Essay: The Souls of Black Folk (1903) – W.E.B. Du Bois

In the seminal work of The Souls of Black Folk (1903) W.E.B. Du Bois becomes a critic in one of his excerpts “Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others.” Du Bois outlooks Mr. Booker T. Washington as an individual and speaks of him with criticism. W.E.B. Du Bois is impacted by Booker T. Washington’s achievements but also looks down upon his leadership for the African American community. In order for Du Bois to talk about his opinion on Booker T. Washington, as a sociologist he analyzes Washington’s achievements and background. Despite W.E.B. Du Bois’ and Booker T. Washington’s differences in opinions, background and methods, they both wanted racial equality and had a huge impact for African American leaders that came after them.
With Du Bois coming to a disagreement with Washington, he considered Washington a bad leader because he was respected by whites from the North and South. Because of his willingness to accommodate Jim Crow laws, Washington delivered his famous Atlanta Compromise speech, where he stated, “In all things that are purely social, we can be as separate as the fingers.” (Du Bois 1) Basically humiliating blacks and a view that many blacks disagreed with and many whites favored. Washington is establishing that he would rather trade rights for jobs and this is where Du Bois counterclaims him. While black people were “silenced” in their criticism of Booker T. Washington, he was working with conservatives, specifically with white southern men on setting up the “Atlanta Compromise”. This clinched his fame and W.E.B. Du Bois was not contempt with race relations that Washington’s had and his perspective towards it was not a common thing to do at that time of the era. It was rare to see or hear that a white folk had treated an African American with respect, with the era of slavery and racial segregations. Africans and whites were not often to spotted having a normal conversation, it was certainly unlawful and a folkway to the African American community and the white community to encounter each other Booker T. Washington had with the whites.
“Du Bois had a flamboyant personality and a combative spirit.” (Shi & Tindall 815) He tended to attract attention because of his confidence and vibrant spirit. Born an African American, he faced racial conflict and generally overcame them, but soon impacted his thinking. As the cofounder of the the National Association for Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) where he fought against lynching, segregations of school and more, he claimed that “slavery and race-prejudice are potent if not sufficient causes of the Negro’s position” (Du Bois) and that striving is important, but must be swelled by policies and institutions that support people’s roles to strive. Though W.E.B. Du Bois’ experience with many racial prejudice in school and it didn’t stop him from the famous publication of his writing. As an African American W.E.B Du Bois knew how much a person like him will struggle to achieve a human basic right. He does not fully look down upon Mr. Booker T. Washington because he has been in his shoes of facing racial segregation but did disagrees to his philosophy and way of thinking.
In the late 1880’s the Ku Klux Klan group and racial segregation laws had taken over the south, a few of African Americans were barely educated and because of the failure of the Civil War, they were not freed. The community needed a way to respond to these to white supremacist and Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois were one of the few that knew how to respond to these white supremacist. Even though Washington and Du Bois both had their own plans ands ideas on how African Americans can achieve success in America, their clashing ideologies paved their way for the modern civil rights movements in America. They both foundly agreed upon education and how it will benefit anyone in the future. It is a clear acknowledgment that the legacy of slavery should never be forgotten, and that those who pushed for education and civil rights should never be forgotten.