Name __________________________
Date: ________________
Section: 11.1
11.2
(circle one)
U. S. History II
HW 1.13: Washington, Du Bois,
and Affirmative Action
Comparing Washington and Dubois
Based on what you understand from reading The Atlanta Compromise and W.E.B. DuBois’s
critique of Washington, answer the following question: Do you think that Washington or
DuBois had a better perspective on how African Americans should have progressed after
slavery? Why?
a) Washington or DuBois?
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b) What do you strongly agree with in the argument of the thinker that you chose above?
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c) What did you disagree with in the other man’s argument?
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1
Name __________________________
Date: ________________
Section: 11.1
11.2
(circle one)
Complete the chart below by taking notes on what you think each man’s position on the issue is.

For each entry on this chart, you should find a piece of SRT that supports your point
Issue
Washington Says
DuBois Says
It is critical that African-Americans
dedicate themselves to hard work in
order to progress
It is important for African-Americans to
learn to do greater intellectual work and
aim high in their education.
It is important that black Americans and
white Americans have harmonious
relationships
2
Name __________________________
Date: ________________
Section: 11.1
11.2
(circle one)
Issue
Washington Says
DuBois Says
It is important to acknowledge that in
the past, black and white Americans in
the South have had relationships based
on loyalty and love
It is critical for African Americans to
have political equality (all the rights of
citizenship).
African-Americans should be striving for
social equality with white Americans
3
Name __________________________
Date: ________________
Section: 11.1
11.2
(circle one)
Affirmative Action
By Dan Froomkin
Washingtonpost.com
October 1998
Affirmative action is the nation's most ambitious attempt to redress its long history of
racial and sexual discrimination. But these days it seems to incite, rather than ease, the
nation's internal divisions.
An increasingly assertive opposition movement argues that the battle to guarantee equal
rights for all citizens has been fought and won – and that favoring members of one group
over another simply goes against the American grain.
But defenders of affirmative action say that the playing field is not level yet – and that
granting modest advantages to minorities and women is more than fair, given hundreds of
years of discrimination that benefited whites and men.
What Is Affirmative Action?
Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion,
gender, sexual orientation, or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an
underrepresented group "in areas of employment, education, and business". It is usually
justified as countering the effects of a history of discrimination.
Born of the civil rights movement, affirmative action calls for minorities and women to be
given special consideration in employment, education and contracting decisions.
Institutions with affirmative action policies generally set goals and timetables for increased
diversity – and use recruitment, set-asides and preference as ways of achieving those goals.
In its modern form, affirmative action can call for an admissions officer faced with two
similarly qualified applicants to choose the minority over the white, or for a manager to
recruit and hire a qualified woman for a job instead of a man. Affirmative action decisions
are generally not supposed to be based on quotas, nor are they supposed to give any
preference to unqualified candidates. And they are not supposed to harm anyone through
"reverse discrimination."
4
Name __________________________
Date: ________________
Section: 11.1
11.2
(circle one)
The Politics of Affirmative Action: Is It Time to End Affirmative Action?
California, Michigan, Washington, Florida, and Nebraska have banned its use in public
education and hiring
At this point in our nation's
history, does affirmative
action make things better or
worse? "Angry white men"
blame affirmative action for
robbing them of promotions
and other opportunities. And
while many minorities and
women support affirmative
action, a growing number say
its benefits are no longer
worth its side effect: the
perception that their success
is unearned. The debate rages
on.
YES
America is dedicated to the principle of equal treatment of all its citizens by government.
The Declaration of Independence proclaims that all men are created equal, and the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 requires that all Americans be treated equally "without regard to their
race, color, or national origin."
Ironically, since the mid-1960s, this principle of equal treatment has been largely ignored
to compensate for the historic discrimination encountered by racial minorities and women.
These preferential policies are known as affirmative action.
In a 2003 decision, the Supreme Court called affirmative action a system of racial
"preferences" and ruled that consideration of race must not continue indefinitely.
Surely, after the election of America's first black President, it is evident that America is
committed to no longer judging individuals on the basis of skin color.
High school students applying to college and for jobs would be justifiably embittered if they
were rejected because of the conditions of their birth—race, gender, or ethnicity. A civil
society and a prosperous nation should insist that individual merit—that is, the particular
qualifications of each individual—serves as the criterion for admission to college as well as
hiring and promotion decisions in the workplace.
5
Name __________________________
Date: ________________
Section: 11.1
11.2
(circle one)
For every person who benefits from preferences based on race rather than merit, someone
else is unfairly denied that same opportunity. As someone who is often characterized as a
"minority," I want to know—and I especially want others to know—that my
accomplishments are the result of my own efforts.
Until merit is the sole standard by which we are all judged, our country will remain divided.
It is time to end affirmative action.
—Ward Connerly
President, American Civil Rights Coalition
NO
Affirmative action policies are vital tools for creating opportunity and developing a diverse
workforce. We should not end them.
In November, Colorado voters rejected a ballot initiative that would have ended the use of
affirmative action in public education, public employment, and public contracting. I
opposed the measure because it would have eroded the racial progress we have made since
the 1960s. This is no time to turn back.
The good news is that, thanks in part to affirmative action, more women and minorities are
in the workforce, starting their own businesses, going to college, and participating in
government at all levels. We all benefit when people of diverse backgrounds get a
meaningful chance to succeed.
But we still have much work to do.
For example, in my home state of Colorado, the state's Pay Equity Commission recently
found that women make, on average, 79 cents for every dollar men earn. And last year the
Bell Policy Center in Denver found a huge gap between the percentage of whites and
minorities who earn college degrees in Colorado: 50 percent of white adults, compared
with 16 percent of minorities.
On the national level, census data show that substantial inequality persists: Blacks are
three times more likely than whites to live below the poverty line, and the median income
of blacks, $30,200, is less than two thirds that of whites, $48,800.
As we consider the future of affirmative-action policies, we must be mindful that we all still
live with the legacy of past gender and racial discrimination. We should not jettison these
policies until we have a level playing field for all.
—Bill Ritter Jr.
Governor Of Colorado
6
Name __________________________
Date: ________________
Section: 11.1
11.2
(circle one)
Arguments in FAVOR of affirmative action
Arguments OPPOSED to affirmative action
7
Name __________________________
Date: ________________
Section: 11.1
11.2
(circle one)
Homework
Your homework tonight includes the following parts:
1. Based on our work today, write out the main arguments of Du Bois and Washington
in 2-4 complete sentences each.
2. In at least two paragraphs total, summarize arguments for and against affirmative
action. These can be drawn from the reading above or from your own thoughts.
3. Write down three points you might make in a discussion of Du Bois and Washington.
(These don’t need to be complete sentences, but they should be more specific than
“Washington was wrong.”)
4. Write down three points you might make in a discussion about affirmative action.
(These don’t need to be complete sentences, but they should be more specific than
“I’m against affirmative action.”)
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