Asha Richards Green

Segregation, the separation of races, was enacted at the turn of the 19th century mainly in the south to show white supremacy over black. This outraged many blacks because they believed that they would get equal rights and opportunities after the Civil War. Many civil rights activists had ways of getting to racial equality but the ideas of W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington were the most looked upon. Although Du Bois and Washington were aiming for the same goal, they had very different ideas for getting there. With the disagreement of such important figures in the fight for civil rights, African Americans were faced with the question of whether to use economic independence or protesting to get to racial equality? According to Booker T. Washington, economic stability and independence was the key. He claimed that there [seems] to be a dependence upon the government for every conceivable thing. [These people have] little ambition to create a position for themselves, but wanted the federal officials to create one for them.(Up From Slavery) Washingtons ideal pathway to equality was for African Americans to create a position for themselves using economic independence and become equal in any other way possible. On the contrary, W.E.B. Du Bois argued precisely the opposite. Du Bois believed that African Americans should protest for the government to do something about segregation. Du Bois stated that black men are called upon by every consideration of patriotism and loyalty to oppose such a course [segregation] by all civilized methods [protest] These two activists came across their different ideas because of the different ideals they based them off of. According to Booker T. Washington Nothing ever comes to one, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work (Up from Slavery). This would explain why he believed that it was so important to work and make economic independence to get racial equality. Yet contrary to his ideas, there seemed to be a dependence upon the government for every conceivable thing. (Washington, Up from Slavery) Based on his diction, one can tell that he believed that people rested on the government too much and used it as an excuse for not working. To Washington, the heavy

Asha Richards Green

reliance on the government was the greatest impediment to racial equality. On the other hand Du Bois, believed that the government was the only thing that could help blacks in their struggle for equality. He even stated that the power of the ballot we need [for our] sheer defense With this concept, he came to the conclusion African Americans had to get the government on their side to defend their rights as citizens. Du bois believed that the greatest impediment for racial equality was ignorance. Ignorance that black people were no different from white people. Either America will destroy ignorance or ignorance will destroy the United States. Both sides had very valid points yet had shortcomings as well. With having the government by their side and enforcing racial equality, legally, African Americans would have equal rights. Yet people can break the law or create loopholes and if it is done on a large scale what much can the government do. An example of this would be the Trayvon Martin case. With economic independence as Washington suggested, African Americans wouldnt have to rely on whites, they would be able to build up their own communities, and lead their own lives. On the other hand, if this were to occur, it would actually cause a kind of city segregation and if economic independence was to be obtained, most likely, blacks would have to end up sharecropping or working under a white man which defeats the purpose. It took nearly 100 years for African Americans to obtain equal rights in the US. African Americans never did get economic independence; in fact, African Americans have the lowest gross domestic income. Peaceful protest lead by Martin Luther King and other civil rights leaders helped to end segregation. Although the pathway of Du Bois was the method used to get the racial equality of today, both ideas were very crucial to consider in the civil rights movement. Persons may never really know which idea would have the better effect but one known fact is that African Americans have come a great way from slavery days.

Asha Richards Green Works Cited Booker T. Washington. Google.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Oct. 2013. <https://sites.google.com/site/conservativequotedatabase/booker-t-washington>. Booker T. Washington Quotes. Goodreads.com. Goodreads, 2013. Web. 6 Oct. 2013. <http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/84278.Booker_T_Washington>. W.E.B. Du Bois quotes. Goodreads.com. Goodreads, 2013. Web. 6 Oct. 2013. <http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/10710.W_E_B_Du_Bois>.