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William Edward Burghardt Du Bois
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- 3.Ideologies
2.William Edward Burghardt Du BoisDu Bois talks about his growing up in chapters 4 and 5 in his autobiography. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois knew little of his father, who died shortly after his birth, but he was socialized into an extended family network. The community he grew up in was a relatively tolerant one. He attended a local integrated public school where he became friends with white students. He was a bright young boy and his talents were duly recognized by his white teachers. Still, as a person of mixed race, he was subjected to some racism. He did not feel like his town where he was growing up would suit him and decided to go and study more somewhere else as he writes in his autobiography on page 79 " the contrast between the well- to-do was not great " His education can be summarized by paraphrasing the article on Du Bois from Biographycom. From 1885 – 1895 Du Bois attended schools and universities including Fisk University in Tennessee, where he received his B.A. in 1890, University of Berlin and Harvard University where he earned Ph.D. in 1895 and became the first African American to be honored with this title. He studied mostly history, classic and modern languages and most importantly the sociology. In 1896, he went to the University of Pennsylvania as an assistant instructor in sociology. His major assignment was to investigate the social conditions of the "colored people" in the seventh ward of Philadelphia. From there, until the Spring of 1916, he taught at Atlanta University as professor of economics and history. The program at Atlanta University was designed to open a field of usefulness for African American city dwellers, comparable to what Hampton and Tuskegee had done for rural districts in agriculture and industry. This vast variety of education he had received in these institutes reflects on how he approached his ideology which he would then apply on helping African-American people to advance and eventually receive their autonomy. He was the one of the few who could achieve such a high education and from there he applies his experience. Not long after, Du Bois published his landmark study—the first case study of an African-American community—The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study (1899), marking the beginning of his expansive writing career. In the study, he coined the phrase "the talented tenth," a term that described the likelihood of one in 10 percent of African-American men becoming leaders of their race. Du Bois lays his focus on this talented tenth which according to biographers, like David Levering Lewis, and also by Du Bois himself in his autobiography in a chapter XIV, was his main tool to lead African-American people to their uprising: "In Du Bois' case, he came to believe that the only salvation for the "Negro" (as African Americans were then characterized) was to obtain social and economic equality through the education of an elite few who could hold their own in the social and political maneuverings of the day. He was opposed to the Hampton/Tuskegee model and wanted African American youth to "hitch their wagons to a star" rather than "to a mule" (Lewis, 1993, p. 353)." (Nevin R. Frantz, Jr) "Du Bois fought what he believed was an inferior strategy, subsequently becoming a spokesperson for full and equal rights in every realm of a person's life." (Biography.com Editors) The leadership he provided in the formation of the NAACP was, in later years, a major factor contributing to the Supreme Court's decision ruling against the segregation of the schools. In 1909 Du Bois helped form the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). African American community was in need of these organization as they were crucial in pursuing their needs: "This organization and similar groups formed since then have fought to end discrimination against black people and to obtain their full rights as citizens. They’ve worked toward these goals by taking legal action and making appeals to public opinion." (African American Autonomy) In 1903, Du Bois published his seminal work, The Souls of Black Folk, a collection of 14 essays. In the years following, he adamantly opposed the idea of biological white superiority and vocally supported women's rights. In 1909, he co-founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and served as editor of its monthly magazine, The Crisis. A proponent of Pan-Africanism, Du Bois helped organize several Pan-African Congresses to free African colonies from European powers. His sympathies towards Marxism come late into importance in understanding his ideology as he takes some of the Marxism ideology and implements it in realizing his ideology as A+E Networks in their article W.E.B Du Bois, which basic overview of Du Bois’s life, state: "Du Bois’s own approach was an eclectic mix of scientific social analysis, which led him eventually to Marxism, and a romantic evocation of the poetry of black folk culture, which is reflected in his nationalist sympathies and Pan-Africanist organizational efforts. Above all Du Bois sought to place African-American experience in its world historical context. Out of this mix evolved his dual projects of building an African socialism and publishing a unifying work of scholarship on the African diaspora" (Black History). W.E.B. Du Bois died on August 27, 1963—one day before Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech at the March on Washington—at the age of 95, in Accra, Ghana, while working on an encyclopedia of the African Diaspora. 