This whole movement is starting to become a convoluted mess in my head. With two different leaders coming forth at the same time, and then DuBois following later with criticism, it's hard to keep it all straight. I bet the negro people at the time were very confused. Reading chapter 13 of Washington's book helps to explain a lot of things. It is almost as though he realized he must stifle his race's ambition in order to move forward quickly if they were to move forward at all. Washington realized that if he pushed to hard against the whites, then they would shut down the whole movement and the negros would be where they where when they started. By feeding to whites what they wanted to hear and offering praise towards them, he was able to push for his race's continuing rights, just at a slower pace.
The reason that Douglass and DuBois (and probably many other blacks) were upset with Washington is that they weren't able to look into the motives for what he said. They didn't understand the repercussions that would ensue if they offended the whites. Had they understood, it might have tempered their fury somewhat.
As for your question about the conflict between the races being created by the wealthy, I can understand this, I think. This is just my initial reaction, so I may be missing the point, but it was the wealthy who were most used to the negros as slaves. There is a direct proportion between the amount of money a family had and the number of slaves they would have, and thus the more slaves they have, the less work they have to do, and the more the slaves start to look like inhuman property. By instantly taking away all of the slaves, it is the wealthy, not the poor, that are going to be most affected, and the wealthy are going to be the ones who miss having free servants to run their life for them. Therefore, the wealthy would be the most likely to advocate that the negros should be repressed back into slavery as to serve the wealthy again.
Washington's compromise might have avoided a racial revolt. Douglass was angry because of having lost what he thought the war had gained. Dubois had more than a decade of time in which to judge Washington's plans. I know that you don't have the time to do it, but Dubois addresses everything in his book; he offers a learned analysis of the social, economic, religious, ethical, geographical and governmental causes for the problems facing black people in the south. It is truly an impressive work.
ReplyDelete