By saying this, Washington expresses that African Americans simply should not be given rights but should work their way up in society and gain their respect and equality from the white Americans. He does not expect African Americans to live this inferior life forever though. Instead, he believes that once they work hard enough and prove to be equal, then they can eventually receive their citizenship and equal rights. Dubois explains that Washington asks African Americans to give up three things: political power, insistence on civil rights, and higher education (Dubois, 39). Indeed, in the Atlanta Compromise, Washington simply asks African Americans to focus on "industrial education, the accumulation of wealth, and the conciliation of the South" (Dubois, 39). Washington had many followers from both the North and the South, and he even had support from many working-class Negroes. Although Dubois has a similar goal of equality and civil rights for African Americans, he has a very different approach in achieving this goal. .
W.E.B Dubois was born in 1868 to a free family in North, and he had always been around education growing up. Dubois attended Fisk University, Harvard University, and the University of Berlin (Gibson). Dubois and Washington come from completely different backgrounds, and they have very similar visions for attaining civil rights and equality for African Americans. However, Dubois' views are different from Washington's in that he believes in "persistent agitation, political action, and academic education" in order for African Americans to gain equality and full citizenship rights in the United States (Gibson). In order to achieve this, he insists on the right to vote, civic equality, and the education of youth according to ability (Dubois 40). Dubois did not always oppose Washington's ideas; he originally complimented Washington and gave him credit for his Atlanta Compromise speech (Gibson).