Ken Dubois : My Mentor Essay

The stark differences between Booker T Washington and W.E.B. DuBois and their approaches to racism

W.E.B. Dubois The great African American intellectual W.E.B. Dubois was born in the post-Civil War era. Being born at this time encouraged him to fight for equal rights for blacks. At this time, blacks were still suppressed very greatly. Dubois, having had lived in an all black community, experienced racism first-hand in the North (Donalson, 558).

3.) According to DuBois, “the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line.” Using several representative examples, consider how American writers (of any color) since the Civil War have addressed this problem.

Race relations have always been a very controversial topic in this country and still are. In the mid-1900s there were many writers who felt very strongly about how African Americans and white people interacted together. In this paper three individual excerpts by three different authors will be discussed. All three of these authors have different viewpoints because of how they see the world based on their individual life experiences.

African-Americans have fought on many of liberty’s battlefields from the pre-emancipated plantation to the killing fields of the Civil War. African-Americans have always been willing to fight not just for their freedom, but for their country as well. Yet, their country never lived up to its founding document that asserts that, “All men are created equal; ”instead,

The Souls of Black Folk, written by W.E.B DuBois is a collection of autobiographical and historical essays containing many themes. DuBois introduced the notion of "twoness", a divided awareness of one's identity. "One ever feels his two-ness – an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled stirrings: two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keep it from being torn asunder" (215). There are many underlying themes in this collection of essays. One of the themes that DuBois speaks on extensively is education.

One of the late 19th century and early 20th century’s most prominent black empowerment leaders was W.E.B DuBois. In research it is clear that DuBois was not subtle to one job or career choice. His main goal was to improve the lives of African Americans. As a Civil Rights activist, sociologist, educator, historian, writer, editor, poet, and scholar, DuBois contributed to changing American society today.

The second quotes that stands out to me from W.E.B Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk (1903) from page 418 “Few know of these problems, few who know notice them; and yet there are awaiting student, artist, and seer, a field for somebody sometime to discover”. This quote is trying to say that they know the problem is going on and they don’t want to do nothing about because they are waiting for somebody to come and show them what to do, but some of them already figure out what to do. “In the Black World, the Preacher and Teacher embodied once the ideals of this people, the strife for another and a juster world, the vague dream of righteousness, the mystery of knowing; but today the danger is that these ideals, with their simple beauty and weir

William Edward Burkhardt DuBois, whom we all know as W.E.B. DuBois; was a novelist, public speaker, poet, editor, author, leader, teacher, scholar, and romantic. He graduated from high school at the age of 16, and was selected as the valedictorian, being that he was the only black in his graduating class of 12. He was orphaned shortly after his graduation and was forced to fund his own college education. He was a pioneer in black political thoughts and known by many as a main figure in the history of African-American politics. W.E.B. DuBois attended Fisk University, where he was awarded a scholarship after he graduated high school. Fisk University was located in Nashville, Tennessee. While attending this University, this is where he saw

The Crisis was a magazine that W.E.B DuBois created in 1910 and it was also the official magazine of the NAACP. DuBois was not only the founder of this magazine, but he was also the editor. The targeted audience of this magazine was the African American community. At this point in time a magazine that was ran by Black people and for Black people was unheard of. The purpose of this magazine was to shine light on who and what the Black community was, to create an outlet where Black scholars could share their work, and it was a source where Black people could get useful information (the information was tailored to the Black community’s needs) from trusted sources. The magazine became very influential, at its peak the magazine had 100,000 readers

Through his work, “Of Our Spiritual Strivings,” W.E.B. Dubois takes the reader on a journey through the typical black man’s eyes. He creates a new meaning of the African American man as he shares personal experiences and stories of the past alike. He plays upon the heart strings of every reader, no matter the race, with his literary knowledge of words, use of pathos, and stories of his past experience to pull in emotional ties to his work. The application of dualism allows the reader, who is most commonly white men, to choose a side to sympathize with, for Dubois gives the sense of double consciousness as the African and the American throughout his entire work.

WEB Du Bois provides a counter argument to the belief in the American dream, however. He argues that “when sticks and stones and beasts form the sole environment of a people, their attitude is largely one of determined opposition to and conquest of individuals” (541). Du Bois is arguing that men become oppressed because of an innate attitude that men possess, that in fact it is not their qualifications that determine whether or not they are successful, rather it is based on the preconceived

In December 1803 William Clark established "Camp River Dubois" at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, north of St. Louis. While there he recruited and trained men, while Lewis spent time in St. Louis, conferring with traders about the Upper Missouri regions and obtaining maps made by earlier explorers. On May 14, 1804 William Clark and the Corps of Discovery left Camp River Dubois, and were joined by Meriwether Lewis in St. Charles, Missouri. The party numbered over 45, and included 27 young, unmarried soldiers, a French-Indian interpreter, and Clark's Black slave York. An additional group of men, engagés, would travel only to the Mandan country for the first winter, and these included six soldiers and several French boatmen.

The Souls of Black Folk is an instant classic when it is read, and it was a very important part of literature for black civil rights. The text talks about how blacks were treated in Post-Civil War America, what education they needed, how blacks were not yet Americans, short stories, and Negro Spirituals. The actual text is a collection of thirteen essays, and a short story written by Dubois. The book also contains Negro Spirituals to tell the reader the history of the enslaved people. The first three chapters deal with the history of the Freedmen’s Bureau, and his critical viewpoint of Booker T. Washington. From chapters four through nine he discusses the social stratifications of the blacks. The final chapters of the book talks about the prejudices and racism faced by blacks in America. Dubois’ purpose for writing this book makes white Americans realize injustice is happening in the country while they are idly going on about their lives. He is showing them that he can be equal to whites because he got an education and he can write as well as the educated whites, if not better. He is showing them that even though he is black he can write long complex sentences and use very formal language. He uses very formal diction and his style is argumentative. This text is a very good example of superb literature.

The year was 1998. Three enormous cow patterned boxes showed up on our doorstep. Inside, was my very own Gateway desktop computer. Well, technically it was family owned. However, at the age of eight, I took the initiative to learn all I could about that computer. My current technical knowledge all stems from receiving that first computer. I would spend hours on end playing on that computer. It came with a binder of software CDs, including typing, algebra, art, and encyclopedias, which I learned how to install, configure, and function. Of course, like any computer connected to the Internet, it was prone to infection by viruses. I wish I would have known then what I know now. I would have saved myself so much time and angst. However, those issues and other problems that come along with owning a computer helped me become who I am today. I taught myself how to troubleshoot, diagnose, and resolve operating systems, software, and hardware issues by conducting Internet research and by trial and error. Many computers were broken along the way, but I learned from my mistakes. This was my first experience with Self-Directing learning, without realizing it at the time. "Self-directed learning describes a process by which individuals take the initiative, with our without the assistance of others (Skiff, 2009. para. 3)." I continued to apply this type of learning towards other applications as