Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois are both great segregation activists, which one do you prefer? Booker T. Washington is an African American political activist. He also attended school at Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Virginia. He was a slave for nine years until the Emancipation Proclamation. He now encourages us to strive for a better education, stick with the jobs we are familiar with and to work hard in return. As for Du Bois, others may believe that his philosophy is more effective as he believes that education is the only key to stopping segregation, and not working hard. Booker T. Washington’s philosophy is effective because he encourages African Americans to follow Jim Crow Laws, work hard, and to continue working in the jobs we are familiarized with. …show more content…
Washington encourages African-Americans to work hard, rather than fighting against Jim Crow Laws. Specifically, Booker T. Washington urges us to subordinate our demands for equal rights and political rights. For example, Washington delivered the Atlanta Exposition Speech, and declared that we should work hard, rather than fighting for our political and social rights. “Cast down your bucket among these people who have, without strikes and labour wars, tilled your fields, cleared your forests, built your railroads and cities, and brought forth treasures from the bowels of the earth, and helped make possible this magnificent representation of the progress of the South.” -Booker T. Washington (Atlanta Voice: Atlanta Compromise). Clearly, this shows that Booker T. Washington is, in fact, encouraging us to work hard rather than fight. Overall, Booker T. Washington wants us to put our time into our work, rather than spending our time fighting segregation