Different ideas and approaches taken African American civil rights leaders
For hundreds of years, various civil rights leaders struggled for claiming the equal rights for all races in the United States, but they used different approaches and ways for pursuing the same aim - to guarantee African Americans the same rights as the equal citizens of the country. We have no rights to question the propriety of their words or actions, because their deeds were done for the common good, but we can surely say that their motives and beliefs were sincere and fair (Edchange.org). Another important fact that we should take into consideration while talking about the discrepancy and analysis of their ideas is the period of time they were living in. Different times impose a different imprint on people’s judgments. In the process of progress evolved the generally accepted rights of citizens along with those of the African Americans.
In the Progressive era the African American activism was mostly presented by Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois and Ida B. Wells. Booker T. Washington, a former slave, devoted his whole life to fighting for equal rights of the African American community and teaching the slaves. Washington created a school for the slaves where African Americans were taught how to teach others and how to work on the fields.
The establishment of the Tuskegee School made a great impact upon the creation of various educational institutions for African Americans. Booker T. Washington believed that education is one of the most important things not only for white people, but also for an African American. He believed that only with the help of acquiring practical educational skills a person with another color of skin can achieve something in the life (Washington).
The school opened by Washington in 1881, was mostly focused on the industrial and agricultural vocational training. For 30 years, it was the only school in Alabama for colored teachers. Besides, the women could also study there as they were taught the home economy so they would be successful housewives or domestic servants. The Washington’s main aim was to train students in the skills, morals and religious studies with the academic subjects. He sent the teachers to their districts to share the new approach in teaching. The new format was that teachers must teach people how to put new energy and new ideas not only into farming but also into intellectual, moral and religious spheres of people’s lives. The rural extension program was developed for teachers who could not come to campus.
In his peaceful speech in Atlanta in 1885, Washington calls for the mutual partnership that is going to benefit to both races. He also asks the African Americans to tolerate the bad attitude of the white people and to be loyal to the work they are offered to do. He also calls the white people for providing them with jobs, so the peace and equal rights are achieved step by step with no harsh actions and words. This compromise results in Washington helping to establish the National Negro Business League. After the death of Booker T. Washington, all the supporters of his movement, as well as Atlanta compromise, stopped the support to the civil rights activism until it was commenced in the late 1950s.
This speech was challenged by W.E.B. DuBois, whose aim was to strive the right of African Americans to study both in classical academic programs and vocational institutes. DuBois, in his turn, confronts the ideas and approaches of Washington and claims that African American should not wait for the slight changes that may only come within a long period of time, but they have to fight for the democracy and their rights (DuBois).
If we compare the speeches of the social activists of different eras, we may notice that, for example, Martin Luther King Jr. in his speech “I have a dream”, draw a parallel between their time and the time when the slaves were freed because of the Abraham Lincoln.
But he calls the process of freeing from the captivity not completed as the segregation based on the color of skin was not extinct (King Jr.). In spite of the Declaration of Independence, not all citizens of America were treated equally, living in the poor conditions and suffering from being abused.
Another striking document that reveals us the scale of the support of the African American community is the letter of the first official African American baseball player Jackie Robinson to President Dwight D. Eisenhower. He was one of those who, for the first time in the history of US have broken the color barrier in major league of baseball. In his letter, Robinson asks the President to control the situation with the declining of some rights as there was a precedent where a few students were not allowed to enter the university because they were African Americans (Robinson). Robinson continued his advocacy of civil rights after his sport career.
In conclusion, it should be said that all the four cases of protecting the rights of African American have both similarities and differences. They all had one goal to provide a better life for the oppressed African Americans, but every figure had his own idea about this good. Booker T. Washington was an adherent of a policy of waiting for better times, because he had the imprint of slavish thinking in his consciousness. Many poems were devoted to this problem describing and exposing the true nature of African American problem (Poetryfoundation.org). W.E.B. DuBois was a more progressive, he urged African Americans to fight for their rights now. Martin Luther King, compared two times his and the time when slaves were freed, thereby to show the changes. As to Jackie Robinson, he fought for the rights and encouraged to fight his compatriots of all skin colors. Nevertheless, the fighters for the rights of African Americans had the noble reasons and approaches, no matter whether they were using peaceful methods or were asking for a rebellion. The real thing we must not forget is that the story should not be repeated. That is why the analysis and comparison of the actions and events that led to the equality of rights is so important.
Works Cited
Edchange.org,. "Malcolm X: The Ballot Or The Bullet". N.p., 1964. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.
King Jr, Martin. "I Have A Dream". N.p., 1963. Web. 27 Feb. 2016.
Letter from Jackie Robinson to President Dwight D. Eisenhower; White House Central Files Box 731; File: OF-142-A-3; Dwight D. Eisenhower Library; National Archives and Records Administration
Louis R. Harlan, ed., The Booker T. Washington Papers, Vol. 3, (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1974), 583–587.
Poetryfoundation.org,. "I, Too By Langston Hughes : The Poetry Foundation". N.p., 2016. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.
W. E. Burghardt Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk (Chicago, 1903).
