DISCUSSION OF QUESTIONS

3. The author divides members of his own race into two categories: “progressives” like himself, who follow the principles of Booker T. Washington and try to better themselves through industry and application without being hamstrung by white racial prejudice, and “reactionaries” like Rev. McCraline, who complain bitterly about discrimination and prejudice and demand equal rights, but who do little actively to take advantage of the opportunities that are available to them. Although not mentioning him by name, Micheaux takes a pot shot at W.E.B. DuBois (identified in chapter 37 as a “professor in a colored university in Georgia”), who was Washington’s chief antagonist in the debate among turn-of-the-century African American leaders about which strategies to follow to better their race. Discuss the validity of Micheaux’s approach and what you think may have motivated it.