Analysis Of The Essay 'Big Three' By Booker T. Washington

Brianna westcott
The reconstruction’s “Big Three” essay

Booker T. Washington , W.E.B DuBois , & Marcus Garvey had strong thoughts about the advancement of racial equality ..Washington main focus was for blacks to get educated before trying to fight for rights .DuBois focus was for blacks to demand rights then become educated and be able to do self evaluations.Garvey main focus was to get blacks to migrate back to their homeland which is africa rather than staying in america to fight for rights and equality plus gain whites trust.Overall in my opinion i believe that washington had to best approach to a solution for african americans problems.In the next 3 paragraph i am going to explain why I side more with washington then Garvey
or Dubois .

To begin Booker T. Washington was a african american spokesman and leader who was a slave. He taught elementary school & founder of a well known school.His approach to blacks problems was that they should start from the bottom and work their way back up. He wants blacks to accept discrimination and criticism concentrate on advancing. Washington really wanted to convince blacks and whites to come together. He says “cast down your bucket down where you are… cast it down making friends of people in all races” speaking to blacks and whites meaning blacks should ask for help don’t try to find the solution on your own don't be afraid to ask the whites for help.This quote is very effective because his audience is whites but are talking about black people which is very good , he trying to show whites that he are not attacking then but actually trying to get whites to install trust in the blacks. He also use parallel structure when again his audience is the whites but talking about the blacks “we shall contribute one-third to the business & industrial prosperity of the south , or we shall prove a veritable body of death”. Washington is trying to convince the whites that the blacks have a common interest in making the south better but also giving them an ultimatum.Washington's saying is effective and very realistic because if they put the blacks skills together and the whites knowledge they can create greatness.

Then there is Marcus Garvey , a jamaican political leader , publisher journalist and entrepreneur.Garvey main focus was for blacks to return to the motherland which is why he proclaimed the “Back to Africa” campaign.He states “purpose of the NIA is to establish in africa the the brotherly co-operation which will bring a common partnership and build up africa interest.By saying this his logic is that blacks go back to africa and build up their country , become colonized , then befriend the americans and build up their society more. However his logic is not so effective , blacks do not know the african language , culture , nor living conditions so why would they just up and leave to go to somebody else land to demand power when they cannot get power where they are now because they are at the lowest standard of life?. He tries to convince blacks that what they hear about africa is not true & the people that says this have not knowledge of africa so they should consider his option , “The old time stories of african fever , bad climates , & african savages have been repeated by these brainless intellectuals”. Garvey degrading intellectuals is somewhat effective because he making it seem as whites are lying to them and he is telling the truth so they should go to see for themselves and build their own , they don’t need to be in america they should be around their own races and prosper together with them.

Lastly there is W.E.B DuBois , he was a African American writer and activist.
Dubois also was the founder of the National Association for Advancement of Colored People. His approach about black progress was education like washington but more or so developing the top as to where they have to ability to view their situation as a whole.Dubois appeals to emotions when he says “ the facing so vast a prejudice could not bring inevitable self questioning , and self-disparagement “. By him showing repetition on how African American should be on outside looking in on themselves and what they should be looking for is a very effective option because of black really do consider his opinion they can fully understand their problems and hopefully find the solutions on their own. He also talks about unity , he wants them to view themselves and try to find a solution but also use the help of white's “ work,culture,liberty----all theses we need not singly , but together , not successively , but together , all striving toward the vaster ideal”.Meaning we are all striving for the same things so why not work together , the only way we can achieve the highest standard is so work together.Also by saying “vaster ideal” he means the whole point is for the races to come together with blacks and help plus share skills and knowledge so they can grow as
one.
Even though all 3 leaders had good solutions I believe that Booker T. Washington rhetoric was most effective and realistic out of all 3 men because his was more logical, he knows that his audience which is the whites is all about money and business so why not bring up how it can benefit the businesses and bring in more money to get their attention more. Then again he also appeals to the Blacks when he gave the whites a ultimatum to where it benefit the blacks and whites. He know that blacks cannot progress by themselves because they don’t have the tools to do so: like education so they should learn about history and english so they can be able to back themselves up and not just go off basic everyday facts.W.E.B. DuBois have similar logic about them being educated and coming together but he wanted them to be intelligent and so they can see their own problems and automatically demand rights instead of demanding help on making money and a safe environment for their families . he wants them to go against whites once they got educated.There are what if’s , because what if the whites do help them and they educated and rebell , then the whites over power and they are back at square one ? .Demanding rights is not working for them while they are not educated so if they are educated shouldn't they focus on be trusted and be able to show that they can benefit everyone with their skills.Marcus Garvey in my opinion is completely unrealistic .Blacks going to africa where they don’t know the culture , speak the language , nor do they know anybody is not really helpful.If they don’t fit in in america what makes him think they will when the get somewhere unfamiliar?.This question is mostly about blacks progress to equality which we still have problems today in the 20th century with whites having power of black men.So many cops have been killing our black men for no reason and they do not suffer a consequence but when it comes to black killing somebody we are used as scapegoats and are intitled demons.