Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois had very different ideas about how African Americans should achieve equality. Here are three key differences in their approaches:
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Education Focus: Booker T. Washington emphasized vocational education, believing that African Americans should learn practical skills that would help them get jobs and become economically independent. He thought that proving their economic value would eventually earn them respect and civil rights. In contrast, W.E.B. Du Bois believed in higher education and the importance of a "Talented Tenth"—the idea that the most educated and skilled African Americans should lead the fight for civil rights and demand equality immediately.
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Civil Rights Strategy: Washington encouraged a more patient, gradual approach to achieving equality. He was willing to accept segregation and disenfranchisement in the short term, hoping that as African Americans proved their worth through hard work, society would change over time. Du Bois, on the other hand, was more confrontational. He believed that African Americans should actively challenge segregation and discrimination, pushing for immediate civil rights through protests and legal action.
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Philosophy on Race Relations: Washington advocated for a philosophy of accommodation, where African Americans would focus on self-improvement and economic progress while accepting a lower social status temporarily. Du Bois opposed this and argued for full political and social equality. He believed that African Americans should not have to accept second-class status and should fight for their rights aggressively to gain social justice.
These differing approaches represented broader debates within the African American community about how best to achieve equality in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.