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Compare And Contrast Washington And W. E. B. Dubois

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The problem of black leadership between 1895 and 1915 was raised by the celebrated debate between Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. DuBois. For two decades Washington established a dominant tone of gradualism and among blacks, while W.E.B. Dubois introduced a different approach.
Both Washington and DuBois wanted the same thing for blacks, first-class citizenship, but their approaches for obtaining it differed. Washington focused more on the method of advising blacks to start at the bottom, obtain an education, and work their way up to citizenship. DuBois, on the other hand, believed that political action and academic education would be the means to achieve full citizenship rights for black Americans. I believe that with each approach came its …show more content…

Washington explains that even if they were granted freedom, they should cast down their buckets “among the eight millions of Negroes whose habits you know, whose fidelity and love you have tested in days when to have proved treacherous meant the ruin of your firesides” (Washington 196). I believe Washington is trying to make the point that the support system for the blacks is and will remain in the South. Washington is also explaining that there is no better treatment that they can receive than from their own race. Washington is making a point that leaping from slavery to moving to the North may be too big of a leap to take, and that it would be an easier transition for the blacks to remain where they are, with people they know, and jobs that they do well. Washington counseled blacks to remain in the South and avoid politics, protest, to obtain a useful education, save their money, work hard, and purchase property. Washington believed by doing so, they can “earn full citizenship rights”. Nevertheless, I believe that just because it is easier to stay in the South and stick with the same jobs, does not mean that it is the best opportunity for the newly freed blacks to take advantage of all the opportunities that they have been opened up to

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