Reaction Paper on the Struggle for Freedom: Perspectives & Analysis

This essay presents a reaction to the contrasting ideologies of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois, two prominent figures in the African American community during the 19th and 20th centuries, regarding strategies for racial upliftment. Washington advocated for economic independence and gradual social integration, emphasizing the importance of proving Black Americans as productive members of society before demanding civil rights. Conversely, DuBois argued for immediate civil rights and education, believing that Washington's approach would perpetuate racial oppression. The essay also discusses the problem of lynching, its motives rooted in maintaining white supremacy, and terrorizing Black communities. Ultimately, the analysis underscores how the debate between Washington and DuBois laid the foundation for the modern Civil Rights Movement and contributed to the fight against racial violence. Desklib offers a wide range of resources, including past papers and solved assignments, to support students in their academic endeavors.

Running head: STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM
Struggle for Freedom
Reaction Paper
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM
Introduction
Booker T Washington and W.E.B. DuBois were two of the most prominent leaders of
the African American community in the 19th and 20th century. Both Washington and Dubois
had very different ideas about how to bring about an upliftment for the African American
people and their debate laid the early cornerstones for the modern Civil Rights Movement
(Mackowiak, 2016 pp. 416-419).
Discussion
-Differences in racial up liftment strategies of DuBois and Washington
According to Booker T Washington, social and political equality were less important
concepts than independence and economic respectability. He strongly believed that the whites
and blacks in America can be mutually interdependent and it is important for the African
Americans to prove themselves as productive members of the society, setting aside their
demands for civil rights temporality to gain the trust of the white people. Washington
believed that if the Black Americans were able to gain an economic foothold and were able to
prove themselves as useful members of society then they would eventually get the social
equality and civil rights they deserve. The philosophy of Washington was therefore one of
accommodation to white oppression, acceptance of white supremacy and trusting the
paternalism of the southern whites (Stein, 2015 pp. 31—62).
However, W.E.B. DuBois had a very different opinion about how to bring about
upliftment for the Black Americans. According to him, the philosophy of Washington would
only perpetuate oppression by the white. He believed that only through a civil rights
movement and education can equality be ensured for the black Americans. DuBois believed

2STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM
that by conceiting the pursuit of civil rights and freedom can only reinforce the notion of
blacks as second-class citizens (Ellis, 2017 pp. 721-722).
-the problem of lynching
Lynching is a form of punishment that was used to enforce white supremacy and also
to intimidate black Americans through racial terrorism. According to Fisher (2015 pp. 709-
737), the rate of lynching seen an increase in the Democrat dominated south after the
Reconstruction Era and as strongly correlated to economic strain, low price of cotton and
inflation. According to estimates by the Tuskegee Institute, between 1882 and 1968
approximately 3446 black Americans were lynched, including men, women and even
children (Wiesen, 2017 pp. 38-59).
-why did the lynching occur
The main motives for lynching were to maintain white supremacy and terrorize the
black communities to remain subservient to the claims of racial supremacy by the whites.
This strategy also used to get financial gains and establish economic and political dominance
over the black communities thereby maintaining their unequal status and scare them against
voicing their opposition against such practices (Mackowiak, 2016 pp. 416-419).
Conclusion
From the above study is can be understood that both Washington and DuBois had
differing perspectives on how to ensure equality among the black people in America. This
debate has been pivotal in the development of the civil rights movement and helped to put an
end to the incidents of lynching of the black Americans by white supremacists.

3STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM
References:
Ellis, R. K. (2017). Between Washington and Du Bois: The Racial Politics of James Edward
Shepard (pp. 721 – 722). University Press of Florida.
Fisher, L. R. (2015). Head and Hands Together: Booker T. Washington's Vocational
Realism. American Literature, 87(4), 709-737.
Mackowiak, P. A. (2016). Booker T. Washington and the Secret of Hypertension in African
Americans (pp. 416 – 419).
Stein, J. (2015). “Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others”: The Political Economy of
Racism in the United States. In Renewing Black Intellectual History (pp. 31-62).
Routledge.
Wiesen, S. J. (2017). American Lynching in the Nazi Imagination: Race and Extra-Legal
Violence in 1930s Germany. German History, 36(1), 38-59.