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Greatness-Booker T. Washington And W.E.B Dubois

“Great people often receive violent opposition from violent minds” Albert Einstein

This quote typifies the conditions in which both Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Dubois were challenged with. Not only were they two exemplary examples of African American greatness, but they proved themselves to be two of the greatest leaders of the early twentieth century regardless of race. However, as Aristotle once said “people fear what they don’t understand, and hate what they can’t conquer” thus steps were taken to dismantle their “movements” at all costs. It was because of this the two were commonly pitted against each other in media outlets to create a rift in their collective following. Not that there was any truth to their “rivalry”, contrarily many times they admitted to seeking the same result for the black race. They were seen as rebels to society because of their hopes to replace the oppressed psyche of our race with one of self-efficacy and prosperity. They perpetuated the notions of equality, diligence, self betterment, unity and accountability to name just a few of the platforms they spoke on which so affected our race during their time. They arguably had the potential to rectify three hundred years of anguish and repression had they been able to follow their directives unimpeded, but now we’ll never know.
Although both Washington and Dubois had very similar intentions for the black race, they came from entirely different backgrounds and thus had different views on society. Booker T. Washington was born April 5, 1856 in Hale’s Farm, Virginia. He was born into slavery in an environment that did not nurture ideas of progression and excellence. At age nine, he was freed along with his family and they moved to West Virginia. Here he received his first exposure to the principles of hard work and assiduousness. He worked on the salt mills with his stepfather despite his frail stature and young age because he felt an...

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