griculture and industry, to accept their second class status in American society. Washington glorified manual labor. He believed equality would come naturally if Blacks proved themselves to be intelligent and hardworking. Washington even made fun of blacks who studied Latin or Greek. Du Bois believed in the higher education of a "Talented Tenth" who through their knowledge of modern culture could guide the American Negro into a higher civilization. Du Bois feared that Washington’s educational model was becoming the only option open to black students. Du Bois felt that Washington’s plan would cause blacks to give up political power, insistence on civil rights, and higher education of Negro youth. While Du Bois respected Washington and his accomplishments, he felt that blacks needed political power to protect what they had worked for. Du Bois felt that the greatest enemy of blacks in America was not necessarily whites, but the ignorance of whites concerning the accomplishments and capabilities of the black race. He wanted to encourage and develop the black youth through education. The most talented of the black youth should be taught to be leaders in the black community. In his 1903 book The Negro Problem, Du Bois stated, "The Negro race, like all races, is going to be saved by its exceptional men." (Redding, Portrait…Du Bois) Du Bois felt that only educated blacks could gain political power. And political power, he felt, was the only way that blacks could become equal in American society. In his speech "Behold the Land," given to the Southern Negro Youth Congress in 1946, it shows these ideals by encouraging the black youth of the South to fight a nonviolent manner for equality. Du Bois quotes:We want our children trained as intelligent human beings should be and we will fight for all time against any proposal to educate Black boys and girls simply as servants and underlings, or simply for the use of other pe...
