The Talented Tenth by Web Dubois

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Abdulkadir Mohamed Instructor: MS young English 101 Date: 04/23/14 The Talented Tenth by WEB Dubois In WEB Dubois essay entitled “ Of Our spiritual striving”, a famous African-American activist who was fighting for the civil rights of black Americans published his famous essay The Talented Tenth at the beginning of the twentieth century. A committed advocate of equal rights for African Americans, Du Bois had his concept of achieving the goal, which he saw as the development of the black elite and providing, with its active involvement, educational opportunities that would benefit all African Americans. His essay The Talented Tenth addresses this issue by claiming that the black race “will be saved by its exceptional men” (W.E.B. Du Bois). Ten per cent of all the black men becoming leaders of their race will be enough to start major changes for all the black people in America by promoting education at different levels, writing books, and thus bringing about the social change necessary for the entire nation. This highly convincing, logically consistent and, at the same time, passionate essay addresses the relevant social, ideological, economic and organizational issues providing a comprehensive plan for changing the deplorable conditions of African Americans. In paragraph nine of the essay, the analysis of the system of education that will “raise the Negro as quickly as possible in the scale of civilization” is provided (W.E.B. Du Bois). The author’s insightful analysis points out that the purpose of such education should not be limited to teaching people how to earn a living by training to have the necessary technical skills in industrial schools. The necessity of this objective is evident; however, Du Bois emphasizes: “That alone will not civilize a race of ex-slaves” and claims that
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