In his 1903 collection *The Souls of Black Folk*, W.E.B. Du Bois wrote:
"Mr. Washington distinctly advocates common-school and industrial training, and depreciates institutions of higher learning; but neither the low-grade nor the high-grade industrial schools can keep up their work of years without a constant supply of teachers for them; and who would teach these teachers? It is the college-bred man, and him alone, that has slowly and toilsomely to be helper-in-law, provider of systematically taught schools, and detector of ability in the family."
Based on this excerpt, which of the following best explains Du Bois’s critique of Booker T. Washington’s educational priorities?
- ADu Bois suggests that Washington’s plan was designed to keep Black Americans in permanent economic subordination by completely prohibiting any form of higher education.
- Du Bois argues that vocational schools are structurally dependent on colleges because the teachers who staff industrial programs require a liberal arts and professional education.Answer
- CDu Bois asserts that industrial labor is inherently undignified and that only academic pursuits can bring social equality to African Americans.
- DDu Bois believes that Washington failed to see that economic self-reliance was irrelevant to the survival of the Black community under Jim Crow.
Answer
Du Bois argues that vocational schools are structurally dependent on colleges because the teachers who staff industrial programs require a liberal arts and professional education.
The correct answer is correct because Du Bois points out a structural interdependence: industrial schools cannot operate without teachers, and those teachers must be educated in institutions of higher learning, thereby showing that Washington's downplaying of colleges is self-defeating.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
The structural interdependence of higher education and vocational training in the Washington-Du Bois debate.
Estimated Time:2m 0s