Education, Self-help, and Collective Action for Social Revolution - Essay Example

22 February Education, Self-help, and Collective Action for Social Revolution Maria W. Stewart posed a significant question in her 1832 speech that reverberated from her time to the twentieth century: “Why sit ye here and die?” Several black female and male leaders championed the causes of their black brethren since the nineteenth century. This paper compares and contrasts the strategies of Booker T. Washington, Maria W. Stewart, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Ida B. Wells for the improvement of colored people in America and determines the most feasible actions in their times. During the nineteenth century, the most feasible strategies were opposition to racially-motivated violence, self-help, and accommodation, while in the twentieth century, fighting for equal rights and freedoms was already practical because almost forty years have passed since the Declaration of Emancipation and yet widespread lynching and racial segregation and discrimination prevented blacks from being free American citizens. Washington, Stewart, Du Bois, and Wells vehemently opposed racially-motivated violence, especially the lynching of black people, which was a fitting response to racial violence. Stewart resisted all forms of violence and discrimination against colored people. In a speech called “An Address at the African Masonic Hall,” which was delivered to the African Masonic Hall in Boston, Stewart noted how white society trained blacks to be helpless and fearful of whites: “Most of our color have been taught to stand in fear of the white man from their earliest infancy, to work as soon as they could walk, and call ‘master’ before they scarce could lisp the name of mother.” Because of this fear, some whites used lynching to apply their own brand of justice on blacks. Washington wrote about his sentiments regarding lynching, which for him is wrong because it breaches the due process of the law. He stressed in Birmingham Age-Herald: “If the law is disregarded when a Negro is concerned, it will soon be disregarded when a white man is concerned.” He emphasizes that lynching is not only unjust for blacks because when practiced across the nation, it can lead to widespread disregard for the law. Washington also asserts that lynching harms racial relations: “…the rule of the mob destroys the friendly relations which should exist between the races and injures and interferes with the material prosperity of the communities concerned.” Because Washington values peaceful racial relations, he believes that lynching only intensifies the animosity between whites and blacks. Du Bois witnessed the lynching of Sam Hose, who killed his white master in self-defense. The mob accused him of raping his master’s wife, which was untrue. Since then, Du Bois actively campaigned against racial violence. Wells wrote several pamphlets and newspaper articles that decried lynching. Wells conducted investigations on these acts of lynching. Her pamphlet, Lynch Law in Georgia, reveals the injustice of some of the most public lynching events, where many of those lynched were innocent, or did not deserve to be lynched because the law must be suitably applied to their transgressions. Washington, Stewart, Du Bois, and Wells agree that lynching is wrong because it is unjust and comes from deep-seated racial prejudice and discrimination. Washington and Stewart concur that education is critical to the self-help strategies of black people. Stewart and Washington focus on self-help strategies. On September 21, 1832, Stewart delivered the speech, “Why Sit Ye Here and Die?” She advances both moral and mental development for blacks: “Had we had the opportunity that you have had, to improve our moral and mental faculties, what would have hindered our intellects from being as bright, and our manners from being as dignified as yours?” She believes that blacks can improve their economic conditions, if only they were provided with educational and training opportunities. Moreover, Stewart focuses on the role of attaining scientific knowledge in the intellectual development of blacks. In the same speech, she states: “Yet, after all, methinks there are no chains so galling as the chains of ignorance—no fetters so binding as those that bind the soul, and exclude it from the vast field of useful and scientific knowledge” (Stewart “Why Sit Ye Here”). Scientific knowledge provides the skills and knowledge that will prove that blacks are intellectually equal to whites. Furthermore, Stewart believes that education will produce social equality: “…this would be the result: prejudice would gradually diminish, and the whites would be compelled to say, unloose those fetters!” She believes that changing blacks from within can introduce changes in the thinking and behaviors of prejudiced whites. Washington does not directly say that liberal arts education is unnecessary, but argues that industrial and practical education is more relevant to blacks than the former. He asserts that industrial and practical knowledge will help blacks find sustainable sources of income, where they rely on their own faculties and resources to attain better socio-economic levels (“History of Black Education”). Stewart and Washington believe in the power of education to free the black masses from ignorance and poverty. Wells and Du Bois share the same militant perspective in arguing for education and consciousness-raising among black people. Wells wants white and black people to realize the truth about racial relations and the effects of racist prejudice through free and honest media