The turn of the century brought educator, president of Tuskagee Institute (University). and former slave, Booker T. Washington to national prominence with a belief that many cherished and others disdained. He encouraged blacks to make economic advancement their priority; relegating political power and social advancement to levels behind thrift and productive labor. He asked whites to help blacks with this new endeavor. One of his bitterest opponents was W. E. B. Du Bois, educator, who, along with others, formed the Niagara Movement, in 1905 Canada, to protest racial discrimination. Major race riots, during that period, caused consternation among blacks and sufficient alarm among Northern blacks and whites, that in 1909, blacks from the Niagara Movement and a group of Northern whites formed the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to fight for racial equality. [Back] [Next] [Up] [New Search] 'Black History' segment written in June, 1998 by David Lodge |