The twentieth-century debate between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B DuBois is one of the most well-known. Washington and DuBois wanted to improve the lives of African Americans and challenge the systems of racial prejudice and oppression. However, they had different opinions and approaches on how to promote a better life. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B DuBois both had significant roles in the movement. Booker T. Washington believed that the best path for African Americans was to attend school. Washington heard about the Hampton and when he finally arrived, he felt for the first time of what it was like to be a man instead of property. Students could attend school and also work. “Has not the negro boy or girl as good a right to study French grammar and instrumental music as the white youth?” He answered yes; however, he believes that the current condition, at that time, needed …show more content…
In 1881, Booker T. Washington arrived in Tuskegee, Alabama. He discovered that they attended school in a small shanty and church, with only one teacher and thirty students, and no property. Later, with aid from the State and the north, they could obtain eight hundred students across from nineteen states, seventy-nine instructors, and fourteen hundred acres of land holding thirty buildings. The total property was then worth two hundred and eighty thousand dollars. Booker T. Washington found out ways that they could get out of this condition. Some of the ways include finding teaching to be useful in giving the student a chance to work while in school, giving students the chance to learn and gain skills while working, and providing a backbone for the student. There were several challenges that African