“Of Mr.Booker T. Washington and others” was written by W.E.B Dubois as a critique of Washington and his views on the improvement of black life. The “Atlanta Exposition” was aimed at improving the tension between white and black Americans in the south. The thesis of this speech was that black Americans should be more concerned with furthering their economic standing instead of their social standing. Washington urged blacks to join the work force in the south where they would be given a chance. In front of a predominantly white audience he asked that white southerners hired blacks because of their love for white people they serviced.
This is most evident in Booker T. Washington's, The Atlanta Exposition Address and W.E.B. Du Bois response to this, The Souls of Black Folk. Booker T. Washington’s gradualism stance gives him a popular appeal among both blacks and whites, although W.E.B. Du Bois has the upper hand when it comes to ideology dealing with economic prosperity among blacks. Washington favors the humble, ask nicely, appreciate what you’re given, and say thank you approach to obtaining social equality.
In the end, one plan is always going to be better when put into action, and in this case I believe that W.E.B. Dubois had the better plan. Both of these men set out to fix poverty and discrimination against blacks in America, but their strategies were radically different. Booker T. Washington felt that the only way to become equals in an unequal society is for blacks to work hard and become something. His idea was that if enough blacks were to become doctors, lawyers, businessman, and become successful in general that they could not be considered anything other than equal.
Here he compares the way Americans get treated, “become men,” to the way Europeans become, “useless plants.” For Americans, “here they rank as citizens” and in Europe, “formerly they were not numbered in any civil list of their country, except in those of the poor.” Crevecoeur tries to get the reader to see that in America, people get treated with respect and are not “mowed down by want, hunger, and war.” Emotional appeal tends to connect to the reader more and helps communicate Crevecoeur’s passion. His use of words, “melted into a new race of men, whose labours and posterity will one day cause great change in the world,” makes the reader want to be apart of that and gets them to feel the emotion about changing the world. Crevecoeur’s use of rhetorical questions with diction, simile, and emotional appeal connect to the reader and let them have a better understanding of American, his passion toward it and why is so much better than any other country. He wants the reader to receive the full aspect of why he feels the way he feels and to persuade them to come to America and
As already stated it is not the separation of African history and Modern blacks only when the two come together can u have true African American study. The study of African Americans is not a thing that has sprouted up in the wake of a divergence between whites and blacks in American with or without this canyon the study would still thrive and should always be a viable topic. This study is not a surrender of any previously recorded data or ideals that were made about African culture and isn’t a sub-level educational section that should be easily overlooked. In reality the Study of African American culture and the experience of doing so is the culmination of all studies previously recorded about African culture and the blending of modern society to confirm and create hypotheses about how our black culture came to be, where we pull influence from, and where our culture is headed. So now that we understand how to approach the study of the African American experience, will we now view our history and move into the future in a different light or will we continue to try and fit our unique presence into the preset constraints of modern
Martin Luther King Jr. on the other hand, sticks with his father’s Baptist. Even though both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. fought for civil rights, their ideas and approaches were different. Malcolm X believed in using any mean necessary to achieve rights for African Americans. He did not think that white and black should be integrate as he believes that such action lowers the pride of black and the value of their history. King had a different approach.
He makes irrefutable arguments using facts with historical accuracy, and presents complex economic information in a way that neither confuses nor condescends. Reich asks questions throughout the documentary, such as “Which countries’ workers add what value?” and “Who looks out for the American worker?” which serve as an effective tool to make the viewers think twice. He doesn’t bash the 1% either, and only describes their contribution to the problem as not spending their money. With credible statistics, intriguing visuals, and an overall charming presentation of what is actually an alarming problem, Reich persuades the American public that the fading distinctiveness of American democracy will not halt without an active pursuit in developing a stronger middle
Schlesinger examines the current attempts by black "leaders" to rewrite the history of black Americans in order to ostensibly improve their self-esteem and provide them with role models. Mr. Schlesinger argues that this sort of "compensatory history," or "underdog history" which is invented or exaggerated to soothe the wounds of the oppressed or abused, really can have no positive effect, either for those it presumes to help or for the nation as a whole. He states, "... black Americans, after generations of psychological and cultural evisceration have every right to seek an affirmative definition of their past". But he also states that, "History as a weapon is an abuse of history. The high purpose of history is not the presentation of self nor the vindication of identity ..." He points out that the reinforcement of such a separatist concept of black identity through such slanted or inaccurate history, coupled with a complete dismissal of the history of black people in America over the past 300 years, can only result in the "...fragmentation, resegregation, and tribalization of American Life".
But the event attracted far smaller crowds than fifty years ago. Of course, the centennial celebrations of the 1960s took place at the high tide of the civil rights revolution, which underscored the Civil War’s continuing relevance. A century after the war began, passions over the war did not seem to have diminished; at a gathering in April 1961 to mark the anniversary of the firing on Fort Sumter, the Headquarters Hotel in Charleston denied accommodations to a black delegate from New Jersey. In response, President Kennedy moved the event to a nearby naval base, whereupon Southern delegates seceded to hold their own Confederate States Centennial
The author starts the essay by reciting a quote by Cornel West who is an African American philosophy professor at Princeton. In the quote West says, “After centuries of racist degradation, exploitation, and oppression in America, being black means being minimally subject to white supremacist abuse.” In other words West is saying that black authenticity is not the same as white authenticity. He argues that although some may believe that America is a color-blind society and that we have moved beyond the segregation and racism of the past that race still matters today (Washburn, 183). The author of the essay says that race is more of a social issue rather than a biological issue in that a person can be black only within a certain kind of society. He also argues that being a member of a certain minority group develops one’s thoughts and