The American society and history of it cannot be mentioned without the flow of African American people. This was characterized with the ideas, traditions, and culture of Black people after their enslavement and removal to the North America. The African American part of the society could not express their views on what was happening in America during its stages of development without the implementation of the philosophical background for the scientific accuracy. Booker T Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois and Malcolm X are those eminent persons who contributed greatly to the national grounding of African Americans as the constituent part of the United States during the struggles in previous times until contemporary realities.
The philosophical heritage of the US from the side of African American authors is significant to evaluate on the prospects of freedom, religion, education, and social importance of Black population for the United States. With more and more separation between the North and the South of America the development of African American thought drew to a head. It was due to Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois, Malcolm X, and Dr. Martin Luther King, in particular. The influence of “Black America” on the rest of the American society is highly felt in the social transformation and constant frictions between Whites and Blacks.
According to the democratic way of reforms Black people of America always urged to find the solutions for their place in the society. Due to this reason there rose many socially active people who tried to implement the humane ideas to the whole structure of the American society. The impacts on White top of the nation began with literature and works by H. B. Stowe, later Gertrude Stein and Langston Hughes. The philosophical explanation for the needs of African Americans to have similar rights and benefits in social life is considered with the works by three major Black philosophers of the United States and their views and even hot discussions about educational, religious, and, of course, social affairs of African Americans.
While talking about the religion approach for Black people living in America, it is necessary to mention that in Black churches African American tried to represent their thoughts according to the beliefs and strategic significance of the Christian religion and the teachings of Jesus Christ. Du Bois and Griffin (2003) pointed out the exclusive role of Baptist churches in which Black Americans were mostly concentrated. The authors value the church of today as one of the arenas where social issues should be resolved: “The Negro church of to-day is the social center of Negro life in the United States, and the most characteristic expression of African character” (Du Bois and Griffin, p. 137). This concern was also supported by Dr. Martin Luther King in some of his works and in his historical speech “I Have a Dream”. In fact, the United States with the influence of African Americans is realized to have suchlike churches which, exactly, characterize Black people living in America and believing in changes and social as well as political reforms.
In contrast to this idea Malcolm X expressed controversial outlook on the problem of religion. His personal views encompassed the idea that Black Americans should adhere to the Islam and its Sunni flow. William W. Sales (1994) provides a special overview of the preferences in religion which were supported by Malcolm X: “Malcolm X believed that Sunni Islam was an attractive religion because it provided answers to the moral degradation into which Black people had fallen while at the same time recognizing the right of the dispossessed to rebel” (p. 37). Moreover, such understanding of religion preferences for African Americans was even related to the negative influence of Whites and the “Europecentrism” which was claimed throughout the country (Sales, p. 38).
Booker T. Washington in his book Up from Slavery also points out the religious prospect of Black Americans. He urges to estimate where the reason for unfairness coming from white people lies. Due to his own observation this social figure and Black philosopher of “societal affairs” in some episodes of his book provides a comparison with other peoples inhabiting the United States and, particularly, Native Americans.
Booker T. Washington strictly criticizes the negative influence of Whites on constructive social development of African Americans. In one of the extracts out of his book he promotes the idea that Europeans are mistaken about the civilized touch in the society: “…but no white American ever thinks that any other race is wholly civilized until he wears the white man’s clothes, eats the white man’s food, speaks the white man’s language, and professes the white man’s religion” (Washington, p. 68). In fact, in this view Booker T. Washington is similar to Malcolm X and his approach, that in such social problems concerned with racial discrimination and hatred being nurtured in the society no religion can help (Sales, p. 89).
Nevertheless, Dr. Martin Luther King tried to point out that Christian religion should not be valued as the white men’s only. This prospect incorporated his own convictions that peaceful religion can make Black people endurable and strong in the social struggles with unfairness of White people living in America and providing all attempts to make Blacks shut (King, King (Jr.), Carson, Luker, and Russell, p. 34). With regards to the role of religion for making people fight against the problems and for the freedom of their interests Storey & Utter (2002) admit: “Perhaps no single religious figure did more to energize the civil rights movements of the 1960s than Martin Luther King Jr.” (p.88).
It is so, because Dr. King did really saw the significance of “right” and strong religion in terms of its radicalism toward social discrimination on grounds of race, gender etc. The need to follow God’s Testaments and what He said in the Scriptures is deeply put into the mentality of African Americans. That is why the philosophical framework according to the religion question followed the Chistian tendency, notwithstanding Malcolm X’s argumentation of the Islam significance for Black people inhabiting America.
W. E. B. Du Bois and Farah Jasmine Griffin in The Souls of Black Folk pointed out also that “African Church” became a result of the direct intentions of white population to make Blacks get out of their “white” churches (39). Such limitation in expression of religious approach within people could not but frustrate Black population. That is why the African Churches became known since that time “formation of a peculiar socio-religious institution among the Negroes” (Du Bois and Griffin, p. 39).
The point on the education was significant too. In this respect it was known since the nineteenth century that African American people are less educated and it presented, in fact, one more argument for building the philosophical background, in order to work out and evaluate main approaches. Such tendency was seen as incredible, because many Black people did not believe that under the circumstances of that time it would be possible to compete with white people on equal terms. In this case W. E. B. Du Bois provides a weighty statement for educational background of African Americans and possible successes of them in comparison with white peers. Two distinctive persons discussed this problem in detail, i.e. Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois, of course. Their views contradicted in that part of discussion, which promoted the area of work more suitable for Black people of America. Thus, Du Bois insisted that Blacks should obtain industrial education due to the direct ability of African Americans to be successful in skills; Washington, on the other hand, provided views about gaining higher education by Blacks (Moore, p. 61).
