Spotlight on Booker T. Washington and WEB Dubois Plessy vs Ferguson Spotlight on Booker T. Washington and WEB Dubois

Plessy vs. Ferguson In 1896, the Supreme Court established the “separate but equal” doctrine in Plessy vs. Ferguson; it legalized discrimination in public places. The suit was brought by Homer Plessy after he was denied a seat in a first-class railway car. The Supreme Court ruled that “separate but equal facilities did not violate the 14th Amendment.

Leading African American spokesmen included: Booker T. Washington- Washington was born into slavery to a white father and a slave mother in a rural area in southwestern Virginia. He was largely self-educated.

Booker T. Washington a. believed African Americans should concentrate only on economic equality and independence (which he saw as key to political and social equality) b. wanted African Americans to work hard and be patient; believed equality would come in time. He discouraged protesting against discrimination and Jim Crow Laws, arguing that it merely increased the hostility of whites. c. wanted African Americans to obtain vocational skills through vocational training

Atlanta Compromise Washington was known for his “Atlanta Compromise” September 18, 1895—This speech was given before a predominantly white audience at the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta.

He was asked to speak by Southern leaders in an attempt to show the North the progress they had made in terms of racial relations. His speech received a positive reaction from the press and primarily white crowd with many African Americans accepting his beliefs as well. Delivered in an era of deep racial prejudice, this speech has been seen as accepting the principle of “separate but equal.”

Tuskegee In 1881, Booker T. Washington, then a young teacher, arrived in the town of Tuskegee, Alabama, where he had been invited by local whites to start a school for blacks (Tuskegee University today)

WEB DuBois WEB DuBois (born in 1868 in Massachusetts) First African American to graduate from Harvard with a Ph.D.

Du Bois had originally believed that social science could provide the knowledge to solve the race problem. He gradually came to the conclusion that in a climate of racism, expressed in such evils as lynching, disfranchisement, Jim Crow segregation laws, and race riots, social change could be accomplished only through agitation and protest.

DuBois believed African Americans should fight for social, political, and economic equality wanted African Americans to protest vigorously and demand immediate action

DuBois Very critical of Booker T. Washington believed African Americans should obtain a “classical” or “academic” education from a liberal arts college wrote Souls of Black Folks. In it, he criticizes "the old attitude of adjustment and submission" that had been articulated eight years earlier by Booker T. Washington in the "Atlanta Compromise Address.“ Very critical of Booker T. Washington Became a co-founder of the NAACP

The Jim Crow legal system, which expanded in the South after Plessy v The Jim Crow legal system, which expanded in the South after Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), was based on the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the due process clause of the 5th Amendment states’ rights provision of the 10th Amendment equal protection clause in the 14th Amendment voting rights provision in the 15th Amendment