Inevitably this discrimination also involved much more than just indifference of colour, blacks experienced poor working conditions violent retaliation and even lynching if the status quo of white supremacy was to be challenged. In search of better conditions, four leading African-Americans offered some solution’s to deal with the situation. Booker T. Washington, du bois, Marcus Garvey and Phillip Randall all contributed to giving the black community a voice in America. There different roles will be compared contrasted and assessed in their part to play in overcoming these challenges. Firstly Booker T. Washington, he was a Black educator who focused on practical education which would lead to black social advancement.
Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Dubois are arguably two most influential figures on the movement to achieve civil rights for black Americans. They both played large roles in trying to improve racial relations and civil rights during the late 19th and 20th centuries. Although they were both focused on enhancing the quality of black life in the United States, the fact that Washington was from the south and Dubois was from the north caused their views to differ. The “Atlanta Exposition speech” by booker T. Washington addressed the topic of racial relations in the south. “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.
African American Advancement Since 1865, African Americans have been a big target on the face of racism, to include segregation, discrimination, and isolation. Many people ask how African Americans were able to jump start their move up in society and work their way up to where they are now, if they had absolutely no freedom in 1865. This question has many answers, some of which I will discuss. I will discuss how African Americans have worked and fought in many ways to earn their freedom and attempt to put an end to racism. Stating the facts of how African Americans were able to come together as one race and exhaust all attempts to be like all other Americans will provide a few answers as to how they worked to end segregation, discrimination, and isolation to obtain equality and civil rights.
Du Bois and Booker T. Washington had contrasting philosophies on how segregation, civil-rights, and political action should be regarded in the black community. In comparison, W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington greatly cared for the Southern black community. The two civil-rights activists wanted to achieve racial equality but in their own ways. W.E.B.
Du Bois and Booker T. Washington have many conflicting views. For instance, they both believe that African Americans deserved egalitarianism, but Washington felt that the way to accomplish this goal would be through education. He felt that the establishment of Tuskegee Institute would allow African Americans to utilize education to infiltrate the work force and attain economic equality. Washington’s ideology advises Negroes to compromise by surrendering their civil rights, political rights and higher education for the Negro youth in exchange for a larger chance of economic development (p. 30). As a result, Du Bois says that Washington’s philosophy helped with the prematurely accomplished the disfranchisement of the Negro, the legal creation of a distinct status of civil inferiority for the Negro, and the steady withdrawal of aid from institutions for the higher training of Negro (p. 30).
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".
Brian Partee SOCY2000-Ethnic Minorities in the U.S. Dr. Bram Hamovitch 5/4/2009 3. Race as a Class Herbert J. Gans in “Race as a Class” explains how the human population as a whole is considered one race by sociologists and most biologists, but subsequently, different races were socially constructed based on skin color and social class beginning during the colonization period. Certain white ethnics were initially seen as inferior to whites but were eventually accepted as whites as they became more financially successful and moved up the social hierarchy, while blacks tended to seemingly be trapped toward the bottom of the ladder in terms of social structure, education, and financial freedom. However, the color barrier can be
“The contamination was largely due to the incursion into these communities by some majority social scientists, accompanied by black ultraconservative professionals who help pave the way for African-American exploitation” (See, 2007, p. 7). The black experience is an experience difficult to collect data on with the connection to Africa, however See (2007) suggest until social scientist are able to develop accurate information regarding the black experience, researchers should continue using the theoretical strips as a model for examining the behavior of African
We all know what discrimination is, but most of us don’t know how it feels to be discriminated against. It is usually not until we go through something like this ourselves, that we begin to fully realize how cruel prejudice is. Throughout history, African-American people have experienced first hand how hurtful these practices can be. They have had to endure much suffering and negativity, before they were able to rise to the standing they have today in society. The first injustice to this race occurred when they were forced to be slaves.
In “ The Arc of the Moral Universe is Long, but it Bends towards Justice,” written by Maya Angelou, and “America as a College,” written by Ryzard Kapuscinski; address common themes such as racism and overcoming a defeat. In Angelou’s article, it states that blacks are no longer invisible in the US, through hard work and achievement. “ Whites now see blacks, but only as a threat to their safety or their jobs.” In America as a Collage, it talks about how minorities overcome discrimination, and “all races will merge into one race.” Both articles address different issues on prejudice and an attempt to overcome racism. The two articles carry the theme of racism in different ways. Angelou’s article, states that African Americans have come along ways since the civil rights movement.