Assignment #10
Compare and contrast the educational philosophies of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Dubois. What impact did these two men have in their own time and in subsequent decades?
Kitty Lui
Booker T. Washington’s views were influenced by his white mentor, General Samuel Armstrong. He was an avid proponent of virtues of manual and industrial training. Washington was impressed by the power of physical labor to impart discipline and a spirit of self-improvement of students, especially himself. He had developed his own educational philosophy and eventually became a leader and advocate of industrial education for African Americans. Washington wanted African Americans to accept their place in society and seek the White for help for economic opportunities and improve through honest hard work.
Compared to Washington who was born a slave, W.E.B Dubois was born in the north as a free man. He was able to attend public school and college, which influenced his view on advocating for classical education. He advocated for academic preparation for African Americans. He felt that African Americans needed leaders who were well educated able to thoughtful and articulate to assess and protest the injustices they face and formulate solutions to solve this issue.
Nancy Lu
After the Civil War, African Americans were faced with great discrimination. During this time period, Booker Washington and William Dubois were two prominent leaders that helped propose the best ways for African Americans to alleviate their situations. Both of their common goal was to uplift the discrimination and segregation of African Americans.
Washington believed that formalizing an education was a good way to improve standard living. Washington went to Hampton to study on the acquisition of industrial or practical working skills. This led him in becoming an educator and realized that the standard living for African Americans was to stabilize their future. His proposal was more popular among southern African Americans. He stressed the importance of stopping voting and civil rights for not only economic gains and security, but as well as anti-black violence. Dubois did not experience the harsh reality of slavery or prejudice. He believed in the “talented tenth” of the black population in which they were intellectual and would rise. Comparing with Washington, Duboi felt that equality with Whites were important. He showed this importance through political beliefs through the Niagara Movement.His beliefs were that African Americans should educate themselves in the liberal tradition.
Omar Sarreal
W.E.B Dubois and Booker T. Washington were two of the greatest African American leaders who advocated for African American children to receive quality education. The goals for these two civil rights activists were to dismantle the segregation of African Americans in the united states.
Booker T. Washington was born a slave in the south, but became free in the latter part of his lifetime. His philosophy was all about patience. He preached that people should be willing to wait for civil rights and strike at the right opportunity, when African Americans are undeniably ready for higher education.
W.E.B Dubois was a student of Washington. He was born a freeman in the north however. Unlike his teacher, Dubois believed that African Americans needed to receive equality as son as possible, not waiting for an opportune time to revolt.
Aliyah Deiz
Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Dubois were both very influential men in their lifetimes. Although they both fought and stood for the rights of the black community, they differed in their strategies for black social and economic progress.
Booker T. Washington believed that the black community should fight for the respect of the white community. He believed that focusing on bettering the black community through the crafts, education, and industrialization, would allow the white community to accept them. His philosophy was based on a virtue of patience.
W. E. B. Dubois disagreed with this “virtue of patience” and believed in taking actions. He was more involved in taking stands by advocating political endeavors and civil rights agendas, he was one of the helpers who founded NAACP. Dubois developed a small group of college-educated black students which he called “The Talented Tenth,” he argued that they would accomplish social change.
Angel Moreno
Without a doubt, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Dubois were two of the greatest leaders of the Black community in the late 19th century and 20th century. However, both of these philosophers had different point of views on concepts such as black social and economic progress. Their distinctive arguments and way of thinking can be distinguished mainly on how to permanently abolish class and racial injustice. Another concept in which both of these philosophers disagree is on what it means to be a black leader in their own communities. According to Booker T. Washington, the right type of education was through crafts and industrial and farming skills. In addition, he preached on the cultivation of the virtues of patience and thrift. On the other hand, Dubois argued that social change could be reached by developing the small group of college-educated blacks he called “the Talented Truth.” Washington strongly believed that a formalized education was the best way to improve his living standards. Washington became an educator and a supporter of industrial education. Dubois on the other hand, believed in the idea that blacks should get along with whites. He felt that blacks should educate themselves in the liberal tradition. One common goal that both of these philosophers shared were that they wanted to uplift the black community as a whole.
As for the impact each one of these philosophers made, Dubois advocated political action and civil rights. He personally helped with the foundation of the NAACP. His philosophy of protesting greatly flowed directly into the civil rights movement. On the other hand, the Nation of Islam and Maulana Karenga’s Afrocentrism began because of the efforts and philosophies of Booker T. Washington. Due to the education he received at Hampton, Washington founded the Tuskegee Normal and Agricultural Institute.
SUMMARY
Washington and Dubois had very different views, and a big part of it was because of how they were brought up. Washington advocated for education in manual and industrial training, Dubois advocated for classical education. It seemed as if Washington wanted African Americans to remain in the same place in society while Dubois wanted to fight the injustices and have them advance in society.