booker t. washingon vs. w.e.b. dubois

The classes I am taking are:

• Africa in the Global System (in the political science department)
• Strategies of Development in Africa (also in poli sci)
• Landmarks of African-American Literature (an english class, taught by an African-American)
• Geography of West Africa with special reference to Ghana (geography)

I am also auditing a course called Cities in Economic Development and the Problems of Urban Management (a geography course). So, I am just going to the lectures and doing the classwork, but I won’t be taking the final exam or receiving a grade for the course. I am just taking it because I am so interested in urban development…I know I will learn a lot. I actually am pretty excited for all of my classes, especially the political science ones. I love hearing the viewpoints of African professors and classmates, because they often differ greatly from things I have heard in the United States…especially when talking about development and things related to globalization. Most of my professors here have already made some comment about the failures of capitalism, which makes sense because they have seen their country and continent been repeatedly exploited through the system. Contrast that to the U.S., where we have reaped the benefits of capitalism and don’t often open our eyes to see the downsides…

Yesterday in my African-American Lit class, we discussed the life of W.E.B. DuBois through the lens of one of his pieces, Dusk of Dawn. In several of the chapters, the ideological differences of DuBois and Booker T. Washington in terms of the how to achieve black equality were discussed. Washington was primarily concerned with economic development for blacks, and therefore placed high importance on training blacks to be tradesmen. DuBois, on the other hand, saw Washington’s strategy as compromising the dignity of blacks, as it did not take into account the lack of rights held by blacks in social and political arenas. Whites welcomed the ideas of Washington, because it allowed blacks and whites to be socially and politically separate, which kept blacks in their place as lower than whites. Essentially, what many believe is that Washington advocated a way of ‘reform’ where blacks would still be inferior and caught in the status quo, while DuBois believed that blacks could achieve something greater and that the lack of dignity given to blacks despite gains in economic areas could not be rightfully rationalized.

I think that both DuBois and Washington have legitimate points. Washington wanted to better the lives of blacks through economic advancements, which is a noble goal and certainly helped increase the quality of their lives. However, his view only seemed to provide a short-term solution, as blacks were still caught in the system where whites could act as if they were inferior. The ideas of DuBois were much more radical, and certainly much harder to accomplish in a short period of time. In my mind, DuBois dreamt for something so much better, so much bigger, something that followers of Washington probably thought could never happen. How often do I act like Washington in terms of the rights of those lower in economic or social status than myself? After giving a homeless person food, do I feel good that they won’t be hungry today? – which, don’t get me wrong, is a great thing – but what about tomorrow? And the next day? And the day after that? I want to be someone who dreams big. I’m sure that in the time of DuBois, blacks gaining full equality seemed close to impossible, almost hopeless. That’s how I often feel when I think about the 30,000 children who die each day from starvation, the millions of women and children who are trafficked each year, and the one billion people who live in slums. The problems of the world seem insurmountable, and no one person on this earth can ever combat all of the evils present here. However, I don’t want to be a person who rationalizes the lack of dignity or rights of people by saying, oh well, at least they have x, y, or z. I don’t want to settle. I want to dream big.