information. Schechter talks about the pamphlets of Wells, which emphasized the wrongs of lynching, so that the public will know the truth. She stresses: the anti-lynching pamphlets of the 1890s comprised a comprehensive view of southern racialized sexual politics: a vindication of black men as true men, a critique of white southern would-be male protectors as corrupt, an expose of white women as active participants in white supremacist sexual politics, and a re-centering of black womens experiences in the dynamics of rape, lynching, and sexualized racism. (Schechter). Education is not only about formal education, but a spreading of accurate information about racist America and its effects on white and black thinking and behavior. Du Bois, once a supporter of Washington’s accommodation strategy, asserts that liberal arts education is a decisive element in freeing blacks from social and political oppression. In The Souls of Black Folk, Du Bois counters Washington’s emphasis on industrial education. For him, industrial education is not the only education that should be forced on black students. Instead, what must happen is: “The education of youth according to ability” (Du Bois). This is education according to their abilities, not what white society wants them to learn only. Du Bois supports higher education for intelligent black people. Wells and Du Bois believe that this quality and level of education support their call for civil rights and freedoms for all. Martha and Washington both believe that whites and blacks should be treated as equals, but they do not think that a social revolution calling for equal rights will be appropriate for their times, which this paper believes is right because violence will only erupt more when social equality is forced. Stewart uses her religious beliefs to promote equality in access to public services and freedoms. She says: “…our groans and cries have reached the ears of the Lord of [Sabbath] (James 5:4)” (Stewart “Why Sit Ye Here”). She is saying that her black brethren should not stay silent and afraid. They must demand for their freedoms, or else they will forever be trapped in ignorance and poverty, but they should do so within the bounds of morality. Stewart focuses on self-help and integration: “Nothing would raise our respectability, add to our peace and happiness and reflect so much honor upon us, as to be ourselves the promoters of temperance, and the supporters, as far as we are able, of useful and scientific knowledge” (“An Address at the African Masonic Hall.” She does not want to agitate the whites, but to have equal access to education that will lead to self-development. Washington agrees with Stewart. He asks blacks to stop asking for equality and concentrate on self-development through industrial and practical education. He insists that from here, whites will realize that blacks are equal to them, and social equality will follow. Wells and Du Bois pursue militant activism in pursuing a social revolution, which by the twentieth century made sense because of expanding negative effects of racism on the minorities’ rights and freedoms. Wells used investigative journalism to expose the unfairness of the justice system and political authorities. Baker describes Wells as one of the radicals in the civic rights movement of the late nineteenth century. Wells opposed the accommodation strategy of Washington because it does not provide rights and freedoms to blacks. Du Bois and Wells share the same strategies. Du Bois specifically wants his people to fight for civil rights and freedoms, including higher education and suffrage. He rejected self-help without collective resistance against racial discrimination. He also emphasized that “The Talented Tenth” will lead the masses toward socio-economic and political equality. These demands and strategies are timely and relevant to their times because of the widespread poverty and racially-motivated violence that obstructed social justice and socio-economic opportunities for all colored people. These public advocates called for the education of blacks because ignorance preserved unjust social status quo. They believed that education is the key to economic empowerment. Stewart and Washington, however, emphasized self-help and patience, while Du Bois and Wells argue for social transformation through militant activism. The strategies of Stewart and Washington are appropriate for the nineteenth century because of the transition needed from Emancipation to social equality. However, by the twentieth century, it became clear that active social protests for legislative and societal changes are required to transform the social fabric of racism. Thus, in the twentieth century, Du Bois and Wells provided strategies that fit the overwhelming demand for social justice by fighting for equal rights and freedoms. Works Cited Baker, Lee D. “Ida B. Wells-Barnett and Her Passion for Justice.” 1996. Web. 19 Feb. 2013. Du Bois, W.E.B. The Souls of Black Folk. 1903. Web. 19 Feb. 2013. “History of Black Education: Washington and DuBois.” Kenyon College, n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2013. Schechter, Patricia A. “The Anti-Lynching Pamphlets of Ida B. Wells, 1892-1920.” 2007. Web. 19 Feb. 2013. Stewart, Maria. “An Address at the African Masonic Hall.” African Masonic Hall. Boston. 27 Feb. 1833. Web. 19 Feb. 2013. ---. “Why Sit Ye Here and Die?” Franklin Hall, Boston. 21 Sept. 1832. Web. 19 Feb. 2013. Washington, Booker T. “A Protest against the Burning and Lynching of Negroes.” Birmingham Age-Herald, 29 Feb. 1904. Web. 19 Feb. 2013. Well, Ida. Lynch Law in Georgia. 1899. Web. 19 Feb. 2013. Read More