Booker T vs. Dubois

629 Words3 Pages
Washington vs. Dubois Booker T. Washington would argue that Whites had every right to leave when they felt that their way of life was threatened. Furthermore, he would probably chastise those African Americans who would "dare" to try and move up and out of their societal station. Washington believed in a segregated world, where the different races, white and black, would coexist as separate, and eventually, equal. He was born a slave, and grew up with a slave mentality. To him, emancipation and the freedom of blacks- who now have some sense of control over their lives- was a milestone. I too agree that it was milestone, but unlike me, Washington was content to stay at that level of existence. After slavery, Whites were still very much in control of Black's lives and affairs. There was plenty of injustice and prejudice that led to an inequality in schooling. Washington sought to raise the bar in the Black community's education. Even so, he was not for Blacks learning the same things as the White folk. Instead he sought to "keep Blacks in their "place" and educate them to be more efficient laborers." (102) This relieved the Whites from their fears and had no problem allowing this kind of education of Blacks to continue. They realized that Blacks would not be a threat to the white society and their ways of life. Thus politics would continue to be White dominated. High paying jobs and a better education would always be guaranteed for the Whites and their descendants. When this was no longer the case, and blacks were beginning to seek better schooling, Whites were very resistant and uncooperative and left to seek areas where segregation could still be administered. Washington would explain this reaction as a necessary reaction to the Black “intrusion”. He revered Samuel Chapman Armstrong, a white union officer. Armstrong felt like darker skinned people
Open Document