Chapter 19

Quiz for Document 19-6: W. E. B. Du Bois, The Talented Tenth (1903)

Reader Quiz

Chapter 19f

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Question 1

In his 1903 essay The Talented Tenth, sociologist W. E. B. Du Bois describes the devastating effects of slavery on African Americans. What does he suggest is necessary in order to counteract those effects and raise African Americans’ status in the United States?A. Higher education for whites so they can understand how the mistaken policies of their forefathers subordinated the black race
B. Industrial education for African Americans so that they can obtain skills through which to secure economic independence and white respect
C. Higher education for the most intelligent and ambitious African Americans so that they can act as teachers and models for their black brothers and sisters
D. Government regulation of black schools and colleges in order to ensure that black students’ education is as rigorous and empowering as whites’ education

Question 2

To describe the corrosive effects of the institution of slavery on African American culture, Du Bois employs the language ofA. Freudian psychology.
B. New England Puritanism.
C. philosophical pragmatism.
D. social Darwinism.

Question 3

Booker T. Washington emphasized the importance of African Americans doing productive labor in order to gain position and equality in American Society. In what way does Du Bois disagree with the recommendation of Washington as to the best path for African Americans to take in American society?A. Higher education for African Americans is the only sure path to true progress.
B. Intellectuals of all races are superior to the necessity of labor.
C. Labor is necessary but not sufficient for African American social and economic progress.
D. Wage labor is merely slavery by another name.