The period following the Reconstruction of the United States was a very difficult time for Blacks. After the North had fought for them to gain freedom from slavery, they were abandoned and were forced to fight for themselves. There was much ambivalence among blacks in regard to how they would go about achieving civil rights. During the end of the 19th century there were two black leaders who had completely different opinions on how blacks should accomplish these goals. Booker T Washington urged blacks to uplift themselves through vocational training and economical self-reliance. W.E.B Du Bois, on the other hand, was an advocate of complete racial equality. More recently, a similar dilemma occurred among blacks. Martin Luther King, Jr. Believed in acquiescence, while Malcolm X felt that blacks should attain equal rights ‘by any means necessary’, or, violence. During the Civil Rights movement, non-violence was the best way for blacks to attain equal rights because it was important that the white community respect them, which would have been impossible had they continued to be violent.
Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Dubois had two very different ideas on how to accomplish their goals for equality. Washington urged blacks to accept there inferior social positions and strive to raise themselves economically. As stated in Document D, He believed that ‘ The opportunity to earn a dollar in a factory just now is worth infinitely more than the opportunity to spend a dollar in an opera house.’ Here he suggests that before blacks strive to attain complete equality, they should be more concerned with having the money and respect in order to do so. He believed that for the time being, segregation was acceptable and suggested that blacks not concentrate on receiving a good education but to learn well to work with their hands. This was an appropriate because it was very realistic and set blacks up for a future of equality, even if it could not be attained at that time.
The Term Paper on Booker T Washington Black Dubois Equality
Discrimination The struggle for social and economic equality of Black people in America has been long and slow. It is sometimes amazing that any progress has been made in the racial equality arena at all; every tentative step forward seems to be diluted by losses elsewhere. For every "Stacey Koons" that is convicted, there seems to be a Texaco executive waiting to send Blacks back to the past. ...
The idealistic Du Bois, on the other hand, felt that the advancement of American blacks would best achieved through socialism. His main goals were for there to be total equality and for integration. As Stated in ‘The Niagara Movement,’ Voice of the Negro II, Du Bois said that, ‘Negroes must insist continually…that voting is necessary to modern manhood, that color discrimination is barbarism, and that black boys need education as well as white boys.’ This was true but unrealistic because it was difficult for the white people grasp. There was a tremendous amount of racism in the country and lynching became an issue for blacks who fought for equal rights. Therefore, Booker T Washington’s strategies were far more effective, because his goals were far more realistic and attainable.
During the time of the Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King, Jr. had views as those of Washington on how to achieve equality, which were the opposite of Malcolm X. His goals were to gain political and social rights through non- violent resistance. In 1955, he organized The Montgomery bus boycott to protest enforced racial segregation in public transportation after the arrest of Rosa parks. He was successful when in 1956 when the Supreme Court outlawed all segregated public transportation in the city. He also lead blacks in other protests such as sit-ins and a march on Washington to protest the countries failure to solve the race problem. In the end, blacks received Voting rights and civil rights, and eventually affirmative action was brought about. Eventually whites feared a Revolution and of a cold war, and realized that it was time to give blacks the rights they deserved. His goals were realistic and attainable which led to his respect from both white and black people. Malcolm X, on the other hand, had similar views to those of Du Bois in the case of civil rights. His goals focused on social and economic aspects, and he believed in ‘Black Power’.
The Essay on The Fight for Equal Rights Black Soldiers in the Civil War
Black soldiers were among the bravest of those fighting in the Civil War. Both free Blacks in the Union army and escaped slaves from the South rushed to fight for their freedom and they fought with distinction in many major Civil War battles. Many whites thought Blacks could not be soldiers. They were slaves. They were inferior. Many thought that if Blacks could fight in the war it would make them ...
He felt that this should be attained through ‘any means necessary’, and by this he encouraged violence. He said, ‘You’ll get freedom by letting your enemy know that you’ll do anything to get your freedom; Then you’ll get it. It’s the only way you’ll get it.’ He encouraged blacks to start riots in cities which resulted in destruction and looting of cities and also of the killings of many people. Unlike MLK, Jr., he wanted blacks to be segregated from whites. He encouraged the black man to hate the so-called ‘white devil’ and to gain rights but to still remain separate. This was unrealistic because it is obvious that it would be impossible for blacks to live in the same country as whites, but remain separate. Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam’s entire way of handling the issue of Black Civil Rights was impractical because it lead to much chaos, and would have only lead to a lack of respect for blacks had it continued.
Although the black community has achieved many of the goals it has striven to achieve in the past, there is still much improvement needed. There is still widespread racial tension and Racism today. Issues such as the O.J. Simpson trials and Rodney King have contributed to much of the racial tension. Such groups as the KKK still exist although the numbers have decreased since the past. It seems as though the issue of race will continue to be an ongoing battle until people are willing to not judge ‘ on the color of [one’s] skin, but on the content of [one’s] character’, as Martin Luther King, Jr. stressed in his highly acclaimed ‘ I have a dream’ speech.
