Social and Economic Equality for African Americans in AmericaThe struggle for social and economic equality for blacks in America has been long and slow. It is sometimes surprising that progress has been made in the area of ​​racial equality; every attempt at progress seems to be diluted by losses elsewhere. For every convicted “Stacey Koons,” there seems to be a Texaco executive waiting to send black people back in time. Throughout the fight for equal rights, courageous black leaders have been at the forefront of each distinct movement. From early activists such as Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington and WEB DuBois, to civil rights and radical leaders of the 1960s such as Martin Luther King. , Malcolm X and the Black Panthers, progress toward full equality is the result of the visionary leadership of these courageous individuals. This does not imply, however, that there was ever broad consensus within the black community on the strategy or that the actions of key black leaders were met with strong support from those who might benefit from those actions. This report will examine the influence of two "early era" Black Activists: Booker T. Washington and WEB DuBois. Through an analysis of the ideological differences between these two men, the author will demonstrate that, although they disagreed on the direction of the fight for equality, the differences between these two men actually improved the status of Black Americans in the fight for racial equality. We will look specifically at the events leading up to and surrounding the "Atlanta Compromise" in 1895. In order to understand the differences in the philosophies of Washington and Dubois, it helps to know a little about their origins. Booker T. Washington, born a slave in 1856 in Franklin County, Virginia, could be described as a pragmatist. He could only attend school three months a year, with the remaining nine months spent working in the coal mines. He developed the idea that black people would become skilled artisans as a useful stepping stone toward respect for the white majority and, ultimately, full equality. Washington worked his way through the Hampton Institute and helped found the Tuskeegee Institute, a trade school for blacks. His essential strategy for the advancement of black Americans was that they achieve self-improvement. The medium became more mainstream, it became more and more conservative, and this did not please DuBois, who left the organization. in 1934. He later returned but was ultimately rejected by black leaders, both inside and outside the NAACP, especially after expressing admiration for the USSR. In the political climate of the late 1940s and 1950s, any hint of a pro-communist attitude - - black or white - was not welcome in any group with a national political agenda. We can see, then, that neither Washington's appeasement strategy nor DuBois's plan to create an elite black intelligentsia will fully succeed in elevating black Americans to a position of equality. However, it may have been more than the leadership of a single black man that encouraged African Americans to demand a full measure of social and economic equality. Perhaps the fact that there was a public dialogue itself did more to encourage black equality than the philosophy of a prominent black man. After all, concepts like equality are exactly that: concepts. As such, it is up to each of us to decide how we perceive ourselves in relation to others; higher or lower, equal or not, the choice is ultimately ours.