Fredrick Douglass came from a socially humble background. He unwillingly became a slave for nineteen years and the master was his father (John and John 473). He exploited all the opportunities that possibly came his way despite the hardships he met. Douglassâs influence on slavery abolition and racial equality gained momentum in 1839 when his speech appeared in the ‘The Liberator” newspaper. His stand was to change the minds of the Americans which be achieved through moral persuasion and reasoning with the slavery supporters. According to Douglass, the constitution failed since it consented to slavery therefore, he was against politics and instead resorted to non-aggressive and peaceful procedures (479).
Booker Taliaferro Washington was a powerful African American leader who openly supported separation amongst the blacks and whites. Born to slavery, he had a white father and a black slave mother in Virginia, he got good schooling and prevailed among the African American community, and was favored by the white politicians to be a representative of the Negroes. In his opinion, the political demonstration could not bring about freedom from racial discrimination the minority according to him will lose. He wanted the freedmen to be middle-class farmers and have skills in masonry, smithwork so that they could help themselves. He suggested that collaborating with a few compassionate whites was the way to come out from the then autonomous racial discrimination.
William E. B. Du Bois had great sway during the 20th century and became one of the founding members of the National Association for the Advancement of colored people (David 5). His view was that racial problems had solutions in social science but later changed his mind arguing that when racism has become too much then it calls for mass protest and public demonstration. Later in 1905, Dubois developed an interest in ideas that favored collectivism and forever remained an advocate of equal rights.
What comes out clearly from the three leaders is a difference in ideologies and the approaches towards racism. Douglass had an attitude of self-rule or laissez-faire where he believed that African freed slaves should be given the autonomy to rule themselves. This hindered him from creating an effective tenet that will lead to the race advancement of the blacks. He was an individualist who explained history in an egocentric way. He made appeals that were moral to the white race and embraced racial action that was collective and at the same time advanced racial pride and advocated for separate institutions. However, near death, he married a white lady, Helen Pitts, and changed tune to advocate for racial amalgamation (David 4).
On the other hand, Washington was a man who was a materialist and advanced the cause of accommodating racial segregation while Du Bois believed inequality by all means without any compromise. He is what many blacks found to be a white sympathizer and opportunist to some level because he associated with the whites so that he could get loans to build schools and colleges for blacks. He believed that through education, Africans could be seen as equal to whites while Du Bois believed that it is only through civil rights that Africans could be equal to whites and not education (Herbert 42). This idea made them differ greatly from Washington. Dubois advanced and advocated for black capitalism but in his later years changed the tune to advocate for socialism and separatism of Africans where he aired his views on the need to have a unified African people (David 9). He believed in a âbourgeoisâ democracy for the free African Americans.
I would have had followed the cause of Du Bois. He fought what he believed in racial equality and black capitalism. He believed in democracy and total freedom for all Africans something that has not been achieved to date.
Works Cited
David, L. D. My Father’s Shadow: Intergenerational Conflict in African American Men’s Autobiography. University of Pennsylvania Press. 1991
Herbert, A. The Complete Published Works of W. E. B. Du Bois. 1973â1985. vol. 7. Indianna University Press.
John, W. B and John, R. M. âThe Frederick Douglass Papers. Series One: Speeches, Debates, and Interviews.â African American Review, vol. 28, no. 3. pp. 473-479. Indiana State University, 1994.