3.Ideologies4.1 WashingtonWashington believed that economic equality was far more important than anything else to help African-Americans in gaining autonomy. Booker T. Washington stated in his autobiography Up from Slavery, page 224 regarding the Atlanta speech: "The opportunity to earn a dollar in a factory just now is worth infinitely more than the opportunity to spend a dollar in an opera house" He believed that the biggest problem with the freed slaves was that they were not prepared for the industrial age and being able to survive economy. Du Bois even points out in his Soul of Black Folks, that Washington’s mind set is like this: "to 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" This is what Washington knew. It reflects his early life experiences and how he came to be so successful. Washington develops his ideology from his early life working experience and educational experience. He was determined and took a slow approach and succeeded. And this is what he ultimately tells other African-Americans that they should do the same. Take it slow and prove yourselves worthy is summarized in the following quote about Hampton and Tuskegee: "The basic philosophy of industrial education as practiced at Hampton and Tuskegee was quite simple. The training in various domestic and trade skills within an authoritarian and religiously based environment would produce a Black who would fit into the lower end of the occupational structure and, more important, know his or her place among Whites and come to accept that place as proper." (Keith V. Johnson and Elwood Watson) Perhaps this is why many African-Americans did not agree with this even though it got results. The reason why they did not agree with this in my opinion is that it puts them in the same position as they were back in slavery days. It was a form of education that white society was most comfortable with, as it would keep African-Americans somewhat exploitable and submissive and stay in their position as a work force, not who would be a part of society unless whites would let them as they would sacrifice their right to vote, in other words political rights or at least their pursuit of those rights. Washington strengthens this notion in "Atlanta Exposition Address" speech, where he states: "We have proved our loyalty to you in the past, in nursing your children, watching by the sickbed of your mothers and fathers, and often following them with tear-dimmed eyes to their graves. In the future, in our humble way, we shall stand by you with a devotion that no foreigner can approach, ready to lay down our lives, if need be, in defense of yours. We shall weave our industrial, commercial, civil, and religious life with yours and make the interests of both races one. In all things that are purely social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things necessary to mutual progress." This quotation taken from the "Atlanta Exposition Address" speech by Washington also refers to a slow paced progress of African-Americans showing whites that they are capable of being useful and that Washington is planning to do so on within a longer period of time. Washington is also trying to urge on whites by trying to show them examples from the past, so they could see that African-Americans are capable of doing great things as Washington did. He had to prove himself to his mistress, Mrs. Ruffner, and she then provided him with different form of education which then lead to the admission to Hampton, then to Samuel C. Armstrong which then gives him an opportunity to go to Tuskegee, then in order to build Tuskegee, he gives promises to the white community and African-American community as well (in order to raise money) and now he is trying to apply what has worked for him in the past to the future. In addition, he never sets a time demand of when he wants to achieve the things that he wants. He still pursues his goal patiently and thinks of his goals as a slow progress that takes time and effort in order to achieve it. This approach of Washington goes hand in hand with the creation of Tuskegee Institute itself shown in this quotation summarizing the rise of Tuskegee "Beginning with a few ramshackle buildings and a small sum from the state of Alabama, he built Tuskegee Institute into the best-known African American school in the nation. " (Keith V. Johnson and Elwood Watson) The basic notion of Tuskegee was that it was no ordinary school or institute where pupils would study things like Latin, sociology etc. Washington believed that industrial and not the academic education is the key feature to be successful in life. Washington finds inspiration in Hampton, from Samuel C. Armstrong who was mentioned earlier, and who was his mentor for a long time, Washington reflects what he had learned in Hampton onto Tuskegee. Washington view on academic education can also be found in his Up from Slavery, page 88, where he states this: "They knew more about Latin and Greek when they left school, but they seemed to know less about life and its conditions as they would meet it at their homes." Following quotation, taken from The W.E.B Du Bois and B.T.Washington Debate, highlights Washington’s conviction: Hampton, Washington felt that industrial education was superior to academic education for achieving his goal of Black social improvement (Spivey, 1978). As quoted in Franklin (1973), Washington believed that Black education 'should be so directed that the greatest proportion of the mental strength of the masses will be brought to bear upon the everyday practical things of life, upon something that is needed to be done, and something which they will be permitted to do (emphasis added) in the community in which they reside ' (p. 285). Washington mentions Tuskegee beginnings and rise in Up from Slavery, in chapter VII. Tuskegee, as an institute itself, complex of buildings, serves as a reflection of this exact idea. The reason why it is so iconic is that it was built by the very few students and teachers, that had attended Tuskegee in its beginnings, with very few resources. Download 122.17 Kb. Share with your friends:
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