Booker T. Washington and W.E.B.

Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois were the two most influential leaders of the African-American community during the period after Reconstruction and before the Civil Rights Era. However, they held very different ideas about how the African-American community was to advance in society. Washington believed that African-Americans were being held back by their lack of thrift, industry, and property, whereas DuBois believed that they were being held back by their lack of self-respect and culture. Thus, Washington focused on securing the material well-being of African-Americans, whereas DuBois cultivated their spiritual well-being.

Because Washington held the mantle of leadership directly before DuBois, the two approaches complemented each other perfectly. Washington helped the community develop the strength of character and practical means to advance their position and DuBois followed by cultivating their humanity and awareness of the world around them. The result was the subsequent generation of African-American leaders, like Martin Luther King Jr., who possessed the strength of character espoused by Washington and the broad-minded humanity espoused by DuBois.

Booker T. Washington's Views

Education -- Washington believed that African-Americans themselves were partly to blame for their condition due to their lack of education and character. Washington advocated a practical "industrial education," which would provide African-Americans with the skills and character traits to gain economic power. Washington promoted the building of vocational schools, which would teach African-American students an actual trade that they could make a living with.

Economic rights -- Booker T. Washington recognized that economic power was one of the few paths of advancement not denied to African-Americans. He believed that economic power was the key to further advancement for African-Americans. He reasoned that, if Whites begin to view African-Americans thrifty, industrious owners of property, African-Americans will eventually be granted equal rights.

Political rights -- Booker T. Washington took very conservative political positions on African-American political rights. He chose not to press the White South for civil rights, voting rights, or access to higher education for African-Americans. Instead, he accommodated Segregation as a means of building goodwill with the Whites. However, he did secretly fund legal battles involving the rights of African-Americans.

Leadership in the African-American communities of the United States -- Washington believed that the leaders of the African-American community should build support at the grassroots, community level. He also advocated cooperation with leaders of other powerful groups in order to build goodwill. He even promoted cooperation with the White Southerners who were opposed to the advancement of African-Americans.

Reconstruction -- Washington thought that the Reconstruction era did little to develop African-American capacity for self-reliance. He remembers that African-Americans "…looked to the federal government for everything, very much like a child looks to his mother…." (Slavery, Chapter 5) Because of this, he did not think that African-Americans were ready for the "duties of citizenship."

W.E.B. DuBois's Views

Education -- W.E.B. DuBois advocated a Liberal Arts education, which he described as training DuBois believed that education was crucial to rescue the African-American mind from centuries of psychological abuse and self-hate. He believed that it "was not merely a passport to social and professional standing but the master key to collective empowerment as well." (Souls, 103)

Economic rights -- DuBois had a very broad, international view of economics and capitliasm. This made him a harsh critic of the American capitalist system and he recognized that African-Americans were starting at the bottom of that system. DuBois advocated essentially Socialist views, believing that African-Americans would have to show solidarity with workers in other parts of the world in order to achieve a fair place in society.

Political rights -- DuBois sought civil rights, voting rights, and access to higher education. He believed that these rights were necessary for true citizenship and true manhood. He was opposed to Segregation and refused to accommodate the views of bigoted White Southerners. (Souls, 248).

Leadership in the African-American communities of the United States -- DuBois' took a more symbolic, elitist approach to leadership than Washington. His organizations, the Niagara Conference and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples, were started as small councils of influential leaders and citizens. The NAACP effects change primarily through legal challenges, public education, and political lobbying.

Reconstruction -- DuBois thought highly of the Freedman's Bureau system during the Reconstruction Era. He thought that such institutions were necessary to protect a vulnerable population from the irate Southern Whites. He even envisioned an expanded Freedman's Bureau "with a national system of Negro schools; a carefully supervised employment and labor office; a system of impartial protection before the regular courts; and such institutions for social betterment as savings-banks, land and building association, and social settlements." (Souls, 238)

Comparison

Both Washington and DuBois believed that education was the key to the advancement of African-Americans and both advocated a broad system of Negro common schools. Also, both were proud of their African-American heritage and thought that the Negro in America had a special destiny and place in America. That is, they did not believe that African-Americans were any less American than Whites.

Role of Class and Background

Washington believed that DuBois was an elitist who did not understand the conditions and challenges that most African-Americans faced, of struggling sharecroppers in the South. It is true that DuBois may have underestimated the great economic challenges facing African-Americans in the South. Washington, on the other hand, was from the class of newly liberated slaves who had to find a new way to live in the world. It is understandable that Washington would be concerned with how his people would get enough to eat. This is why Washington's program prioritized economic self-sufficiency through industrial education.