Booker T. Washington and
W.E.B. Dubois
Two Paths to Ending Jim Crow
Civil War Amendments
 13th – Ended slavery
 14th – Granted citizenship to former slaves
 15th – Gave African American men the right to ovte
Evolution of Jim Crow Laws
 Disenfranchisement of African Americans
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Grandfather clauses
Poll tax
Literacy tests
Intimidation and fear
Jim Crow Laws: Systematic StateLevel Legal Codes of Segregation
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Transportation
Schools
Libraries
Drinking fountains
Morgues and Funeral Parlors
Plessy v. Ferguson
 The Case: Homer Plessy, 1/8th black, was
arrested for sitting in the “white car” of a
Louisiana train in violation of that state’s
“Separate Car Act”
 The case was appealed to Supreme Court
Supreme Court Ruling (1896)
 The Ruling: Separate facilities were lawful as long as
they were equal
 Only one dissenter, Justice John Harlan, wrote “Our
Constitution is color blind.”
Plessy v. Ferguson
 The result: Legalized Jim Crow segregation until 1954
(Brown v. Board of Education)
Two African American Leaders, Two
Diverse Backgrounds, Two Sets of
Beliefs
 Booker T. Washington
W.E.B. DuBois
Booker T. Washington
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Born a slave in southwestern Virginia
Believed in vocational education for blacks
Founded the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama
Believed in gradual equality
Accused of being an “Uncle Tom”
 Uncle Tom was the main character in Uncle Tom’s cabin
 Term came to mean one who was excessively subservient
 Wrote Up From Slavery (1901)
 Outlined his views on race at the Cotton States and International
Exposition in Atlanta – “Atlanta Compromise”
 Felt that black people should work to gain economic security
before equal rights
 Believed black people should “earn” equality by demonstrating
their skills
 Developed programs for job training and vocational skills at
Tuskegee Institute
 Asked whites to give job opportunities to black people
 Was popular with white leaders in the North and South
 But unpopular with other black leaders
 Associated with members of the Urban League, which
emphasized jobs and training for blacks
W.E.B. DuBois
 Born in 1868 in Massachusetts
 First African American to received a Ph.D. from
Harvard
 Wanted immediate quality between blacks and
whites
 Wanted classical education for blacks
 Wrote The Souls of Black Folk (1903)
 Involved in the Niagara Movement, which led to the
NAACP
 Strongly opposed to Washington’s tolerance of
segregation
 Demanded immediate equality for blacks
 Felt it was wrong for citizens to have to “earn their
rights”