Booker T Washington & W.E.B. Dubois

Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Dubois

During the Progressive era, two of the most influential African Americans in history spoke out. Not always agreeing with each other, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Dubois fought for what they believed in and worked to obtain full rights for African Americans. Each sharing their own opinions on how to approach this dream, they will be forever remembered for their attempts.

Booker T. Washington spoke his opinions before a predominantly white audience, often including the president and other important male figures. Washington came up with a program of industrial education and silenced civil and political rights. In The Souls of Black Folk, Dubois states that "he [Washington] put enthusiasm, unlimited energy, and perfect faith into this programme." Mr. Washington is most remembered for his quote "in all things purely social we can be as separate as the five fingers, and yet one as a hand in all things essential to mutual progress," which he delivered as part of his Atlanta Compromise in 1895. He believed that it is important for the privilege of the law to belong to African Americans, as well as the white people, and that all people started "practically empty-handed three decades ago." His views on equality among the races led to many famous speeches and to the recognition of how important the African Americans were to the building of our nation.

W.E.B. Dubois is another African American man who greatly shaped our nation with his thoughts. Dubois wrote a book called The Souls of Black Folk to inform the readers of African American rights and the spokesmen for them. In chapter three, Dubois talks about Mr. Booker T. Washington and his decision to obtain African American equality by presently giving up on asking for political power, civil rights, and higher education for the youth. Mr. Dubois does not agree with Washington's view because he believes that the best way to achieve civil rights for the African American people is