Homework Help
Good students ask more questions. eNotes educators are standing by.
Topic: The Souls of Black Folk
What does DuBois mean by the quote below from The Souls of Black Folk?
"Nine millions of men can make effective progress in economic lines if they are deprived of political rights, made a servile caste, & allowed only the most meager chance for developing their exceptional men?”
Share this question:
3 Answers | add yours
Teacher
Community / Jr. College
Distinguished Educator, Expert, Instructor, Dickens, The Bard, Churchill, Einstein
What DuBois is doing here is taking issue with Booker T. Washington's ideas about how blacks should make progress in the US.
In this quote, what he is saying is that the black race as a...
(The entire answer is 106 words.)
This is an expert answer, written by an eNotes educator. To read the entire answer, please join eNotes.
So much of Du Bois’ work responds to Booker T Washington’s, and many critics write about these men in relation to each other. Much has been made of their philosophic differences—particularly in how Washington advocated gradual change and Du Bois insisted that certain changes to ensure civil rights must take place immediately--but their differences in birth and education were also profound.
While Washington was born a Southern slave and educated at Hampton, Du Bois was born in the north and educated at Fisk, Harvard, and for two years in Europe. While Washington knew slavery first-hand, Du Bois wrote his doctoral dissertation on slavery. Near the end of his life, Du Bois said, "I think that maybe the greatest difference between Booker T. and myself was that he had felt the lash, and I had not."
Du Bois asks a rhetorical question about a statement that Washington made stating black men can gain economic power then obtain political rights to ensure that political power. Du Bois says it can not happen; that black men can not gain economic power without first obtaining political rights of voting and representation while still considered second-class citizens (servile caste) and only providing little opportunity to develop great black leaders.
The previous posts were quite strong. The fundamental belief in the quote questions where the attempts for activism should lie. In an age of industry when economic progress helped to...
(The entire answer is 170 words.)
This is an expert answer, written by an eNotes educator. To read the entire answer, please join eNotes.
Join to answer this question
Join a community of thousands of dedicated teachers and students.
Related Content
Recommended Questions
- Based on what is said in The Souls of Black Folk, where do you think Washington and DuBois would stand in the debate on affirmative...
- What was the reason the vision of 40 acres and a mule turned into a disappointment in "The Souls of Black Folks"?
- W.E.B. Duboius attended Fisk University in Tennesee. In what way did the Fisk Jubilee Singers have a far-reaching affect on the world?
- I notice song lyrics before every chapter of The Souls of Black Folk. What do they mean? Explain its importance.
- What is the main topic of Dubois's essay? How does it differ from Washington's speech?
- In "The Souls of Black Folk" by W.E.B. DuBois, are the souls gendered?
- In his work titled The Souls of Black Folk, what did W. E. B. Dubois consider the causes of race problems? What is the...
- Consider DuBois's concept of the "contradiction of double aims." How does this contradiction distort African- Americans' strengths into...
- In The Souls of Black Folk, by W. E. B. Du Bois, what is the significance of the role of the church in the Black Belt?
- According to The Souls of Black Folk, by W. E. B. Du Bois, were economic, political, or social factors the most crippling to...
