Mr. Booker T. Washington and others

Dubois

Each struggle has its own unique voices and influences, that, when looked upon in a certain way, may seem to be held in opposition to each other. This is the case in dealing with two civil rights pioneers WEB Dubois and Booker T. Washington. The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate how Dubois' essay entitled " Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others" was successful at evolving the civil rights movement to a new prominent and powerful point. This division of philosophy within the black community was most likely necessary in order to fulfill the black race's destiny here in the United States.

This essay will highlight certain points within Dubois' criticism of Washington in his article that attempts to direct a new understanding of how racial equality should play out within an un-segregated society.

Dubois' article was blunt, direct and extremely critical of Washington's viewpoints towards the black race during the time of the publication of this article in 1903. His criticisms suggested that Washington was more concerned about the material gains that come with civil rights as opposed to the principles behind the movement of which Dubois found essential and preliminary. His scathing commentary began in the first paragraph of the article when he noted " Mr. Washington's programme naturally takes an economic cast, becoming a gospel of Work and Money to such an extent as apparently almost completely to overshadow the higher aims of life." Dubois made it clear he wanted to push for something better than what Washington was after.

The distinction behind these two leaders could be made due to their own personal histories. Booker T. Washington emerged in the midst of worsening social, political, and economic conditions for American blacks. His racial program set the terms for the debate on Negro programs for the decades between 1895 and 1915. Born a slave in a Virginia log cabin in 1856, Booker T. Washington was founder and principal of Tuskegee Institute, a normal and industrial school in Alabama. Washington is remembered chiefly for the Atlanta Compromise address. In this speech, he called on white America to provide jobs and industrial-agricultural education for Negroes. In exchange, blacks would give up demands for social equality and civil rights. His message to the Negro was that political and social equality were less important as immediate goals than economic respectability and independence.