Influential Black People
During the early nineteen hundreds, the push for African American rights was at an all time high. As the Civil War ended, all seemed well and good for the United States' black community as the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were instituted. These amendments, often called the reconstruction amendments, abolished slavery, guaranteed African American citizenship and also allowed African Americans the right to vote. However, the Jim Crow laws prohibited blacks from fully engaging in any of these amendments. Laws like the grandfather clause, the Poll tax, literacy tests, and intimidation along with fear contributed towards the restriction of black rights. Two of the most important people to advocated for black and white equality were Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois.
Although W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington both advocated for equality, they had very different approaches towards the subject. W.E.B. Advocated for Immediate equality and was very respected in the back community. Booker T. Washington was far more popular with the white community for his mentality that black people should earn their equality. He believed that if black people acquired better jobs, their situation would get better over time because they would receive more respect. For his beliefs, he was given the name "Uncle Tom" from the book Uncle Toms cabin. This mean he was a negro that obeyed whatever the white man said.
Although both these activists had great major differences, they both wanted to break the chains of black oppression. Even though they approached the situation differently, advances were certainly made. W.E.B. spoke for equality and made advances in his creation of the NAACP. Booker T. Made progress through the Atlanta Compromise. If these men didn't exist, African Americans may have never received the rights they truly deserved.
W.E.B. DuBois
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/race/etc/road.html is an excellent resource for more information.
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