Washington worked hard and watched what the white men were doing and applied it to his life in areas such as education, the way they dressed and the way they spoke. He went on to make himself acceptable to Whites due to all of the success he endured. When W.E.B Dubois graduated in 1884, Booker T. Washington had already founded the Tuskegee Institute 3 years prior. Dubois became a prominent voice when he challenged Booker T. Washington’s “Atlanta Compromise” saying that he was accepting segregation.
W.E.B Dubois challenged Booker T. Washington stated that African Americans must have political and social equality now to prevail economically or to get a piece of the economic pie. That’s easy to say when he didn’t have to work as a child and always had the privilege and support to go school.
Education was the improved accomplishment that would be the key for African Americans and poor whites to better their lives and make themselves socially acceptable. During reconstruction “many African Americans were attracted to the vision of progress and