Education is one of the most crucial aspects of human growth and prosperity.

It seems so
simple to think that education or knowledge is easily shared and everyone has equal access to it,
especially in the developed corners of the world. The past and present continue to teach us that
this is far from reality. Education is an opportunity that remains unequal to this day. The great
debate between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois is still relevant today.
Booker T. Washington understood the importance of education; however he viewed it as
a training tool African Americans. A tool they can use to put food on the table and provide for
their families. Washington saw this as the first step to integration within American society.
Washington created the Tuskegee Institute to train young African Americans in the fields of
farming and industrial work so they could provide for themselves and gain respect among their
white counterparts.
W.E.B Du Bois had a very different view in the debate of equality and education. Du
Bois saw the importance of a classical education. An African American with a higher education
and a strong intellectual background could stand tall as an equal to the educated and sometimes
elite white society. Du Bois felt the need for equal access and educational equality. With training
and industrial skill a young black man or woman could only provide food and shelter not raise in
societal and political rank.
Both men made valid points. Each individual is responsible for his or her own growth;
however equal opportunity and access is also necessary. Society is and will always continue to
have to for civil and human rights. We may not live in an era of obvious segregation but even
today we see a disparity in education and career opportunity. School zones where communities
live in poverty, earn very low wages, and single parent homes are the norm have scarce
availability to educational resources and materials. These students dont have the same access to

resources as students in middle class or upper middle class communities. Their access to
government aid and technology is rudimentary compared to schools in higher valued school
zones. Students should have a internal motivation to succeed but thats very hard to have without
the access to educational resources and opportunities that they deserve. Equal education and
opportunity has to be not only an internal motivation but an external fight to influence real
change. As an educator I fall into Du Bois call for change even as I continue to respect
Washingtons views.