ABSTRACT
To white Americans, late nineteenth century and early twentieth century was a "gilded age" and a "progressive era"; but to African Americans, it was the darkest age and a period of retrogression in black-white relations. African Americans fell into a huge and ever-present web of discrimination and segregation. In the face of such a critical situation, William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, who had just stepped out of school, fell deep in contemplation. As African American historian Rayford Logan pointed out with cogency, "The last decade of the nineteenth century and the opening of the twentieth century marked the nadir of the Negro's status in American society". African American leader Booker T. Washington thought that the "Negro problem" derived mostly from African Americans' ignorance, poverty and immorality; and that they were not prepared to enjoy the constitutional rights. Therefore, they should in the first place learn practical trades, accumulate property, and develop Christian characters.
