We Shall Overcome. Someday.

Jan McCutcheon
English 48B
Journal for DuBois



Author Quote: “Negroes must insist continually, in season and out of season, that voting is necessary to modern manhood, that color discrimination is barbarism, and that black boys need education as well as white boys” (908).


Internet Quote: “We cannot talk of Dr. Du Bois without recognizing that he was a radical all of his life…Dr. Du Bois' greatest virtue was his committed empathy with all the oppressed and his divine dissatisfaction with all forms of injustice.” --Martin Luther King, Jr. at an event marking the hundredth anniversary of Du Bois' birth, at Carnegie Hall in New York City


Summary: “The Souls of Black Folk” is W. E. B. DuBois’ critique of Booker T. Washington, claiming “criticism of writers by readers, of government by those governed, of leaders by those led,--this is the soul of democracy and the safeguard of modern society.” He argues that Washington did not ask for enough, and expected blacks to give up too much of their self respect in exchange for training in menial jobs. DuBois was more radical and fought for much more.


Response: When reading Washington, I thought he was right to take whatever gains he could make but I thought his goal was eventually to have for full equal rights. He was able to talk in a way that was not offensive or threatening to the white Southerners so he was more likely to get their cooperation. When reading DuBois, I also agree with him that the gains can not stop where Washington left off, but it was important to continue to fight for full equal rights and as it still is important today. I definitely agree with DuBois that you have to demand what should be rightfully yours, not grovel and take what you are given. DuBois recognized the gains made by Washington but also believed that strategy lead to the African Americans being treated as an inferior class and lead to the withdrawal of aid for institutions of higher education. I think the best would be for Washington to make what progress he was able and then for DuBois to build upon that progress with his demands for the right to vote, civil equality and higher education. It seems hard to believe we are still fighting about equal rights more than 100 years later.