III. Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others

Summary

Du Bois starts by discussing the successes of Booker T. Washington. He states that the Atlanta Compromise was his greatest success. It was an agreement that saw Southern Black people agreeing to work for and accept white political rule in exchange for basic education and due process of law. Du Bois also points out that Washington was met with success in the North, able to connect with Northern Whites, despite having been born in the South. Du Bois acknowledges the success and prosperity of Washington, who he labels as the “one recognized spokesman” of Black people, but states that there is still room for criticism of Washington.

Du Bois offers that the largest problem with Booker T. Washington’s work is that it relies on “adjustment and submission.” Du Bois has difficulty accepting that the success of Washington’s program “practically accepts the alleged inferiority of the Negro races.” He believes, while appreciative of the success of Washington, that work such as the Atlanta Compromise cannot be supported as it is a policy of submission. Du Bois states that in, “the history of nearly all other races and peoples the doctrine preached at such crises has been that manly self-respect is worth more than lands and houses, and that a people who voluntarily surrender such respect, or cease striving for it, are not worth civilizing.”

Du Bois claims that Booker T. Washington has asked Black people to give up three things: political power, the push for civil rights, and higher education for Black people. Du Bois says that the result of these requests is loss of rights, the creation of an inferior class for Black people, and loss of resources and aid for higher education. He believes that Washington’s efforts have mostly created industrial labor workers, despite the need for more Black teachers, which require higher education. He says that the request for Black society should be the right to vote, civil equality, and the education of young Black people based on their ability. He states that the peace that Washington brokered with the post-war South was traded for the “industrial slavery and civic death” of Southern Black men.

Analysis

Like his contemporary Booker T. Washington, Du Bois believes that Black people can advance in America, but he has sharply different ideas about how to effect change. As a Pan-Africanist, Du Bois believes that Black people have common interests and should seek to unify, while Washington maintains that Black people should assimilate into white society. Du Bois maintains that education and civil rights are the just way to gain equality, while Washington works within the white establishment and often consults the President at the time, Theodore Roosevelt. Although the two men have differing views, they are both instrumental in the early fight for civil rights.

Du Bois’s disdain for Washington’s approach of “adjustment and submission” highlights the contrast between his idealistic approach and Washington’s pragmatic goals. The two men’s different backgrounds contribute to their opposing viewpoints about how to accomplish the same goal. Washington was born into slavery and his domestic service did not end until he became a teacher. In “The Atlanta Compromise,” his emphasis on learning practical trades to further Black people economically is a reflection of his pragmatic definition of success. Du Bois, however, grew up among freed people in the north and went to integrated schools, a perspective that allowed him to imagine a more egalitarian society. He believes that white people should bear much of the responsibility for the problems they created rather than expect Black people to demean themselves by continuing to subjugate themselves within white society. His stance that submission will ensure the continuation of a cycle that will hinder Black people from progression illustrates his desire for long-term change. As a sociologist, Du Bois not only wants to bring about changes that will create a better future for Black people, but to impart ideals that will make white people aware of the negative consequences of racism and be accountable for them. His assertion that educational opportunities will lead Black people to cultivate their own leaders illustrates his belief that an egalitarian society can break this cycle and, more so, that creating such a society is possible.