Literary Response Chpt 3

African Americans endured the hardships of feeling like the worthless minority. W.E.B. Dubois strived for equality, and in order to develop black consciousness. Imagine that you were the outcast of your school. Everyone treated you highly unfairly and would abuse you verbally, and mentally. One day the principle makes an announcement that no one is allowed to disturb you anymore. Yes the abuse may stop, however you have entered a new place where discrimination exists. Discrimination is not abuse, but it can be very hurtful. To stand up and be the outcast voice of the “normal” majority takes a special strength and courage that most people to not obtain. In chapter three Dubois talks more about the effects after the abolition of slavery. He begins to commemorate the courage and strength, of Booker T Washington. In a time when the development of a new independent Negro race was forming, Washington was there to be the advocate, and leader. Firstly, Mr. Washington felt the need to have the Southern states in their favor. There is power in numbers. The Caucasian race made up a nice percentage of the population, and this is what they used to their advantage in superiority. It is easier to break someone down when they are alone and weak, than it is to try to break down a man who had the support of all his fellow brothers (Americans). “In all things purely social we can be as separate as the five fingers, and yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress”. Here he is using a hand as a metaphor for our nation. Our nation is basically a hand, and it is not fully functional until all the limbs are working together. He is saying regardless of personal opinion, our nation will be a hand and it would be best to work together, thus making the journey more bearable. In order to progress as a nation we must work as one. Washington is famously noted for being a great orator for the Negro race, with his use of vivid imagery, stories, and analytical tendencies which encourage you to think for a deeper meaning. “Today he stands as the one recognized spokesman of his ten million fellows, and one of the most notable figures in a nation of seventy millions.” (Dubois 81)

Without our notable leaders, our Black nation as we know it would not be in existence. If not for Mr. Washington, Mr. Turner, Gabriel, and Vesey; we would not have the same sense of pride that they had instilled within us. “The influence of all of these attitudes at various times can be traced in the history of the American Negro, an in the evolution of his successive leaders”. (Dubois 84) The overall thought of this chapter, is that every nation needs a leader. For change to arise it is up to someone to have the strength to stand alone, because in the beginning it is more than likely that you will be standing alone. All of the leaders appealed to their audience’s emotions, by basking in their pain with them. You never heard a Negro leader say, “I watched you all in the field today. It looked like you were all in discomfort.” You did however hear leaders say “I’ve tilled the same plows as you. I’ve seen my family sold off to family. I know how it feels to have the White man looks down upon you like the dirt you are which he feels he can trek over”. This is what makes a good leader, when you can take a situation, where you explain your experiences living through it, and finally offering solutions of survival. Each leader had some sort of plan or some sort of intention to lead the group to point “B”. Never have you heard of a leader leading just to lead without some sort of goal in mind. Mr. Washington had a plan throughout his entire career: Firstly, he wanted to make Negro artisans business men, meaning he wanted African Americans to have a greater sense of accomplishment in knowing that they are more than just the manual labor they can perform with their hands. Secondly, he wanted Negroes to have self respect. Before you can expect anyone to respect you, you must first respect yourself. Finally, He wanted schools for the youth, and colleges for the older of age. Education is something our nation strives on, and every American deserves that right.

Thanks to our brave African American leaders we can continue to live the life in which they envisioned for us. Without the planning of these strong leaders the ending result could have been unimaginable. “We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” (Dubois 95)