Hannah Flick 2/21 Washington & DuBois

I agree with W.E.B. DuBois in his argument that Booker T. Washington’s Atlanta Compromise speech is overwhelmingly placating in nature; it pushes for civility and submission in a group that has been consistently disenfranchised and taken advantage of. It seems condescending and unfair to ask African Americans to trade their anger and their restlessness for obedience in a system that wrongs them, especially when that anger and restlessness is one of their only tools of empowerment. While I understand that Washington had to cater to a white audience, I still find value in DuBois’ accusation that Washington was used as black “propaganda.” He is representative of the “good,” obedient golden standard of black men, but his adherence to this standard only helps to justify white Americans’ nonaction and contempt for the rest of the black population. Dubois and Washington seem to agree on one point: African Americans who have managed to succeed in their society need to help those who haven’t. As Washington wrote, “there is no defense or security for any of us except in the highest intelligence and development of all. If anywhere there are efforts tending to curtail the fullest growth of the Negro, let these efforts be turned into stimulating, encouraging, and making him the most useful and intelligent citizen.” DuBois would agree with this in his “Talented Tenth” piece, emphasizing that “the Negro race, like all other races, is going to be saved by its exceptional men.” Both men saw it as the responsibility of a certain few to accelerate the rights of all blacks, which is a claim I can both fight with and see value in. I agree that black men who had the ability to at the time should’ve spread their knowledge, but I don’t think it was their sole responsibility to lift up their entire race in a broken system.

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