One of the readings this week had done what something others had not. In A Litany of Atlanta Du Bois openly challenges, momentarily, his own God for seemingly siding with the White race. He asks what the plan is, why they are made to suffer when God must be powerful enough to stop their inequality. It’s an angry moment, and, though he apologizes to God afterwards, it goes against the White school of thought that Black people are automatically religious and are not “smart enough” to question their God and the Bible. He’s calling his God to action and using the examples to convince others of how unholy the actions of the White race are; are the deaths of innocent Black people by the hands of White murderers not enough for divine intervention? Another of his work, Credo also mentions the conquering of Black people by Whites, and says that the Devil is working to restrict the Black race, implying that the White race is being controlled by the Devil. His questions to God are rightfully angry knowing all this. Why wouldn’t a loving, powerful God openly fight the Devil?

I think that the passage about W.E.B DuBois was strange, but also well needed. Throughout our readings thus far, we have mainly heard from very religious, God fearing people. This is one of the only passages that we have read yet that has challenged this stigma. Since DuBois was a man who identified as agnostic, it was good to see his point of views in contrast with other point of views that we have previously read about. I also found it interesting that this weeks reading evoked thoughts and about previous weeks readings.

Washington begins his famous “Atlanta Compromise Speech” by emphasizing the size of the African American population in the South. He then goes on to a metaphor about people on a boat who were dying of thirst until a friendly boat told them to cast their bucket down into the water and they drew up fresh water from the Amazon. I’m not sure about the use of this metaphor. I feel that Washington telling African Americans to try to put down roots and find success where they are is unnecessary. His energy would’ve been better spent on a metaphor encouraging Southern whites to be more accepting and accommodating. However, I do see that he may be using the metaphor to convey to the mostly white audience that African Americans were willing to put in effort to coexist peacefully.

A few paragraphs later, Washington talks about how people need to learn to dignify the labor based jobs that were mainly done by African Americans. He says that tilling a field needs to be seen with the same level of respect as writing a poem. I think this is really interesting to put in his speech because the idea he’s trying to convey is that once the different “classes” of jobs are equalized, then the people who do the different jobs will be seen as equal as well. This is a concept that is still relevant today with the way that immigrants who work in labor-based jobs are viewed. The jobs are still not seen as equal to white collar jobs, so the people doing them aren’t seen as equal. Overall, I thought Washington’s speech was very successful. He used a lot of rhetoric that seems different from what other people were saying at the time. I felt that his speech really toned down how extremely white Southerners needed to change their views on African Americans in order to make a real advance towards equality. However, I believe he did this intentionally to sort of ease them into the concept of equality. There’s also the fact that he was an African American speaking to a gathering of mostly white men, so he may just have been keeping it slightly subtle in order to make sure that they aren’t resentful of what he’s saying and that they take his sentiments into consideration.

The most amazing part of this week’s readings was the sheer number of thought-invoking lines scattered throughout. While the rest of the chapters this week were full of meaningful and inspiring ideas, a few lines truly stood out as brilliant and unique.

One such line was written by W.E.B. DuBois, “The price of culture is a Lie.” (Sernett 334). This line is led up to with a description of the sacrifices needed to access culture,  and it is eye-opening to realize just how much society demands in order to fit in and be given opportunities.

Another passage that stood out in particular was, “The Negro in America cherishes no ideals, holds to no other principles save those that are soundly American. Why then this fear of being Africanized? We hear no fear expressed of our country being Germanized or Jewized; we hear no cry going up from the North or South against Irish political ascendancy. Is there any evidence anywhere in a single page of American history where the Negro has been less patriotic and true to our institutions than any of these elements we have named?” (Sernett 343). This passage reveals a bias that I’ve never truly considered before, at least in this particular light. It was thought-provoking, to say the least, to consider society’s skewed logic in such a light.

Finally, the article about Booker T. Washington’s speech was perhaps the most intriguing of all of the articles we read this week. The entire article was full of interesting lines and passages. From the beginning of the article, Washington offers a perspective different than those we’ve read thus far. He encourages people to look past their biases and their assumptions to find a better way, one that focuses on peace and success over contempt.

DuBois seems to believe that the main foundation for freedom of the African American is their faith in Christianity.  In particular, he seems to emphasize the difference between the “black gospel”, so to speak, and the “white gospel”, namely that the Christianity observed by African Americans seemed to take a much more aggressive stance towards social justice and equality, as well as just being more aggressive in general.  Much of this stems back from their time as slaves, which DuBois recognizes.  However, he also seems to take the argument that Christianity as observed by African Americans is by and large a transplant of their times as “heathens”, the medicine man being replaced by the preacher and the various rites of the gods adapted into a Christian context.  The problem I have with this is that it feels very reductionist.  It seems to imply that their faith is their only real defining feature, ignoring the various other material factors.  To add further confusion, there’s some tangent about deception, which the average slave apparently had to use in order to survive, and he seems to endorse this turning of the cheek as a means of biding one’s time in white society.  Problem is, he also seemed to earlier endorse a more active role in making change, so I feel like he’s contradicting himself a bit.

