Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois Debate
39 questions
In his 1911 work, *My Larger Education*, Booker T. Washington reflected on his critics:
'I have never said that the Negro should not vote, or that he should not have the highest education, but I have insisted that he should first lay a solid foundation in the industries, in agriculture, and in the possession of property.'
Based on this passage and historical context, which of the following statements best describes the strategic nuance of the debate between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois regarding African American advancement?
Read the passage below:
'Mr. [Booker T.] Washington distinctly asks that black people give up, at least for the present, three things,—
First, political power,
Second, insistence on civil rights,
Third, higher education of Negro youth,—
and concentrate all their energies on industrial education, the accumulation of wealth, and the conciliation of the South.'
— W.E.B. Du Bois, *The Souls of Black Folk*, 1903
Based on the passage, which of the following statements best describes W.E.B. Du Bois's critique of Booker T. Washington's platform?
Read the excerpt from W.E.B. Du Bois’s 1906 address to the Niagara Movement:
"We want our children educated. ... We believe in work. We ourselves are workers, but we want our children to be trained as men, not as work-animals."
Which of the following best describes how the philosophy expressed in this excerpt contrasts with Booker T. Washington’s approach to African American advancement?
Read the excerpt below from Booker T. Washington's book *Working with the Hands* (1904):
'We began our work... with industrial education, not because we undervalued or doubted the value of higher education, but because we felt that the first and most pressing need of the great mass of our people was for some form of training that would enable them to find a footing in the economic life about them.'
Which of the following statements best describes how this passage refutes a common misconception about the debate between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois?
In his 1903 work *The Souls of Black Folk*, W.E.B. Du Bois wrote the following concerning Booker T. Washington's leadership:
'So far as Mr. Washington preaches Thrift, Patience, and Industrial Training for the masses, we must hold up his hands and strive with him... But so far as Mr. Washington apologizes for injustice, North or South, does not value the privilege and duty of voting, belittles the higher training and aspirations of our sons... we must unceasingly and firmly oppose them.'
Which of the following statements best characterizes the nature of the intellectual debate between W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington as reflected in this passage?
In the 1906 Address to the Country, the Niagara Movement declared:
'We will not be satisfied to take one jot or tittle less than our full manhood rights. We claim for ourselves every single right that belongs to a freeborn American, political, civil and social; and until we get these rights we will never cease to protest and assail the ears of America.'
How does this declaration's emphasis on achieving equality compare to the methods proposed by Booker T. Washington?
Although Booker T. Washington publicly urged African Americans to "cast down your bucket where you are" and prioritize economic self-reliance over political agitation, historical records reveal that he secretly used his personal wealth and influence to fund legal challenges against disenfranchisement (such as Giles v. Harris in 1903) and segregated transportation. Which of the following statements best explains how this evidence refutes a common misconception about the debate between Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois?
During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois offered distinct guidance to Black workers navigating the rise of industrial capitalism and trade unions. Washington frequently advised Black laborers to avoid union agitation and cultivate direct relationships with white employers, while Du Bois argued that Black workers must ultimately organize to prevent being used as tools to depress wages.
Which of the following historical explanations best accounts for this strategic division?
In a 1903 essay, Booker T. Washington wrote the following:
"I do not advocate that the Negro should be restricted to industrial education alone. I believe in the university and the college, and that a portion of the race should receive the highest possible mental culture... But for the great masses of the race, industrial education, which teaches how to work and how to make a living, must precede or accompany higher academic training."
Which of the following statements best explains how the educational philosophy expressed in the passage compares to the strategy advocated by W.E.B. Du Bois?
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?
"If we make money the object of man-training, we shall develop money-makers but not necessarily men; if we make technical skill the object of education, we may possess an artisan, but not, in nature, a man. And of this world-old truth, the Negro American is no exceptional illustration. It is the training of normal school teachers, of college-bred men, of professional men, that must construct the foundation of any permanent educational system for a disenfranchised people."
—W.E.B. Du Bois, "The Talented Tenth," 1903
Based on the passage, which of the following statements best analyzes how W.E.B. Du Bois's argument regarding the role of higher education contrasts with Booker T. Washington's emphasis on industrial training, while acknowledging their shared goal of elevating African Americans?
Read the excerpt below from a historical text:
"Is it possible, and probable, that nine millions of men can make effective progress in economic lines if they are deprived of political rights, made a servile caste, and allowed only the most meagre chance for developing their exceptional men? If history teaches anything, it is that the economic ruin of any class is inevitable, if the class has no political power to protect its rights."
Based on this excerpt, which of the following best describes the author's critique of the opposing strategy for African American advancement?
Read the following excerpt from W.E.B. Du Bois's 1900 study, *The College-Bred Negro*:
"The industrial school and the college are not, or should not be, rivals... The college must produce the teachers for the industrial schools, and the industrial schools must produce the materials for the college."
Based on the passage, which of the following statements best describes the relationship between the educational philosophies of W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington?
Read the following excerpt from Booker T. Washington's Atlanta Exposition Address (1895):
'Our greatest danger is that in the great leap from slavery to freedom we may overlook the fact that the masses of us are to live by the productions of our hands, and fail to keep in mind that we shall prosper in proportion as we learn to dignify and glorify common labour... No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem.'
Which of the following statements best describes how W.E.B. Du Bois's strategy for Black advancement contrasted with the philosophy expressed in this excerpt?
Following the Atlanta Race Riot of 1906, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois offered contrasting advice to African American communities facing increased racial violence in the Jim Crow South. Washington emphasized patience and continued focus on economic cooperation and industrial development. Du Bois, deeply affected by the riot, published writings criticizing Washington's strategy, arguing that economic gains were vulnerable without political and civil rights. Based on this historical context, which of the following statements best describes the core disagreement between Washington and Du Bois regarding how to respond to racial violence?
Read the following excerpt from W. E. B. Du Bois's *The Souls of Black Folk* (1903):
'Mr. Washington distinctly advocates common-school and industrial training, and depreciates institutions of higher learning; but neither the Negro common-schools, nor Tuskegee itself, could remain open a single day were it not for the teachers trained in Negro colleges, or trained by their graduates.'
Based on this passage, which of the following statements best describes Du Bois's perspective on the relationship between vocational training and higher education?
Historically, the intellectual debate between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois has often been characterized as a rigid dichotomy. However, historical records reveal that Washington secretly financed lawsuits challenging Alabama's disenfranchisement constitution, while Du Bois frequently affirmed the value of vocational training alongside higher education.
Which of the following statements best explains the significance of these historical details?
Read the following excerpt from a speech by Booker T. Washington to the National Negro Business League in 1900:
'The man who has a mortgage on his home, or who has no bank account, cannot be as independent or as useful a citizen as the one who is a property owner and a taxpayer... Economic efficiency is the foundation upon which all other progress must be built.'
Based on this excerpt and your knowledge of early civil rights debates, which of the following best contrasts Washington's strategy for Black advancement with that of W. E. B. Du Bois?
During the post-Reconstruction era, African American leaders debated the most effective path toward equality and civil rights. What was the central debate between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois regarding the educational advancement of Black Americans?
In *The Souls of Black Folk* (1903), W.E.B. Du Bois critiques Booker T. Washington's strategy for African American advancement. Du Bois highlights a central contradiction in Washington’s insistence that Black Americans focus first on industrial education and property ownership before demanding civil equality and voting rights. Which of the following statements best summarizes Du Bois's critique regarding the relationship between economic progress and political rights?