Booker T. Washington And W. E. B. Du Bois

283 Words2 Pages
In the South, with differing beliefs about Jim Crow laws among the white southerners, African Americans faced extreme racial discrimination and socio-economic hardships. Two well known African American leaders, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois, introduced opposing ideas for achieving racial equality. Booker T. Washington spoke about his approach to African American equality in his “The Atlanta Compromise Speech” in 1895. W.E.B. Du Bois wrote about his approach to racial equality in “The Souls of Black Folk” published in 1903. Washington believed that a more gradual approach would be more successful. His main focus was that African Americans prospered industrially and survived economically. On the other hand, Du Bois believed that more