1989 Dbq- Booker T. Washington

Segregation has been present in the United States since the early 1600s. It was not until about fifty years ago that Black Americans were granted full and equal rights. During the period of 1877-1915, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois took antithesis views on segregation; one being pacifying and conscious, and the other immediate and radical. It was almost a struggle between the two opposing forces working for the same common goal. Washington’s strategy was a conscious one; he thought everything would come eventually and he urged his followers to bide time. Du Bois has a much more immediate strategy; he wanted affirmative action instantaneously. Washington used his slow paced plan to create schools of industry such as the Tuskegee Institute. He created these schools to show mourning Black Americans the opportunities they had available to them. These schools did not promote politics or civil and intellectual rights, but taught African Americans basic and simple jobs. These schools did not challenge and extend intellectual knowledge to the fullest. W.E.B. Du Bois took a radical and harsh approach of telling Black Americans they were being treated unfairly by whites. He wanted black men specifically to go out and speak about the injustices they were suffering to receive fair treatment. Du Bois planned to take action for what he believed it. Washington urged blacks to cope with the current situation during the late nineteenth century. Du Bois, on the other hand, supported fighting for what the Black American community deserved. Washington simply settled while Du Bois was aggressive. Washington wanted the white and blacks to work together. Du Bois figured blacks needed equal rights as whites do, but that this could only be accomplished by integration. As shown by Document A, the school enrollment by race was much lower for blacks in the period before Washington and Du Bois became a great impact on the educational system. Beginning around 1905, there was an