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Debating Strategies for Change: Booker T. Washington vs. W.E.B. Du Bois

65 min

Lesson Components

Primary Sources: Washington and Du BoisStructured Academic Controversy Handout

Objectives:

  • Students will examine differing accounts on the best method for African Americans to achieve equality and integration into American society by reading and summarizing the arguments of Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois
  • Students will practice civil discourse by following the Structured Academic Controversy model of debate.

Students can complete the readings for this activity in class or for homework. Note that the two documents are a decade apart. Evaluate the strength of each argument using these questions:

  • Would Washington’s model of accommodation inevitably lead to political and social reform?
  • Why did Du Bois demand legal and political equality, and how could he achieve such demands?

Ask students to consider the following question as a think-pair-share or large group discussion to contextualize the issues they will read about in the sources: Did Reconstruction result in progress for African Americans? Why or why not?

Individually, students will read the two sources, identify the central arguments, and note the major points of each author in their graphic organizer.

Students will engage in a Structured Academic Controversy Activity to argue both sides of the central question.

Student will share their consensus statements in engage in a class debrief. Are the arguments of Washington and Du Bois still valid today? Why or why not?

Student Handouts

Primary Sources: Washington and Du Bois

Structured Academic Controversy Handout

Related Resources

Video

Booker T. Washington with Robert J. Norrell | Black Intellectuals Series #3

22 Min

How did Booker T. Washington, prominent African American educator and intellectual, contribute to understanding the Black experience in America? In this episode of our Scholar Talk series "Black Intellectuals and the African American Experience," BRI Senior Teaching Fellow Tony Williams is joined by Robert J. Norrell, Professor of History & Bernadotte Schmitt Chair of Excellence, the University of Tennessee and author of "Up from History: The Life of Booker T. Washington." Together, they explore the educational ideas of Washington and the ways he challenged racial discrimination and contributed to American culture broadly. What educational ideas and civic virtues did Washington promote for Black advancement?

Video

W. E. B. Du Bois with Derrick Alridge | Black Intellectuals Series #6

25 Min

How did W.E.B. Du Bois, prominent African-American intellectual, contribute to understanding the Black experience in America? In this video, BRI Senior Teaching Fellow Tony Williams is joined by Derrick P. Alridge, Professor of Education at the University of Virginia and affiliate faculty member in the Carter G. Woodson Institute for African-American and African Studies. Dr. Alridge is the author of "The Educational Thought of W.E.B. Du Bois: An Intellectual History." Together, they explore the educational ideas of Du Bois and the ways he challenged racial discrimination in "The Souls of Black Folk" and as editor of "The Crisis." How did his ideas about the "Talented Tenth” and Black education promote equality and justice?