The black folk were freed by the abolition of slavery, yet this new freedom was not so. Ther identity was forever fractured between black and American, and even after they internalized the whites’ perspectives of them, they still wanted to be both without the disadvantages and racism. They were degraded, dehumanize, and shamed for their lack of education and job skills.
In 1865, the Freemen’s Bureau was established by Congress to provide them with aid after living in slavery and not owning tools, homes, or land. Du Bois described them as hopeless, voiceless, humiliated, disrespected, and ridicule and how society was too focused on politics and wealth. “Would America go poor if white people acknowledge black folk are human beings like any other?”
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Washington. He was an educated African American, born in slavery, and saw as the leader of the black folk. His main agenda was to promote the policy of submission since black folk could only survive in it. They wanted political power, civil liberties, higher education, accumulation of wealth, and consolidation of the south, and for their values and beliefs, Washington publicly shamed them. Th black folk further internalized the propaganda that slavery was justified, they neglected their own education, and their future depended mainly on their own efforts. To this, Du Bois responded civil liberties, education, and equal opportunities were detrimental to anyone’s advancement in …show more content…
Du Bois discussed once the southerners became prejudiced against them, all different injustices started unraveling. Firstly, restaurants, bathrooms, schools, and transportation were isolated for their used only. Secondly, they were denied their civil liberties like their right to vote, free speech, or the right to privacy. Thirdly, their human rights were violated. The black folk and their families of 8 to 10 slept in a 1 or 2 room cabin violating their right to a decent life. They were humiliated in public, even assaulted, violating their right to public security and free from degradation; and considered and treated as individuals with no human qualities violating their right to equal treatment before the law. Fourthly, they did not have the standard education and equal job opportunities. Fifthly, Children had to work to make a living, and although it was cultural and out of necessity, it is seen as child abuse and neglect by Social Work standards. Lastly, black young girls were sexually abused by the plantation owners when they were still living in slavery thus increasing the promiscuity outcomes. Du Bois said, “Ignorance of racial differences of African Americans only creates more