In this prospect it is incorrect to say that Du Bois rejected higher education. In fact, he tried to get to the point of the importance of higher education for promotion of Black teachers in the society. This approach is true due to the psychological view on the issue. Blacks are better educated, when there is a teacher of same race and historical background as well. Jacqueline M. Moore (2003) greatly outlines the details of discussion maintained between above mentioned to philosophers in their cordial intention to evaluate the role of education for Blacks and the ways of its promotion within them. Thus, the author notes:
Even the methods of racial improvement the two men advocated were not irreconcilable. Washington envisioned blacks rising up from the bottom of society through individual effort and hard work. Du Bois’s vision was that blacks would rise with the help of educated leaders, the top 10 percent of the black population, who would use their training and skills to help others and to fight for rights for the race (Moore, p. 62).
These philosophers saw the “renaissance” of Blacks within Whites due to the efforts to stop thinking of themselves like slaves. The approach of slavery was deeply cultivated in previous times, and now the prejudices of Black people about their place in the society still have a coloring of probable self-discrimination. In this case, at the end of the twentieth century, many scholars in education had published several studies to assume the facts of disadvantages in studying African America students and their misbehavior, which can be reckoned with their impulsive characters given by nature. In this respect it is necessary to relate to the book by Tommy Lee Lott and John P. Pittman (2003), where the authors try to evaluate the real thing about the education problems considered with Black students. This outlook is also concerned with ideas stated by Du Bois and Washington. Nonetheless, when Lott and Pittman worked out the intentions of scholars in education, they found out that in fact Black girls and boys are not so impulsive and talkative as the “white” society was constantly talking about them, but they are rather able and eager to negotiate and seek for the answer while discussing this or that problem (Lott and Pittman, p. 223).
The Black population needs to improve their achievements not only in physical but also in mental abilities to work, so that to have same opportunities as White men have. At least it can reduce the level of education lack when such perspectives will be adopted, first, within the society. The governmental approach is also needful here. Du Bois provided in this respect the philosophy of Talented Tenth which could be helpful in leading Black race throughout different social and governmental institutions (Moore, p. 71). According to Malcolm X’s approach to the problem the more educational problem concerned with lack of opportunities for African Americans, the more it guarantees the rise of radical and counterpart attitudes toward the governmental system:
The example of Malcolm X has also become a very important recruiting device for the orthodox branch of Islam (called Sunni Islam) to reach African American youth. In their rejection of a Eurocentric orientation in U.S. education and culture, African American youth have increasingly been attracted to a rising form of Islamic fundamentalism now visible in Black communities in the United States (Sales, p. 19).
Owing to this statement, it is not surprising that many of youth try to be encouraged in such activities as hustling and drug dealing along with criminal activities, which are considered generally with the American ghettos. In fact, the views of Washington and Du Bois were not taken to promote “healthy” and educated moral society. The representatives of Caucasian part of population did, roughly speaking, everything for making African Americans outside the “educational borders”. Moreover, this process is still going on. The American society has not still invented the panacea for racial discrimination. This problem is considered to be the outrageous for Black people, in particular. That is why it is necessary to more and more adhere to the scientific approach toward the issues and the philosophical explanation for Black people.
The discussion between Du Bois and Washington as of the education significance for Black people of America was taken into account due to the rational approach to the problem and attempts of Americans to make society more capable in education. The only thing is that Black population of the United States failed and was not capable to fight, first, for the political opportunities and the right to vote, second, for the civil rights and equality on same terms with White people (Du Bois and Griffin, p. 41).
That is why a long period of time was spent to maintain and implement the third constituent of African Americans’ well-being, i.e. education. In accordance with this statement Booker T. Washington provided too many speeches about the educational prospects for Blacks. He insisted on provision of “formal education for African American” (Keller, p. 77). Along with this he never rejected the idea that a Black student could pursue an advanced education: “Washington enjoyed the earnestness and motivation of the students, who had to work so hard for their education” (Keller, p. 55).
To sum up, the flow of historical and cultural peculiarities in the American society provided the rise of racial issue in terms of its philosophical grounding. Several significant social figures made attempts to promote the solutions for making progress in the society according political, religious, and educational approaches for African Americans. This process was started in the beginning of the twentieth century or even earlier and due to W. E. B. Du Bois, Booker T. Washington, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr., of course. It is continuing now, for the problem is not resolved yet.
Works cited
- Du Bois, W. E. B., and Griffin, Farah Jasmine. The Souls of Black Folk. Amsterdam: Spark Educational Publishing, 2003.
- Keller, Kristin Thoennes. Booker T. Washington: Innovative Educator. Minneapolis: Compass Point Books, 2007.
- King, Martin Luther, King, Martin Luther (Jr.), Carson, Clayborne, Luker, Ralph, and Russell, Penny A. ‘The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr: Threshold of a new decade, 1959-1960’. Volume 5 of The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr, Clayborne Carson Centennial book. Martin Luther King Papers. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005.
- Lott, Tommy Lee, and Pittman, John P. A Companion to African-American Philosophy. New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell, 2006.
- Moore, Jacqueline M. ‘Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, and the struggle for racial uplift’. Volume 1 of African American history series. African American History Series (Wilmington, Del.), No. 1. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003.
- Sales, William W. From civil rights to Black liberation: Malcolm X and the Organization of Afro-American Unity. African-American Studies Boston: South End Press, 1994.
- Storey, John Woodrow, and Utter, Glenn H. ‘Religion and politics: a reference handbook’. Contemporary world issues. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2002.
- Washington, Booker T. Up from Slavery. New York: Signet Classic, 2000.