Kline 1
Lindsay Kline
Dr. Lisa Kirby
ENGL 2328.S04
29 September 2015
The Clash of the Titans
How does a race of people make the transition from escaping the horrors of forced
slavery to becoming productive, successful, and accepted members of society? The answer to
that question depends upon the person asked, and, as a result, in the early twentieth century with
the future of the African-American race at stake, many heated debates ensued. At the center of
this debate stood Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois. Both of these men ascended as
central figures of the African-American civil rights movement after gaining notoriety and respect
for their ideas; however, they each had distinctly different opinions about how their race should
proceed in the aftermath of receiving emancipation. As debate arose between these two men,
Washington became known as a pacifist, and Du Bois as a radical; history deemed the two as
political opposites. Washington’s critics accused him of selling out his own race and considered
his ideology a step in the wrong direction; Du Bois’s critics labeled him as a utopian whose ideas
could not practically succeed in the foreseeable future. Washington and Du Bois’s disagreements
stemmed from their unique outlooks on racism and the strategy by which they could thwart it,
and the fact that these men ultimately had different aspirations. Du Bois grew increasingly
disgusted with racism and fought vehemently for equal civil rights and opportunities;
Washington brought a spirit of optimism, encouraging African Americans to work hard and
emanate morality on a slow and steady path to dissolving the racial divide and uniting all
Americans.
Kline 2
Washington and Du Bois both acknowledged the err and injustice of racism that had kept
the civil rights of their race at bay for so long; however, they differed in their opinion regarding
the capability of an African American to succeed amid such prejudices. Washington felt that
African Americans could overcome even the staunchest racism by living out a life of great moral
character; he perceived that human nature possessed something “which we cannot blot out,
which makes one man, in the end, recognize and reward merit in another, regardless of colour or
race” (456). One might argue that, in this regard, Washington served as the one painting a
utopian picture.
Du Bois’s outlook on the African-American’s plight amongst rampant racism painted a
much dimmer picture, comparable to a prison with walls that seemed “relentlessly narrow, tall,
and unscalable to sons of night who must plod darkly on in resignation, or beat unavailing palms