While WEB DuBois’s prayer and writing this week seemed honestly pretty normal to me given the historical context, Booker T Washington’s speech absolutely irritated me. The entire speech was pandering to white people in the most inane ways, talking about how well-behaved his race would be now and how ignorant they were to try to gain political office and how his advice to black people is to just be content with their station. It was positively the most depressing speech I’ve ever read. While it’s understandable that he felt the need to downplay the conflict between black and white people given he was responding to the rising conflicts (and lynchings) of the times, it’s a little bit spooky as a minority to see a major figure in another minority have represented themselves as docile and willing to work with those extremely nice oppressors they’ve got, instead of fighting back tooth and nail. However, that might also be my own refusal to compromise on anything speaking as well.

For the African American community, W.E.B. DuBois sees the Negro church as an important image for the African American community. African Americans utilized the African American church to build up their beliefs and their aspirations, even though the Negro church was used to boost the capitulation of white people. One of their aspirations was to be free from the wrongdoings during the time. The African Americans also expected they would achieve all their desired civil rights. African Americans made their own religion of Christianity. They believed on three things that represented the slave religion of Christianity. One was the Preacher, which was the center of the Negro church. The second one was the music, which they will sing at the church. The third one is the Frenzy, in which African Americans shouted when the Spirit of the Lord passed by them.

I really enjoyed this passage that was given by W. E. B. DuBois. For one thing the content read easily, and I think the order in which DuBois presents his case is important to take note of. One of the very first things that DuBois does is point out how important it was for African Americas to understand their own history. Secondly, DuBois points out the challenges that had to be faced in the New World. And finally he states how mortality shaped the lives of African Americas. I think these are important things that are connected, because again, even after the emancipation proclamation, we continue to see common themes that African Americas had while in slavery. Going back to a few weeks ago, this address also made me think about Albert J. Raboteau’s Slave Religion again. Similarly, in his work, Rabouteau had used the case of use of the writings of runaway slave, William Grimes. This was used to support the idea that African Americans felt morally superior to their masters. Again, we are reminded that not everything was black and white. There were slaves that believed that the practice of slavery gave them a better understanding of mortality. As Grimes goes onto address, the same preachers that would preach peace, would whip slaves before going to services. Furthermore, DuBois uses the black church here as a symbol of the community. However, DuBois continues to assist that African Americas were able to carry old traditions with them. Although things became “Christianized”, African Americas were able to take the religion that DuBois states was made to make them submissive, and turn it into a tool of liberation for themselves in the end. DuBois also concludes that black and whites could “rise together” because of religion. For me anyway, the end kind of gave me MLK “I Have A Dream” speech vibes at the end of it.

A Litany of Atlanta by DuBois is a bit conflicting in my opinion. He begins by asking the Lord for forgiveness on behalf of the black race, and then, he disrespects all sinners. It’s like he’s crying for help while throwing them under the bus. After belittling black people on their actions, he flips the script and talks about white people in the same deregulatory manner. The one quote I do like is, “Cease from Crime! The word was a mockery, for thus they train a hundred crimes while we do cure one.” It makes DuBois seem a little less shallow in my eyes. Dissimilarly, in the Atlanta Compromise Speech by Washington, it’s clear that he is just saying things that are appealing to white people. He encourages black people to better themselves through trade work. Oh yes, work is the main point he focused on. WORK, WORK, WORK. The one thing they both have in common is they put all the blame on black people. DuBois indicates that if you prayed harder, you’d be farther. Washington exclaimed that if you were more crafted or educated, then you would be farther. Neither of them considered or referenced the living hell that black people were experiencing, at the time. It infuriates me.

Thoughts during DuBois’ work:

Thoughts during Washington’s work:

W.E.B. DuBois’s passage confused me. He wasn’t about denominational religion and rarely attended church. It didn’t seem like he should’ve been in the book at first. But he had many good points about religion. He described how black people would praise God and attend church, only for when they die to be denied going to Heaven because it’s for white people only. With DuBois being agnostic, I think it was good to include him in this book because you get the picture of someone who is black but also doesn’t believe in God or any other religion.

On page 330, DuBois mentions how black people are seen to be a  “religious animal.” He states that this coincides with “voodoo.” Stereotypically, voodoo is associated with cult-like activities. I feel like DuBois is trying to explain how being seen as a religious black person might affect them in a negative.