Two African American leaders that fought to bring their race to a more heightened sense of equality are Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois. Though these men sought the same goal of social, political, and economic equality, regardless of race, they possessed two warring ideals and strategies on how to achieve that goal. Washington took on a more weak-minded path on the way to equality and would rather work from the bottom up than to infuriate the whites, whereas DuBois believed that equality would be accomplished by fighting to get to the top.
             Washington, in order to gain social, political, and economic equality, believed that African Americans needed to surrender their status and position in society and act subservient towards the white man. He believed that the South was beginning to accept the blacks since the government of Atlanta took the time to request that he participate in the opening of the Atlanta Exposition and on the board of Jurors of Award. He conceived that, since the government was taking its time to incorporate a black man into their special functions, things must be letting up for the rest of the race as well. He told both blacks and whites to "cast down their buckets where they are" because each would benefit from one another. Blacks, according to Washington, should seek the influence of the whites in major political issues because they had more experience. The whites, on the other hand, could use the African Americans for labor because they were the ones who cared for the whites during slavery without strikes or labor wars despite their harsh
             treatment. Washington's view of the ethnic relationships was that each had something valuable to offer the other and that those attributions should not be overlooked. He also saw that, though it was highly imperative that blacks receive the privileges of the law, they needed to prepare for such liberties through starting at the bottom of society. He
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