The Road to True Freedom: African-American Alternatives in the New South
Due Wednesday, 1/22 at 9:00 a.m. Upload to D2L Assessments > Assignment Dropbox. You may use a "free ticket" to turn in a late or missed assignment. Worth 10 points.
In class we will debate the different approaches suggested by W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington to improve the lives of African-Americans. Opportunities for African Americans in the post-Reconstruction south were certainly bleak, as industrial jobs were primarily in the north and educational opportunities remained severely limited. African Americans also faced racial violence and segregation. What different strategies do these two men think would be the best path forward? We will compare and contrast in class, focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of each position.
See below for your assigned reading divided by last name.
I would suggest printing out the readings so you can underline and highlight.
After you have read your assigned link(s), write at least 250 words answering
some of the questions below. Which questions you focus on is up to you!
As long as your paragraph summarizes the main points of your assigned person and
answers some of the questions, we will be able to have a good class discussion.
Citation instructions/avoiding AI: all of your words should be your own or direct quotes taken from the readings. You may certainly use a direct quote, but make sure that most of your paragraph consists of your thoughts and reactions. Do not consult AI. (Turnitin.com will flag AI usage and plagiarism.) At the end of your paragraph, tell me which paragraphs from the reading you consulted when writing your answers. Obviously I expect that your writing will be informed by the entire reading assignment, but you should point me to a few paragraphs in particular. In short, prove to me you wrote your paragraph based upon the assigned reading. To give you an example, you could write: "Paragraphs beginning "We do not..." and "Our enemies." If you do not provide citations you will be given one chance to include citations and demonstrate to me that your words were your own, not generated by AI. This could include an in-person discussion of the reading in Linda's office and/or turning in a highlighted copy of the document.
| DU BOIS =
Student last names
beginning with A-M. Questions to answer: How would you summarize his philosophy? What steps does he suggest African Americans follow? What strategies does he think will not be successful and therefore should be avoided? What timing and/or tactics does he suggest? How do you think his background influenced his approach? 1. Read this brief biography of DuBois so you have a sense of his background and achievements. 2. Read The Niagara Movement Address, speech given in 1905. https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/niagara-movement-speech/ 3. Read Excerpts from his famous speech "The Talented Tenth" |
|
WASHINGTON = Student last names beginning with
N-Z Questions to answer: How would you summarize his goals? In his view, what process should African Americans follow to enjoy their full rights? Which strategies did he think they should pursue, and which strategies should they not pursue? What role did he conceive the role of southern whites in African Americans' progress to be? To whom do you think he is speaking? 1. Read this website which includes some biographical information about Washington and excerpts from his famous Atlanta Exposition Address. https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/atlanta-exposition-address-2/ Optional but pretty cool: Listen to an audio recording of Washington giving his speech! https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/civil-rights-act/multimedia/booker-t-washington.html |
Questions and background information adopted from Discovering the American Past by Wheeler/Glover.