Booker T. Washington was of the idea that before the then Black Americans thought of legal and political equalities, they were to achieve self-economic betterment first. Therefore, members of the black community were to work on fundamental ways of improving their capacities of production and stop agitating for civil and voting rights. He welcomed the idea of social segregation and disenfranchisement between whites and blacks so long as the former accepted the progress of black people in agriculture, education and economics. For the Southerners, he approached his idea by introducing a school with education that could lead African-Americans to be more productive in the farm. As for the Northerners, members of his race were to learn about work ethics and industrial education that would make them more productive in the firm (Washington 1-3). On the same line of African-American civil advocacy, W.E.B. Du Bois horribly contrasts most of the Washington’s opinions, but accords him respect as one of the pioneers of true African American activism within intellectual sense. Du Bois sees Washington’s ideas as the total surrender of Black people to segregation and self-uplift. In this way, whites in both South and North would shift the problems affecting the Negros to the Negros themselves and stand aside as critical spectators (Du Bois 1-2).
Du Bois therefore demanded that the black person was to be uplifted in all spheres; because it was not sensible for a person to thrive economically and become economically equal if he is deprived of his or her legal and political rights in a society of servile caste. In this regard, W.E.B. Dubois’s approach is that all men are created equal and are endowed the same and equal rights to liberty, life and pursuit of happiness by their Creator. Equality and elimination of racism could only be achieved if all individuals were treated equally in the society; he disagreed with Washington that the problem of equality could be solved by diplomacy and policy alone (Du Bois 1-2).
Martin Luther King agrees with W.E.B. Dubois that the bank of justice for black people was not bankrupt to resort to gradualism as demanded by the government. However, unlike Du Bois who hinted of dispensing diplomacy and policies when pursuing civil rights, King wanted nonviolent involvements like peaceful protests, street marches, and legal sponsorship and representations in courts. Using the non-violent approaches, King’s aim was to see that all Negroes were not exploited, oppressed and segregated in all American spheres (King 1-2). Unlike King, Malcolm X’s ideas are quite radical. He approached the black African civil problem by advocating for radical black militancy to fight exploitation, degradation and oppression that black people faced at the hands of white men. He did not shy away from endorsing violence or any other means that would lead to attainment of the black African civil rights objective (Malcolm X 1-3). However, as with WEB Dubois, both King and Malcolm X saw that the activism needed not to take at a slow pace (Du Bois 1-2; King 1-2; Malcolm X 1-3).
Evidently, while Booker T. Washington advocated for gradualism for a black man to be well-off economically before thinking of legal and political rights, Du Bois saw it as a total surrender of the efforts of uplifting a Blackman in all spheres. The Du Bois’s view has been supported by both Malcolm X and King who observed that black activism could not wait for government or societal gradualism. As Malcolm X did not shy away from choosing extreme violence to achieve his nationalist objective, Du Bois also hinted that the objective of Black Nationalism could not just depend on policy or diplomacy alone. However, King sought non-violent means because it could lead to distrust among white people about black people. The four men, nonetheless, deserve respect, as having had agilities to fight for and improve African American welfare in the American society. In overall sense of black civil rights movement, they have emerged as most important in game-changing ideologies and approaches (Du Bois 1-2; King 1-2; Malcolm X 1-3; Washington 1-3).
Works Cited
Du Bois, W.E.B. “Doc. 16: W.E.B. Du Bois, ‘Of Mr. Booker T. Washington’", 1903.
King, Martin L. “Doc. 63: Martin Luther King, I Have a Dream Speech”, 1963.
Malcolm X. "The Question Tonight", 1964.
Washington, Booker T. “Doc. 15: Booker T. Washington. Atlanta Compromise”, 1895.
