Baby Steps

Mason Labash

English 48b

January 12, 2010

Journal #4 W.E.B. Dubois

“Nevertheless, out of the evil came something of good, ---the more careful adjustment of education to real life, the clearer perception of the Negroes’ social responsibilities, and the sobering realization of the meaning of progress.”

"Dubois horribly disagreed with many of Washington's opinions, but also garnered a respect for him as one of the first true black intellectuals who tried to help the black race."

            W.E.B. Dubois is acknowledging the benefits of Washington’s work by accepting the harsh realities of improving the status of an entire race that has been held down by years of oppression. When Washington opened up the opportunity for a greater amount of the African American population to be educated in various trades, he was making a step in the right direction. Because his work had been put to the test and could now be appreciated as well as criticized, African Americans could see that just being educated in certain trades was not enough to compete with whites. Even though it would take unimaginable effort, it was so important that African Americans be educated in equally funded universities that taught all the subjects one might be interested in. When Dubois speaks of the social responsibilities of Negroes he is referring to the responsibilities they must embrace in order to better the well-being of their race. Many African Americans could easily see that what Washington had done was merely a good starting point, and that they must learn from his shortcomings and because they could now do this they had a clearer perception of what they must do. For African Americans it became increasingly apparent that progress for a race once in shackles would be sluggish and this was quite “sobering.”

            Although African Americans still had much to accomplish, Washington’s efforts were more than a successful first step. I would even go as far as to say that this first step could not be achieved through any other method. For this reason I believe Dubois is much too critical of Washington and even refers to Washington’s work as “evil.” Clearly Dubois’ ideas for advancing African Americans were exceptionally effective and well thought out as we can see looking back on it, but if he had tried to put those ideas into effect at the same time period Washington was putting his into effect he would have failed miserably. What Dubois seems to forget is that it is because Washington’s ideas were mild enough that they were tolerable to the Whites in power. It does not matter that Dubois’ ideas were what was best for the advancement of African Americans in this context because they were far too extreme and therefore could never have succeeded as an initial step.

            One of Dubois’ main points is that Washington sold himself short. In actuality he did the most he could possibly have done given his situation. In Dubois’ eyes Washington could have really gotten the ball rolling on African American suffrage. If he had done that he would have met a nation totally resisting not only African American suffrage, but every idea he wanted to make a reality. He knew that the White’s first and lasting reaction would be something to the extent of “If they get the right to vote all hell will break loose.” The majority of Whites would immediately identify him as radical and would most likely shut out basically everything he had to say. The way he portrayed his ideas are what got him to be heard and for him to be silenced would undoubtedly be one of the great tragedies of our nation’s history.

Works Cited

"Booker T. Washington vs. W.E.B. DuBois." American Studies @ The University of Virginia. Web. 13 Jan. 2011. <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug03/souls/washingtonvsdubois.html>.