Race and Rights in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries:

Henry Brown and John Marshall Harlan, Plessy v. Ferguson:

The majority opinion (Brown) upheld racial segregation under the doctrine of "separate but equal". Justice Harlan's dissent famously argued against segregation, stating that the Constitution is "color-blind".

Booker T. Washington, “Atlanta Exposition Address”

• ”: Proposed the "Atlanta Compromise," advocating for economic self-sufficiency and vocational training for African Americans while largely accepting social segregation in the short term (accommodationism).

W.E.B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk and “The Talented Tenth”

•  Critiqued Washington's approach, introducing the concept of "double consciousness" (the sense of looking at oneself through the eyes of a prejudiced white society) and arguing for the necessity of higher education for a "Talented Tenth" of Black leaders to fight for civil rights and equality.

Marcus Garvey, “The True Solution of the Negro Problem”

• Advocated for Black nationalism, racial pride, and a return to Africa (Pan-Africanism), often skeptical of the possibility of achieving full equality in the United States.

Langston Hughes, “Let America Be America Again

A poem expressing disillusionment with the American reality of inequality and injustice, contrasting it with the promise of American ideals and longing for a nation where freedom and opportunity are real for all.