W.E.B DuBois

W.E.B DuBois

How were W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington different, and how did they change the black community?

Two great leaders of the black community in the late 19th and 20th century were W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington. However, they sharply disagreed on strategies for black social and economic progress. Their opposing philosophies can be found in much of today's discussions over how to end class and racial injustice, what is the role of black leadership, and what do the 'haves' owe the 'have-nots' in the black community (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/race/etc/road.html).

By the 1890s Washington had become the most prominent black leader in America. In a speech he stated his conviction that blacks could best gain equality in America by improving their economic situation through education rather than by demanding equal rights. He preached a philosophy of self-help, racial solidarity and accommodation. He urged blacks to accept discrimination for the time being and concentrate on elevating themselves through hard work and material prosperity. He was sharply criticized by other black leaders—including W. E. B. DuBois, who would become Washington's great intellectual opponent—though many blacks and most whites supported his views. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B.  DuBois had many different ideas on racism. The intolerable racism that continued to oppress African-Americans led W.E.B. Du Bois to support change through agitation and protest. Du Bois's landmark work The Souls of Black Folk expressed the view of Washington would merely perpetuate oppression (http://www.americanwriters.org/writers/washington.asp). DuBois advocated political action and a civil rights agenda. He was one of the founders of the NAACP.

 In addition, he argued that social change could be accomplished by developing the small group of college-educated blacks he called "the Talented Tenth:" At the time, the Washington/DuBois dispute polarized African American leaders into two wings--the 'conservative' supporters of Washington and his 'radical' critics. The DuBois philosophy of agitation and protest for civil rights flowed directly into the Civil Rights movement which began to develop in the 1950's and exploded in the 1960's(http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/race/etc/road.html). Both Washington and DuBois had great ideas on racism and how to handle it. They influenced the black community in many ways.