Compare and Contrast Booker T. Washington and W.E.B DuBois
Booker T. Washington and W.E.B DuBois were both influential African American leaders in the early 1900’s. Both men were highly educated and dedicated their lives to changing the status of African Americans in a post Civil War America. Although both Washington and DuBois had the same dreams of equality for African Americans, they had very different ideas on how best to achieve this equality. Booker T. Washington believed that African Americans could achieve equality by first accepting that subordination to whites was a necessary evil. (The Reader’s Companion to American History, Eric Foner & John A. Garraty) W.E.B. DuBois demanded, on the other hand, that African Americans demand …show more content…
DuBois wanted the same rights and equalities for African Americans that were granted to all Americans under the 14th Amendment.(W.E.B.DuBois, The Biography.com website) DuBois was opposed to the thinking of Booker T. Washington, and thought Washington’s ideas of accepting segregation was not right and gave away the basic rights of all African Americans. DuBois believed that giving up any social and political equality, even if some economic success could be gained, would be temporary. DuBois believed that real change for the African American people who have to be achieved through political activism and struggle. This big difference in thinking between Washington and DuBois on the idea of racial equality again goes back to the beginning. DuBois was born in Massachusetts and, “...freely attended school with whites and was enthusiastically supported in his academic studies by his white teachers.”(W.E.B.DuBois, The Biography.com website) Unlike Washington who had grown up struggling to earn his right to an education under a social system that had not been very altered by the 14th amendment, DuBois grew up in the north were the social attitudes were very different. It was not until he left for college in Tennessee in 1885 that DuBois first encountered Jim Crow laws. It was at this time that DuBois realized that all black boys needed an education just like white boys, but they were not being given …show more content…
Washington and W.E.B DuBois both dedicated their lives to making the world a better place. Washington believed that he could achieve this by working within the system and not upsetting the power structure. DuBois, on the other hand, believed that the only way the achieve real change was to disrupt the power structure. Washington’s approach earned him the first pass into the White House as the first African American advisor to two Presidents, Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. DuBois’ approach laid the groundwork for the NAACP, as he was the founding
Booker T. Washington and W.E.B DuBois were both influential African American leaders in the early 1900’s. Both men were highly educated and dedicated their lives to changing the status of African Americans in a post Civil War America. Although both Washington and DuBois had the same dreams of equality for African Americans, they had very different ideas on how best to achieve this equality. Booker T. Washington believed that African Americans could achieve equality by first accepting that subordination to whites was a necessary evil. (The Reader’s Companion to American History, Eric Foner & John A. Garraty) W.E.B. DuBois demanded, on the other hand, that African Americans demand …show more content…
DuBois wanted the same rights and equalities for African Americans that were granted to all Americans under the 14th Amendment.(W.E.B.DuBois, The Biography.com website) DuBois was opposed to the thinking of Booker T. Washington, and thought Washington’s ideas of accepting segregation was not right and gave away the basic rights of all African Americans. DuBois believed that giving up any social and political equality, even if some economic success could be gained, would be temporary. DuBois believed that real change for the African American people who have to be achieved through political activism and struggle. This big difference in thinking between Washington and DuBois on the idea of racial equality again goes back to the beginning. DuBois was born in Massachusetts and, “...freely attended school with whites and was enthusiastically supported in his academic studies by his white teachers.”(W.E.B.DuBois, The Biography.com website) Unlike Washington who had grown up struggling to earn his right to an education under a social system that had not been very altered by the 14th amendment, DuBois grew up in the north were the social attitudes were very different. It was not until he left for college in Tennessee in 1885 that DuBois first encountered Jim Crow laws. It was at this time that DuBois realized that all black boys needed an education just like white boys, but they were not being given …show more content…
Washington and W.E.B DuBois both dedicated their lives to making the world a better place. Washington believed that he could achieve this by working within the system and not upsetting the power structure. DuBois, on the other hand, believed that the only way the achieve real change was to disrupt the power structure. Washington’s approach earned him the first pass into the White House as the first African American advisor to two Presidents, Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. DuBois’ approach laid the groundwork for the NAACP, as he was the founding