Week 3 DQR Debate

Week 3 DQR Debate

The initial post must be written in character supporting your assigned position and then you are required to continue the debate by posting responses to the arguments of a minimum of two peers assigned to the opposing group. You are encouraged to post more than this. Your two best responses will be graded. Whatever you write should be in character. Be creative! Remember that everything you argue, although in character, must be grounded in academic research and must demonstrate you have done the required work.

Talique Stephens

Being that I am an African American professor who studied intensively and earned my master’s degree and now works at a university teaching, I became very closely interested with William and his writings in the lives of African American people living here in the United States. By having such intense desires to win equal rights for us African Americans and becoming one of the early leaders of the civil rights movement William had a strong understanding of the inequality we faced and surely wanted the injustices to be ended. With that strong desire to fight back against the injustices being held against us he put a lot of his efforts into the major sickening things happening to the African Americans like racism, lynching, the Jim Crows Laws, and discrimination. Du Bois believed that African American people had long waited our overdo of respect that isn’t being given to us and the only way to be granted such equality was by necessary force such as protesting.

Though William thought process for gaining equality might’ve seemed unreasonable at the time, that doesn’t take away from how knowledgeable of a man he was not only was he a writer at the time, he was also a Civil Rights Activist, Sociologist, Historian, Writer/Editor. With all those professions under his belt, he still took the time to become the first African American to earn his doctorate and if not mentioned before became a professor at Atlanta University teaching history, economics, and sociology.

W. E. B. Du Bois was a very knowledgeable man especially for a man of his time where very few had the opportunities to reach this high of a goal with such harsh discriminations. This man studied History and Sociology and those were the two he favored most. The focus of sociology is that it’s a social science which mainly means that he knew about human social patterns and social interactions; with that being said, Du Bois, might’ve realized that the dominating group of the time which is the white people won’t be persuaded by just talking and given a chance to learn about us, he realized that we may need to take a more forceful approach within the situation.

Du Bois: The first half century -- W. E. B. Du Bois: Biography of a Race, 1868-1919

Du Bois, W. E. B.. The Autobiography of W. E. B. Du Bois: A Soliloquy on Viewing My Life from the Last Decade of Its First Century

Response –

Kindle O'Connell

When it comes to the views of both Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois, I must support Du Bois. On many levels I am similar to Washington, I too was born into slavery and fortunately for me I was able to be freed and stay with my parents following the end of the Civil War. On the contrary, you could say that we were also unfortunate to continue to live in the South. As I continued to grow older, I watched day after day of my father and mother work for the man. It reminded me daily of what my life was like as a young child, and by the time I had grown to be a teenager I was working alongside my father as a sharecropper. Even though we were now free we still had to obey the white man and pay him for using the land. He took all my father’s wages and we were stuck here in poverty. My mother was lucky to be able to get a job in the town, but she had to walk. Seeing the stress of work on both of my parents was nowhere near empowering as Washington thinks it can be. Seeing them fight through the pain was not something that made me feel empowered to be sticking it to the man. Showing off as if no matter what they do to us we won't falter. From seeing this I feel that we shouldn't become second-class citizens. We shouldn't sit around and do nothing as the South grows a stronger hold back on me and my family. I am fortunate enough to say that my children will not have to experience slavery first hand and I expect it to stay that way. I know my late parents would agree with me. They were proud of me when I was able to work hard enough to get my family out of the South. Should I feel empowered that I needed to move my family, my children? I stand with Du Bois that I shouldn't be a second-class citizen to the point where I feel obligated to leave segregation. Where I don't feel safe, where my wife and children don't feel safe. Where I see race riots in the newspapers and see our boys coming back from the war and ridiculed. I see the amazing work the NAACP is accomplishing and of course I am not blind to the great things that Washington has done for our people, but when he pushes for accommodation to segregation, I draw the line. We did not live through slavery, to become freed. Only to end up back in the hands and chains of the white men. We will become slaves of the law. Du Bois supports equality no matter the race. And he supports that equality to be enacted immediately as it should be. My children and their children should not be stuck in this cycle of slavery. True empowerment is fighting for our equality, for our rights, against slavery and segregation for our future. Our children. If you're against Du Bois and his ways of fighting for our equality then you support the maltreatment of our people.

Response -

Jamie Carela

Good evening Class and Professor,

As a newly emaciated woman from TN, I was afforded the opportunity to help the war efforts overseas in France and Germany as a registered nurse. While I was there, I was affording opportunities to learn different languages as well as cultures to bring back to the US.

I would agree with the ideals of Mr. Booker T. Washington as he's logic is quite sound and civilized. White Americans see us an uncultured and unteachable heathen and that far from the truth. Mr. Washington's perspectives speck of economic equality while showing we are a force to be recognized as we too are educated and cultured. Unfortunately, Mr. Dubois would have African Americans be seen as power hungry and only want what's best for us only. I'm not saying Mr. Washington is wrong for wanting to compromise our existence for White Americans comfort, using violence to prove we aren't what they think we are isn't the answer either.

Both men want to be able to more African Americans forward as a race and culture but are taking very different approaches. I can appreciate Mr. Dubois' resilience and energy for empowering our people. His words light fires in the heart of all who were slaves and those newly emaciated. Honestly, they stir my blood when I hear them being spoken, however, Mr. Washington's approach seems to be a more subtle way of getting to equality. As a former slave, I never looked forward to more violence. Talking loudly or talking at all would get me hit or worse. Mr. Washington's gentler/softer approach could work in our future's favor as White Americans wouldn't find us as threating if we were able to open their eyes with compromise and educational points of view. I understand that this approach is highly frowned upon but after fighting for the little bit of freedoms we got now, Mr. Washington is quietly still working for our advancement. Silence doesn't always equate to compliance and that's way I agree with and stick by Mr. Washington.

"Mae Lee Davis R.N."

Reference:

Team, B. E., BExcellence Team The Black Excellence Team is here to deliver to you the best in black culture, The Black Excellence Team is here to deliver to you the best in black culture, & posts, V. all. (2020, July 16). Booker T Washington vs W.E.B Du Bois: The great debate. Black Excellence. Retrieved January 19, 2022, from https://blackexcellence.com/booker-t-washington-vs-web-dubois/

Response –

Vincent Mikkelsen (Professor)

Friend,

Certainly, many people in this nation see Du Bois as the more "radical" of our time but we must remember that Washington is based out of, the South. As you pointed out. I'm not saying that Du Bois is in a racial paradise (in Massachusetts and later New York) but the possible ramifications of being as outspoken in Alabama creates a major problem for BT Washington. Don't you agree that he has many more possible threats in his daily routine or am I wrong. I would love for your opinion on this matter.

Response-