Aside

In the activity, you examined the important contributions of scientists and theorists like Marie Curie, Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin. In the early years of the twentieth century, when Curie and Einstein were announcing their discoveries, two important leaders were debating educational theories and civil rights agendas: Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois. Open the Web Links tab and click on the associated link to learn more about their different perspectives and use what you learn to answer the following prompt.

Compare the value of industrial education to that of liberal arts education. Use quotations from Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois.

Booker T. Washington believed that blacks would have to work from the bottom up to gain equal rights even if that meant lower education less rights more labor and all in all, near slavery. What Booker T. Washington had planned was to make blacks an essential need for living as a white that when they ask for equal rights, they would have to say yes. Booker T. Washington even said that blacks would have to accept white supremacy in order to obtain equal rights. W.E.B. Du Bois how ever, was an early supporter of Washington and as time went on he saw more and more holes in his plan. Washington was known as a powerful tyrant who was a person full of lies in the black community where as he was seen as a respectful thoughtful man. W.E.B. Du Bois had differing views how ever and believed that blacks should get a liberal arts education instead of a industrial education. Du Bois also was not one for gradual freedom, instead he wished for equal rights as soon as possible and acceptance of equal rights. Du Bois was a known opponent of Washington and battled him until he died but that did not mean he did not respect Washington for instance he said “Washington is a misguided powerful leader.”.

http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1978/2/78.02.02.x.html