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Life of African Americans in the period after the civil war was stimulatingly difficult. Among the host of challenges were the Black codes which made their life no better than it was before the civil war. The Congress promised to emancipate African Americans from slavery, but it appeared as if blacks were still deprived of their basic rights. They still did not achieve the status equal to that of the whites. During this time of political unrest two prominent African American spokespersons, Booker T. Washington and W.
E. B Du bois arose and put forward their views about how this racial conflict could be ended and the blacks and whites could be united. They both strived real hard to help blacks achieve recognition of the civil and political promised by the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the Constitution. They even wanted blacks to rise out of poverty. Although their final goals were the same, the route that they took to it differed drastically. Du Bois could be categorized as a person who was more liberal while Booker T.
Washington chose to take the more conservative path. Knowing the differences between Washington's and W. E. B Du Bois's ideas as an African American living in the postwar south, I would follow Du Bois as his views were more satisfying and would prove to be a more effective way to pursue the goals of achieving recognition of the civil and political rights promised by the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments and also to life the blacks out Booker T. Washington and W. E.
B Du Bois were people with conflicting personalities. Washington's approach was more moderate as he seemed to be averse to rapid change. He believed in order for blacks to gain complete respect from the whites, they would have to live a life quite similar to the one they led in the period before the civil war. They would have to perform the same menial tasks. He believed that in this manner as soon as the economic condition of the South improved, blacks would be given equal Booker T. Washington put forward a program of industrial education, conciliation of the south, and submission and silence as to civil and political rights (W.
E. B Du Bois, 31. ) He believed that industrial education was extremely important because it was a way by which students could acquire knowledge as well as skill while working and earning money. It also gave students confidence and moral independence. Mr.
Booker T. Washington wanted African Americans to compromise by giving up their civil and political rights. Adjustment and submission of blacks was represented by his program. (W. E. B Du Bois, 37. ) Since he was a conservative, he desired that the African Americans also give up the ideas of political power, civil rights and higher education. He tried to divert their attention to things such as earning money to support their families, reconcilement of Southern states etc.
On the other hand, W. E. B. Du Bois held views that were in contradiction to those of Booker T. Washington. Du Bois chose a more liberal path to achieve his goals.
According to him African Americans should have used any means available to resolve the equality and cultural problems. He had complete confidence in the ability of African Americans and did not consider them inferior to whites and believed that they could govern themselves. Unlike Booker T. Washington whose program for emancipation focused more on work and money, W. E. B Du Bois aimed for more spiritualistic and honorary things.
The period of time before W. E. B Du Bois came into the limelight, the blacks had suffered a great deal from the whites. They had been disfranchised, not been given the right to higher education and were considered inferior to whites. Du Bois wanted to change all this completely and thus his ideas appeared to be more radical and demanding. as compared to those of Booker T.
Washington. W. E. B Du Bois was an elitist who believed it was the intelligence and smartness of the African Americans that had help elevate the masses and the sole obstacles that had retarded their efforts were slavery and racial prejudice. He believed that the black race had been transplanted by the foolishness of its forefathers (W.
E. B Du Bois, 38) Higher education and hard work could uplift them from this servitude and he knew that he could assist W. E. B Du Bois's ideas and his way of pursuing goals was more convincing and appropriate. Unlike Booker T.
Washington, Du Bois was more direct in his approach of achieving civil and political rights promised to the blacks. The environment in the post-emancipation south was not the same as before the civil war. Before the war, the blacks had not yet been declared emancipated so they did not expect themselves to be given the same status as that of the whites. But after the civil war, not been given their basic rights would aggravate them even more because now they were being deprived of something they lawfully possessed. Booker T.
Washington emphasized that African Americans should work under whites, gain their trust and thus gradually they would attain their freedom. This was irrational because the blacks had waited long enough for the emancipation proclamation. They had suffered a lot of hardships through this period of time. And making them wait even longer through his slow process would aggravate them even more would cause them to burst into revolt. Booker T. Washington's program of achieving civil and political rights for the blacks also had its own shortcomings.
His program was designed to please the North and invigorate the South. The Northern states had invested in Southern enterprises and so Washington's plan came as a welcome method of peaceful cooperation. Du Bois, unlike Washington did not preach surrendering to white supremacy. He insisted on self reliance and self- respect. He even believed that Booker T.
Washington's idea of industrial training was pointless as he did not encourage higher education. Only if the black teachers were well educated could they teach in these industrial training schools, and Washington failed to understand that. Booker T. Washington mentioned in his Atlanta compromise, "The wisest among my race understand that the agitation of questions of social equality is the extremist folly... It is important and right that all privileges of the law be ours, but it is vastly more important that we be prepared for the exercises of these privileges (Washington, 101. ) It was cowardly of Booker T. Washington to say that his people were not striving for equality.
He even said " The opportunity to earn a dollar in a factory just now is worth infinitely more than the opportunity to spend a dollar in the opera house. " Washington was just trying to demand equality in vague terms. But instead he should have been more specific and demanded social equality. This is because social equality was what the blacks in the south were striving for and they would not settle for anything less than it. Even though it is believed that Washington's program came as a relief to some southerners but yet it cannot be wholly accepted because it consists of less straightforward honesty and more of indiscriminate flattery. The black men of the post emancipation south were completely aware of the importance of voting. It was a way by which they could choose representatives who would better their conditions of living and work towards their welfare.
W. E. B Du Bois put this insight into their minds and made them realize that they should rebel against servitude and fight for equal rights and status as the whites. Bibliography:
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Research essay sample on Booker T Washington B Du Bois
