Similarities Between Booker T. Washington And W. E. B. Dubois

Both Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois both had very different opinions on how black people should deal with the discrimination put forth on their race. Washington felt that black people should earn the same respect as white people while Dubois felt that black people needed to fight for their own equality rather than waiting around for white people to grant it to them. Both black men had very different upbringings. Washington was born a slave in Virginia while Dubois was an educated free man. This would explain why their different opinions vary. (The talented tenth, SC 15.4) As Washington discussed in “Booker T. Washington’s Atlanta Exposition Address, 1895”, he felt that black people needed to work their way up from the bottom to the

As both men were educated at a university level themselves. Washington believed that children should not only be educated by books but must also be educated by trade. As he said in “Industrialized Education for the Negro”, he views having a book education only is something that leaves black children in a “weak position” in life. He felt that if the children didn’t continue to be taught the jobs of slaves, the world would be worse for both races because the white people were dependent upon the black to do these jobs. He believed this would give the black people honor and dignity in the eyes of the white race. He said many times in the article, what does it matter if a woman can tell you about astrology and physics if she can’t provide food for her family in which they need to live? He felt that the black race was so focused on doing what they couldn’t before, that they wouldn't survive because they aren’t learning or teaching basic survival techniques they once knew to future generations that are critical to survival in the real world regardless of race. As discussed in “The Talented Tenth, 1903”, Dubois felt that men needed to be taught more than trade or how to make money but instead needed to be taught intelligence. He viewed intelligence as something that makes true men. He didn’t see the importance of black youth learning the trades of their ancestors as it did not make them men in his eyes. He believed the mere means of living should not be the only goal that they should have for life and black men were capable of so much more. He believed black people were able to excel academically against white people which would give them