Assess the View That Booker T. Washington Was the Most Important Leader in the Development of African American Civil Rights

From the late 1800s through to the late 1900s there have been many leaders of the African American civil rights movement. One such leader was Booker T. Washington, who was prominent at the beginning of the period. Some take the view that he was the most important of these leaders, but how accurate is this view?

It is hard to dispute that Washington did have an influence on the development of civil rights for African Americans. Being an educated African American that was from the last generation born in to slavery made him exceptionally good at rally support from other African Americans. Being of the opinion that the correct way to pursue equal rights was to act as responsible citizens, Washington founded the NNBL in 1900 in order to promote the commercial and financial advancement of the Negro. This shows that Washington was highly effective at pursuing what he thought was the best route for equality, potentially showing him to be an important leader. Another event that demonstrates Washingtons commitment to his chosen path was the Atlanta Compromise. This agreement meant that Whites had to provide funding for Black schools and provide due process in law. On the other hand, the Atlanta Compromise is also a perfect example of the detrimental effects of Washingtons actions. The downside to the compromise was that in return for these benefits Blacks would submit to White rule, temporarily abandoning the explicit campaign for civil rights. This is a prime example as to how Washington, in trying to improve the economic position of African Americans, actually stalled the advancement of civil rights. So, whilst Washington did help to elevate African Americans economically, thereby achieving his own aims, he did not advance the civil rights movement by any great amount and as such he can not be called the most important leader in the development of African American civil rights.

Another potential leader from the same time period as Washington was Du Bois. While initially allied with Washington, Du Bois instead believed that African Americans needed to openly campaign for their rights. In trying to achieve this he co-founded the Niagara Movement in 1905, however it swiftly petered out with its last meeting being held in 1908. Du Bois went on to co-found another, more successful organisation called the NAACP the following year. Together with this group, Du Bois slowly took cases arguing against segregation to court. With this, it could be argued that he was a successful leader. Looking at Du Bois from another perspective, however, reveals that he didnt have many practical achievements to his name. Whilst it could be argued that his writing for The Crisis helped to connect groups of African Americans and create a sense of group identity this is not an obvious advancement in civil rights. For this reason, Du Bois is also not the most important leader in the development of African American civil rights.

Marcus Garvey, another leader at the time, had a completely different view of how African Americans should progress. He believed in Black separatism, and founded the Universal Negro Improvement association to this end. It could be argued that, like Du Bois, Garvey didnt bring about many changes in the way African Americans lived, and as such he wasnt particularly important. Garvey, however, was important in that he could be considered the first supporter of Black Power, leaving a legacy of separatism that would last for several decades. In fact, later leaders such as Malcolm X were inspired by Garveys ideas and continued to champion them later in the period. It is in this way that Marcus Garvey was, whilst not necessarily the most important, a significant leader in the development of African American civil rights.

One leader that is often remembered to be the most important is Martin Luther King, and this isnt without reason. One example of his importance can be found in his involvement with the Birmingham Campaign. This campaign brought national attention to the treatment that African Americans received at the hands of the law, in turn forcing the need for a civil rights bill. Continuing to push for this bill, King gave his famous I have a dream speech after the Civil Rights Act was proposed but before it was voted on. In his speech, he deliberately invoked religious imagery in order to appeal to all Americans, not just those that would already be in favour of the Act. It is this that made King so important, that he brought together many different groups if people in his attempt to advance civil rights, not just African Americans. On the downside, when King tried to continue his work in the North, he was met with too much resistance to succeed, with King being out of touch with the urban African Americans he was trying to reach out to. Nevertheless, King was the most important African American civil rights leader, with it being largely due to his actions that the Civil Rights Act was passed.

A. Philip Randolph was another prominent figure around the same time as King. Randolph was one of the founders of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, a union for African Americans working for the Pullman Company. He was also one of the people that proposed a march on Washington to protest discrimination. It was this combined with other actions taken by Randolph that was largely responsible for two executive orders, one desegregating war industries and the other the armed services. A later march also had the effect of contributing to the passing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964, although the marchs effect was delayed due to Kennedys assassination. Randolphs importance cant be ignored, with him being involved in several civil rights advancements, however it isnt clear whether these same events would have taken place even without him. As such, Randolph is not the most important leader in the advancement of African American Civil Rights.

Malcolm X was a leader a very different leader to King. Whereas King was a Christian minister, Malcolm was a minister for the Nation of Islam. Where King promoted non-violent protest, Malcolm was in favour of using force where he believed non-violence had failed. It was these differences that made him much less successful than King. Being of a different religion to the majority of America meant that he wasnt able to use religion in anywhere near the same way that King did, limiting his effectiveness dramatically. Another reason for his reduced importance was that he advocated a policy of Black separatism in contrast to the bulk of the civil rights movement who instead promoted racial integration. This, combined with his critical attitude towards other members of the civil rights movement meant that he couldnt work with others to achieve his goals like other activists could. This diminished effectiveness due to being radically opposed to both other activists and the majority of America mean that Malcolm X was not the most important leader in the advancement of African American civil rights, as his actions did not have enough support to succeed.

Jesse Jackson worked with King for several years, ending up in charge of the Chicago branch of Operation Breadbasket. He remained involved with the SCLC for some time after Kings death, but left after leadership disputes. He set up two organizations, PUSH and the Rainbow Coalition, to bring together minorities to work towards political and economic advancement. One boycott by PUSH against Nike was so effective that those who opposed it referred to it being like Blacks oppressing Whites. His 1984 and 1988 campaigns for US presidency also drew attention to his cause. The mitigating factor that made him less important than King was that, due to arguments with some other sections of the civil rights movement, Jackson did not have as wide of a support network, limiting the extent of his actions.