During the Gilded Age, many laws designed to oppress African-Americans were enacted throughout the South. These laws, called the Jim Crow laws, forced poll taxes and literacy tests in order to vote. In 1896, the Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson ruled that racial segregation was legal as long as both facilities were equal. In response to black discrimination, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B DuBois stepped to the front lines of the Civil Rights …showed first 75 words of 1107 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1107 total…whites while DuBois constantly harassed their moral views. Finally, Washington understood that blacks would need to earn respect from whites while DuBois wanted blacks to be given unconditional respect regardless of their accomplishments. DuBois advocated a strategy similar to Communism where no social classes exist. DuBois made a large contribution in helping to create the NAACP. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois both made contributions to the struggle for Civil Rights for African-Americans.