African Americans In The Late 19th To Early 20th Century

Was an accommodationist approach the best method to gain equal rights for African Americans in the late 19th to early 20th centuries?
Equality is a basic human right and needs to be realized for everyone but, unfortunately, it is not and never has been. Throughout history there have been great injustices faced by various groups of people, whether they were based on race, gender, sexuality, or religion. This discrimination has been combatted by brave, strong leaders through various methods. The question of how best to attain equality is significant as it can be applied to other similar situations in which discrimination holds a group of people back. An instance of this was the late 19th to early 20th century in the United States, which was a
During this time period, there were two main African American leaders who sought to bring freedom and equality for their people but found contrasting means to accomplish this. On the one hand, there was the accommodationist approach, which was the idea of self-help and economic progress that led to encouragements of black people uniting to help themselves and allowing their businesses to grow. Through this method, they would earn respect from whites and rid themselves of the prejudices that restricted and segregated them. These ideas were preached by many, but a prominent figure and spokesperson for the philosophy of accommodation was Booker T. Washington. On the contrary, there were people who viewed expressing discontent and taking political action as the ideal way to attain rights. One of the leaders who represented these ideas was W.E.B. Du Bois who rightfully criticized Booker T. Washington and his beliefs. The
Furthermore, Washington requested his people to refrain from pursuing a higher education and, rather, seek an industrial education despite being capable of more. This held back blacks from receiving a better education and reaching their full potential as American citizens. Du Bois, on the other hand, pressed for an equal educational opportunity for blacks instead of silently awaiting it from whites. Lastly, it can be argued that by accommodating the racism in the present, blacks were not proving their worth to the whites; instead, they were allowing the continued discrimination against themselves. By not voicing their discontent, whites saw no reason to change their ways and maintained their view of blacks as inferior. The only way to diminish this prejudice was to actively disapprove and challenge