Booker T Washington .vs. W.E.B Dubois Essay Example

society.

In Document D Booker T stated: " 'Cast down your bucket where you are. ' Cast it down among the eight million Negroes whose habits you know, whose fidelity and love you have tested in days when to have proved treacherous... " Here he is telling African Americans to stick together, be your brother support. Then later on he addresses the white people to cast their buckets on African Americans and trust them to work on their land to make money, to work in their factories, to do manual work period, what ever needs to be done let them do it.

He was a smart man, you see, because he knew at this time that the power in this country was not going to allow his race to have control by being educated, and certainly not by being in political power. Therefore he devised a plan where African Americans learnt a skill. A skill that would get you money whether it is in carpentry, building, cleaning, black smithing, house keeping, etc. This was smart simply because doing this time manual labor was accepted by society for African Americans, and that's what Booker T wanted.

He wanted to live separately from them but live peacefully. And society would let them live peacefully as long as they don't feel threatened.. That's exactly how Booker T wanted it; he wanted to gain status slowly and gradually to give time to allow the Caucasian to gradually grow in acceptance along with them. Even though it was a slow process you still see that his plan was manifesting and working. He came up with a school called Tuskegee Institute,

but not just any school, a school for African Americans so they can learn a trade or a skill. In

Document G, Thomas Fortune who is a activist and a newspaper editor spent a week at Booker T school and stated: "No time is wasted on dead languages or superfluous studies of any kind. What is practical, what will best fit these young people for work of life, that is taught, and that is aimed at. Nor is moral and religious culture neglected.... lt is impossible to estimate the value of such a man as Booker T Washington. " He is saying that they are being prepared to actually do work, being prepared and being prepared quickly. So they can be successful in life by doing what s accepted by society.

Nevertheless you can clearly see that Booker T Washington plan was more reasonable for his time and not only that his plan was actually being put into action. Young African Americans were getting Jobs working for Caucasians, doing what they do best manual labor... a skill. Where as W. E. B DuBois was barely getting any where with his plan. A plan that was setup to fail in this day in time. A plan that was not going to help the African American race but simply hurt them. A plan that was utterly impossible to accomplish in the 18th and 19th Century.