Blog #10

 

 

      Washington beacme the pricipal of Alabama's Tuskegee Training Institute in 1881. He believed that African American education should be found in industrial education. An adamant supporter of manual and industrial training, Washington spread his ideas of education for blacks throughout the south. He believed that African Americans were better off learning the things they did imparted by industrial labor. As a result, Washington was heavily supported by many white leaders of his day. Whites believed that traditional schooling would make African Americans less willing to carry out the duties of menial tasks. They wanted to keep the African Americans at bay and have them continue menial labor. On the other hand, W.E.B. DuBois believed in empowering African Americans through education. Born a free man in the north, DuBois completed traditional education and even went abroad to continue higher education. He later became the first African American to be awarded a Ph.D. from Harvard University. He believed in closing the gaps of segregation between the whites and blacks through education. He argued Washington's points that without proper education, there would be no way for African Americans to improve their status in society. Through his persistent commitment to improving education among African Americans, DuBois went on to begin the foundations of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or the NAACP.