“The Negro Problem” Washington vs. Dubois

Booker T. Washington believes that starting at the bottom of life and accepting others is the route that we as African-Americans should take. He believes that everything should be compromised with agriculture and so forth. W.E.B Dubois the creator of “Talented Tenth” feels as though “The Negro race, like all races, is going to be saved by its exceptional men” (Dubois, paragraph 1). Meaning that he feels like the Negro men should attend college to get further in life, teach the others in their race, and also to get a great education. But when you really think about it at this time in history whites and blacks were not cooperating together so a college education really meant nothing to them. When we speak about the “Negro Problem” we find pros and cons to both sides of the argument. I feel as though Booker T. Washington sees things outside of the box and it makes me agree with him more than Dubois, because he only views things from a Negro perspective because of what he went through. “You misjudge us because you do not know us” (Dubois, paragraph 3) This is very much true but that is the reason why blacks should show whites what the true outlook is on our race without the hatred being displayed.  Furthermore, with Booker T. Washington he is willing to compromise black or white. He’s not worrying about pride or what he has been through with slavery, white people, and growing up. Although he knows that it was wrong he knows that there is a god and we should forgive no matter what because we would want to be forgiven for our sins. A lot of people may not agree with Booker T. Washington but I do for reasons that he is not only trying to help his people he is also trying to make the living atmosphere better and show white people that we are worth more than being en-slaved. When he states “Casting down your bucket [among] my people, helping and encouraging them as you are doing on these grounds, and to [the] education of head, hand, and heart, you will find that they will buy your surplus land, make blossom the waste places in your fields, and run your factories.” (Washington, #7) This was a great quote because he is letting them know that casting down their buckets was a good idea for the better of whites and for the blacks in the South. Booker T. knows that moving to North looking for better jobs and freedom was not a good thing to do at the time because there are still white people in the North who are not willing to compromise. This means the blacks would be freed for nothing so it is better for them to stay in the South. “It is in the South that the Negro is given a man’s chance in the commercial world, and in nothing is this Exposition more eloquent than in emphasizing this chance.” (Washington, #4) When there is opportunity for compromise you should go for it because anything is better than living life as a slave even if it means befriending the enemies. So when it is said that everyone will be looked at in the same manner and as one I disagree very much because, everyone has their own different talents and appearance which makes them differ from one another rather the person was white or black. So with that being said place yourself in both men footsteps and see if you would come out with the same decision after looking at the big picture. Do you feel like Booker T. Washington was wrong for wanting to compromise with the white people after all they put blacks through?

Work citied
Booker T. Washington, “The Atlanta Compromise,” Speech, September 18, 1895, accessed Feb. 13, 2011.

W.E.B. Dubois, “The Talented Tenth,” September 1903, accessed Feb. 13, 2011.

Thomas Jefferson on the African Race

Question:  Jefferson was a slaveholder who more than once spoke out about the evils of slavery. Yet he never freed his slaves. How might his attitudes regarding race have affected his apparently mixed feelings about slavery?

Thomas Jefferson was a slave owner who obviously was having mixed feelings about the actions he wanted to take but couldn’t. I don’t believe that Jefferson was totally against slavery but he did have a heart when it came to the slaves that he held. After all Jefferson was still heavily involved with slaves, the race issue might have led to his confused thoughts.  I feel like he didn’t free the slaves that he had because he either didn’t want to see them suffer when they were on their own or he knew that they wouldn’t last living free.  As I read on I knew that Jefferson wasn’t being an evil person I knew that he was thinking of the consequences and actions that could happen if they were freed. They would only then be re-enslaved by another slave owner and would really be facing harsh treatment. If only he would have realized that the skin color didn’t mean anything he would have been better off and his feelings would be more understandable. He was definitely one to judge and follow the thoughts of other slave holders; it was obvious because he compared whites to blacks as if blacks were nothing. It was almost like Jefferson had split personality’s; one where he would be more on the black side then he would snap back to reality and jump back to his white side. Jefferson’s attitude regarding race had a huge impact on the feelings that came to his mind. Reason being is that if the color of the blacks’ skin was different he would have a whole new outlook on the way he felt about freeing slaves. He felt that whites had many different styles of beauty and blacks were only covered in a black veil which is evil to say. If only he could look at the big picture of the whole situation he might be able to see both perspectives from blacks and whites. There should never be split sides because no one is better than another whether they are white or black. Do you agree with the way that Jefferson felt? Was it wrong for him to do what he did?

 

Work Cited

Jefferson, Thomas. “Thomas Jefferson on the Race 1781,” Notes on the State of Virginia, Accessed Feb. 4 2011: 1-2

The Atlantic World

                Columbus discovered the New World in 1492. As you may know the Portuguese were the first people who succeeded to dominate the Atlantic Voyage. The new world brought along so many changes that affected the Africans the most. During the Atlantic World a series of events and problems occurred. Throughout the New World slavery and trading was definitely a high demand for the Europeans. The slaves were transported to the New World in the 1500’s. They traded slaves for different goods that they needed including gold and sugar. Africans were considered as slaves and indentured servants and they became a commodity that was needed. While they were being forced to work the citizens of Europe still began to trade. The trade process was very dominant for the Europeans but was a lost cause for the Africans. The Europeans didn’t have any sympathy for the Africans which was very wrong because it was beneficial to them but not for the Africans. As the time passed by during the 16^th and 17^th century religion was discovered and they came about the spread of Christianity. The government’s idea of Christianity was for it to keep the people in control. In the Western part of Europe they decided not to practice Christianity and they decided to practice Roman Catholics in their churches which became a problem.  The popes wanted control from 1198-1216 and that brought along humiliation for the Popes. This action that tool place caused a lot of problems and caused a lot violence to occur. Although the Atlantic World meant struggle for the Africans it brought about changes for the better and the worst. Now we live today with freedom and also without slavery.  I’m not sure how things would be if the slave trade never would have occurred because Africans probably would have never made it to America.