[nicollo]

This argument between McWhorter and Wilkins goes way back. It's a matter of assuming core American principles, as does McWhorter, or defying them, even if in protest, as does Wilkins. Check this out from Booker T. Washington, this from 1897 (with apologies for the contemporaneous, 1890s language):

....

I have no idea how either McWhorter or Wilkins view Booker T. Maybe someone knows. He set the argument long, long ago.

[LS]

Washington's view was that blacks couldn't indefinitely rely on the whims of whites, either to protect them or to ensure their economic stability. Through education---especially farming and technical education---he thought blacks could become self-sufficient until white society accepted them.