Racial Uplift

Because African Americans faced such intense racial oppression in the late 19th century, they wanted to improve their lives. The black elites framed these aspirations with the idea of “uplifting the race.” Ideas about how to accomplish this were incredibly varied, and highlighting a few forms of uplift ideology reveals its complexity. The project of racial uplift also had to contend with minstrel stereotypes, Social Darwinism, and reflected the paradoxes of genteel performance and double consciousness.

Booker T. Washington

Booker T. Washington

Booker T. Washington's Tuskegee Institute in 1881

Booker T. Washington was probably the most influential black American leader in the late 19th century. He was born a slave in Virginia, and after the Civil War attended the Hampton Institute, a college that provided blacks with industrial and agricultural training. He dedicated his life to racial uplift by promoting this type of education, and founded his own college, the Tuskegee Institute, in 1881.

Booker T. Washington based his uplift ideology on self-help through vocational training. He believed blacks should strive to be good, productive workers, and take what whites were willing to give them until, eventually, blacks would prove their worth and be granted full citizenship. He believed that this was the next step in blacks’ process of learning "civilization," which had begun when whites took them under their “tutelage” through slavery. Washington was publicly ambivalent about segregation, disfranchisement, and lynching, and advocated against black participation in politics (31). This is not to say he accepted these conditions, but he largely did not object to them publicly.

Some historians argue that Washington’s ideology was rooted in Social Darwinism and the idea of inherent black inferiority, because it claimed that blacks needed the help of whites to achieve full citizenship. However, this allowed Washington to become close allies with wealthy white philanthropists and influential politicians who believed in (and benefitted from) Social Darwinism. His public compliance with white Social Darwinists allowed him to raise funds for his projects, which did provide blacks with education and improved many lives. Although it is easy from our perspective to view Washington as too conservative, he worked pragmatically with the social, political, and economic conditions that existed for African Americans during this time period.

W.E.B. DuBois

L: W.E.B. DuBois, and R: A 1911 edition of DuBois' landmark collection of essays The Souls of Black Folk

W.E.B. DuBois was one of the most important and influential black leaders in American history. He was born in 1868 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts and grew up in a relatively integrated community. Although his family had modest means, he socialized with wealthier white children, so he was exposed to an educated upper-class lifestyle. He attended Fisk University in Atlanta, followed by Harvard and study in Germany with leading social scientists and historians (32).

DuBois began his intellectual career in the 1890s with conflicted thinking, much of it grounded in genteel performance. For example, his landmark 1899 study, The Philadelphia Negro, used aspects of genteel performance to explain the class disparities among black Philadelphians; he described the poorest blacks as an “immoral underclass,” and blamed the problem of racial inequality on blacks just as much as on whites (33). This line of thinking was further developed with his “Talented Tenth” racial uplift ideology, where he argued that it was the responsibility of black elites (whom her referred to as the Talented Tenth) to uplift the “masses,” both through advocacy and by example (34).

DuBois began his career as an ally of Booker T. Washington, but began to break away from the older leader. He became disenchanted with Washinton’s silence on lynching, and believed racial progress could only be achieved if some blacks received a college education; industrial and vocational training was not enough. DuBois also believed that blacks should strive to participate in politics, both as voters and elected officials. The breaking point between Washington and DuBois came in 1903, when DuBois published his groundbreaking collection of essays, The Souls of Black Folk. One of the essays denounced Washington for his conservative nature.

The Souls of Black Folk also introduces the concept of double consciousness. Ironically, DuBois’ own double consciousness is apparent at this stage in his career; he relied on the classist assumptions of genteel performance to distinguish the black leadership (the Talented Tenth) from the “masses.” This reveals his consciousness as a leader dedicated to improving the lives of African Americans in a world that judges them by the harsh standards of stereotype (34).

Ida B. Wells Barnett

Ida B. Wells Barnett was a journalist and activist most known for speaking out against lynching. She attacked every aspect of the crime, starting with its usual cause: a rumor about a black man raping a white woman. She pointed out that these rumors were usually untrue (for example in 1900, only 18 out of 117 lynched men were actually convicted of rape), and argued that lynching was a form of terrorism used to keep blacks economically subordinated. She argued that blacks should use violence if necessary to defend themselves against lynching (35). She also travelled extensively in Britain, raising awareness and money for her cause. Wells was more radical than Booker T. Washington, who remained mostly silent about lynching.