Booker T. and W.E.B.
By Dudley Randall
“It seems to me,” said Booker T.,
“It shows a mighty lot of cheek
To study chemistry and Greek
When Mister Charlie needs a hand
To hoe the cotton on his land,
And when Miss Ann looks for a cook,
Why stick your nose inside a book?”
“I don’t agree,” said W.E.B.
“If I should have the drive to seek
Knowledge of chemistry or Greek,
I’ll do it. Charles and Miss can look
Another place for hand or cook,
Some men rejoice in skill of hand,
And some in cultivating land,
But there are others who maintain
The right to cultivate the brain.”
“It seems to me,” said Booker T.,
“That all you folks have missed the boat
Who shout about the right to vote,
And spend vain days and sleepless nights
In uproar over civil rights.
Just keep your mouths shut, do not grouse,
But work, and save, and buy a house.”
“I don’t agree,” said W.E.B.
“For what can property avail
If dignity and justice fail?
Unless you help to make the laws,
They’ll steal your house with trumped-up clause.
A rope’s as tight, a fire as hot,
No matter how much cash you’ve got.
Speak soft, and try your little plan,
But as for me, I’ll be a man.”
“It seems to me,” said Booker T.–
“I don’t agree,”
Said W.E.B.
Poem from: http://www.huarchivesnet.howard.edu/9908huarnet/randall.htm
From the title of this poem you can clearly tell that this poem is about two famous African Americans writers and how they held different views. They are Booker T. Washington who is most known for his story “Up from Slavery” and W.E.B. Du Bois who is better known for his story “Souls of Black Folk”. Both of these writers had this idea of helping other African Americans to become more “powerful” like other successful white Americans, but they had different views on how they should accomplish this goal, which Randall has stated in each of the stanzas in this poem. Booker T. Washington believes that African Americans should learn a trade like being a cook or a farmhand in order to save up money and buy a house. Owning property back in the late 19th and the early 20th century was a sign of power and this is why Booker T. wanted African Americans to work and buy property to show that they were not as weak as white Americans thought that they were. You can see examples of this in the lines, “When Mister Charlie needs a hand / To hoe the cotton on his land, / And when Miss Ann looks for a cook, / Why stick your nose inside a book?” in the first stanza and “Just keep your mouths shut, do not grouse, / But work, and save, and buy a house” in the third stanza. W.E.B. Du Bois believes that African Americans should become educated so that they can vote and make new laws. You can see an example of this in the second stanza which says, “But there are others who maintain / The right to cultivate the brain.” We are all told that knowledge is power and this is what Du Bois wants African Americans to believe according to Randall. Randall argues for Du Bois by saying that if you do not help create new laws, then you will be responsible for your own lynching and the burning of your own house that you worked so hard for. You can see an example of this in the fourth stanza which says, “Unless you help to make the laws, / They’ll steal your house with trumped-up clause. / A rope’s as tight, a fire as hot, / No matter how much cash you’ve got”.
After reading this poem I asked myself this question, who would I agree with Booker T. or W.E.B.? I would agree with W.E.B. because I believe that being educated you can do almost anything, opposed to learning a trade where you can only do that trade and not much else.
Who would you agree with?
I must say that this poem and your response really opened my eyes up to the differences between these two writers. Until I read this poem, I believed that both writers understood that knowledge is power and that the only way to change the system is by learning and changing its laws. I believe the main reason why these two writers believed differently is because they were born and raised differently. Maybe, for example, in Booker T’s time the only thing African-American’s believed they could do, at the time, was prove their worth by gaining a good economic standing. In Du Bois’ time, maybe they realized they can take it a bit farther and not only achieve a great economic standing with property but, they can also prove themselves by fighting for their rights. If one fights for what they believes in and become educated, with there education they can properly fight for a higher place in society. Because, as Du Bois states later in the poem, if you do not become educated and change the rules, you can succeed but only under the constraints of your educated counterparts.