Evaluate and contrast the views of Booker T. Washinton and W.E.B Dubois as how blacks should respond to their unequal status. Which of the two, Washington or Dubois, had the strategy most likely to be successful.
Booker Washington was perhaps the most famous black American for his time even when he was the one who took tea with President Roosevelt in the White House in the early parts of the 20th century. He believed in dialogue and discussion in his efforts to achieve more rights and status for the black population who were severely downtrodden in the Deep South. He came up with the much vaunted Atlanta agreement which however did not do much to improve the status of black people in the South and who remained severely abused and without any sort of rights. Washinton’s approach was rather meek and did not bring about much advancement.
In contrast WEB Dubois was much more radical in his approach as he campaigned vigorously for civil rights which were denied to blacks on a daily basis. He was an early campaigner against the horrors of lynching which remained rampant in the Deep South especially in the early years of the 20th century and was also a founder of the NAACP, the national Association for the Advancement of Coloured People. His approach brought about a greater consciousness on the problems of blacks who were living a life of abuse and danger and his campaigning even eventually reached Congress where an anti-lynching bill was sponsored although that did not have much success.
Works Cited:
The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America: 1638–1870, (Ph.D. dissertation), Harvard Historical Studies, Longmans, Green, and Co, online. (1896)
