Write a short essay that compares and contrasts the responses to discrimination and goals for improvement stated by Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois. Support your ideas with facts and details from the primary and secondary sources you analyzed. Include transition words and phrases to clarify the relationships between your ideas. like this.

Question

Booker T. Washington believed that African Americans should abandon the quest for equality and focus on establishing themselves as respectable, educated members of society and only then would they be able to achieve equality. On the other hand W. E. B. Du Bois believed that African Americans should not abandon the quest for equality, because while they were trying to establish themselves as respectable members of society their situation may get worse.

Answer 1

Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois are two prominent figures in the history of African American thought, each offering contrasting responses to the pervasive discrimination of their time and different goals for improvement. Washington, a former slave and the founder of the Tuskegee Institute, advocated for a strategy of accommodation and self-help. He believed that African Americans should focus on vocational training and economic self-sufficiency, which he argued would ultimately lead to the respect and acceptance of the white community. According to Washington’s famous Atlanta Compromise speech in 1895, he contended that African Americans should “cast down your bucket where you are,” promoting the idea that they should improve their conditions through hard work and perseverance rather than actively seeking equality and civil rights.

In contrast, Du Bois, a prominent civil rights activist and co-founder of the NAACP, vehemently opposed Washington’s approach. Du Bois emphasized the importance of political action, higher education, and the pursuit of civil rights, positing that without these objectives, African Americans would remain entrenched in a system of oppression. He famously articulated his belief in the “Talented Tenth,” referring to the elite, educated segment of the African American community who should lead the fight for civil rights and social justice. Du Bois argued that waiting for white acceptance would only perpetuate the cycle of discrimination and that immediate action was necessary to confront inequality head-on.

Furthermore, while Washington sought to establish a foundation for African American advancement through economic means, he maintained a somewhat conciliatory stance towards white supremacy, suggesting that social equality would gradually follow economic improvement. On the other hand, Du Bois critiqued this gradualism, insisting that the fight for civil rights could not be delayed, as societal conditions for African Americans might deteriorate further in the absence of direct action. For instance, Du Bois’s well-known essay “The Souls of Black Folk” argues that true equality requires robust advocacy for civil rights, political engagement, and cultural recognition, which he believed were essential for dismantling systemic oppression.

In conclusion, while both Washington and Du Bois sought to improve the conditions for African Americans, they proposed divergent paths to achieve their goals. Washington's focus on vocational training and economic self-sufficiency clashed with Du Bois's call for immediate civil rights advocacy and higher education. Thus, their contrasting philosophies highlight the broader debate within the African American community during the late 19th and early 20th centuries over the best strategies to combat discrimination and achieve social progress. By examining the distinct perspectives of Washington and Du Bois, we gain a more nuanced understanding of the struggles for equality that shaped the landscape of American social and political life.