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

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Slavery was an institution in which African Americans were broken apart from their families, brutally beaten, and were forced to live in extremely harsh conditions. Booker T. Washington describes this institution by using words such as “miserable” and “uncomfortable.” During the era of slavery, many slaves longed for the day that they would be free and maybe even have political rights. After the civil war, slaves such as Booker T. Washington were finally granted their long deserved freedom. However, there would be a long road to racial equality. Both W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington advocated for racial equality, however, Washington argued that in order to bring about equality, African American’s must work together with the whites in …show more content…

DuBois, on the other hand, criticizes Washington's approach is his book, Soul of Black Folks. DuBois argues that Washington’s approach to achieving racial equality is based on industrial education, southern compromise, and the silencing of civil rights. However, he believes that Washington should have taken his ideas further to engender racial equality. DuBois believes that African Americans should fight for their rights by forcing the south to accept the mistakes they made in the past and strive to enforce the principles of the founding fathers who said that “all men are created equal.” DuBois also argues that African Americans must freely voice their opinion so that they can bring about social change. For example, he criticizes Washington for not voicing his opinion during the time that he needed to voice it the most. He focuses mainly on the blame of slavery. He writes, “the whites, North and South, shift the burden of the Negro problem to the Negro’s shoulders and stands aside as critical and rather pessimistic spectators” (9). This quote suggests that whites try to justify slavery as being a problem of the Negro’s and that once they are able to take a stand, they can be successful. This differs from Washington’s views because he thought that by simply giving speeches, that social change would be engendered. However, DuBois thinks that African Americans have to take a stand to bring about racial

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