Americans. In this industrial education, African Americans were taught the skills to be engineers, farmers, and many more jobs. In Washingtons view, African Americans shall prosper in proportions as we learn to dignify and glorify common labor and put brains and skill into the common occupations of life (Atlanta Exposition Speech). Washington thought that when African Americans had economic equality with Caucasians, social and political equality would follow. W.E.B. DuBois views contradict Washingtons. He believed in higher education, but did not agree with Washingtons idea that African Americans had to work for economic equality to be accepted socially. An example of this contradiction is when DuBois stated, We ourselves are

workers, but work is not necessarily education (Autobiography). What W.E.B. DuBois wanted was very clear. He outright said that he wanted equal rights and that African Americans had to fight and protest to achieve them. To work behind this idea of protest, DuBois founded the Niagara movement, and later helped found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP. The NAACP worked alongside Martin Luther King Jr. in the fight for civil rights. W.E.B. DuBois also clearly stated that he wanted voting rights for African Americans. DuBois stated, With the right to vote goes everything: freedom, manhood, the honor of our wives, the chastity of our daughters, the right to work, and the chance to rise, and let no man listen to those who deny this (Autobiography). He, along with many others, thought that voting rights were very important to political and social advancements. Booker T. Washingtons proposal of economic equality before social equality makes sense. Many African American people at the time were jobless and poor, not being hired by white businesses. Washingtons plan created businesses run by African Americans where African Americans could find work, and under his schooling, they could find an education. Washington stated himself that, The wisest among my race understand that the agitation of questions of social equality is the extremest folly, and that progress in the enjoyment of all privileges that will come to us must be the result of severe and constant struggle rather than of artificial forcing (Atlanta Exposition Speech). The right to vote would not be put first, so political and social rights would not be addressed until African Americans were as economically powerful as Caucasians, persuading them to have respect. Today, many African Americans have worked hard to become economically successful. These people include Oprah Winfrey and Michael Jordan. Even though there are many successful African Americans, White households in the United States are far wealthier than black or Hispanic households (Choudhury). W.E.B.

DuBois believed that voting rights and civil rights were to be fought for before anything else. He believed that the Talented Tenth, a, small group of college-educated blacks should fight for racial equality (PBS). Today, political equality has been reached. Under the legal system, African Americans and Caucasians are equal. African Americans can be seen in the political system in current times, especially with an African American president. Washington and DuBois, both in pursuit of racial equality, had different ideas on how to reach it. Washington believed in economic equality, then political and social equality. While it was important to build economic stability within the African American community, voting rights were necessary to achieve political and social equality, and Washingtons plan did not solve this. DuBois plan encouraged political and social equality, which was essential at the time. The founding of the NAACP helped pass important laws during the Civil Rights Movement. Although Washingtons plan made sense and was important, W.E.B. DuBois ideas rang true for many African Americans who felt the need for equal rights between races.

Works Cited Booker T. and W.E.B: The debate between W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington. PBS. WGBH educational foundation, n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2012. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/race/etc/road.html>. Choudhury, Sharmila. Racial and Ethnic Differences in Wealth and Asset Choices. U.S. Social Security Association Office of Policy. USA.gov, 2001/2002. Web. 23 Sept. 2012. <http://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v64n4/v64n4p1.html>.