Harlem Renaissance/Social-Political Activism – Washington and DuBois
Articles
Booker T. Washington Delivers the 1895 Atlanta Compromise Speech
W.E.B. DuBois, Of Booker T. Washington and Others
Booker T. Washington, Equal and Exact Justice to Both Races
Discussion Questions for Readings
Level one - Discussion Questions
Booker T. Washington Delivers the 1895 Atlanta Compromise Speech
1. What was Washington urging African American to do? What was he urging Americans to
do?
2. What statements in this address made this speech appropriate for a white audience?
Explain.
3. What were Washington’s long-term goals for African Americans?
W.E.B. DuBois “Of Booker T. Washington and Others
4. What was W.E.B. DuBois urging African Americans to do? What was he urging
Americans to do?
5. Who is Du Bois audience? What statements in this speech indicate the audience, and how
does Du Bois language indicate how the essay is appropriate for this audience?
6. What were DuBois long-term goals for African-Americans?
Level Two – Discussion Questions
7. Specifically, what social-political-economic problems did Washington want the African
American community to address, and by which methods did he think they should go about
accomplishing it?
8. Specifically, what social-political-economic problems did DuBois want the African
American community to address, and by which methods did he think they should go about
accomplishing it?
9. What ideals did Washington and DuBois share for the African American people?
10. On what aspects and points did their vision differ?
Level three – Discussion Questions
11. Speculate how Washington and Dubois visions for African American advancement
connected to their distinct regions of origin (Washington being from the South and DuBois
from the North)?
12. Speculate if the public debate between Washington and Dubois was a productive and
effective, or destructive method for bringing the questions and concerns of the AfricanAmerican communities into the public discourse?
13. Evaluate how Washington and Dubois could have synthesized their ideas together more
effectively?
14. Judge which distinct points Washington and DuBois might never find common ground
on? Why?
15. Do you think we can easily classify Washington as a conservative activist, and DuBois as a
liberal activist given that they were each responding to the conditions and circumstances of
their region? How do we evaluate and generalize whose ideas were more liberal or more
conservative based on each man’s situational context?
16. Which ideas do you find to the strongest between both of them?
17. Generalize which activist you find most relevant in your own experience and within
modern society. Why?
18. “Without the presence of black people in America, European-Americans would not be
"white"-- they would be Irish, Italians, Poles, Welsh, and other engaged in class, ethnic, and
gender struggles over resources and identity. (p. 107-108)”
― Cornel West, Race Matters
Modern American scholars like Cornel West believe that the presence and history of
African-Americans provides a conversation for moral awakening in the United States. He
has stated that without the institution of slavery and systematic discrimination, we (as
Americans) might not have the experiential language to discuss the moral foundations and
development of the country. Do you agree or disagree with West? Support your response
with evidence.
19. Furthermore, if West’s idea is taken as true, then how can the African-American
experience/story best function as a force of moral tension, reasoning, and resolution in
American thought and literature?