In the early 1900s, America found itself in a time of reform known as the Progressive Era, in which predominantly white, middle-class Americans sought to address the economic, political, and social ills of the Gilded Age. Progressives focused on issues such as child labor, monopolies, labor rights, political corruption, and women’s suffrage. At the same time, African Americans were only two generations away from the days of slavery. Most lived in poverty, and a new wave of laws and practices designed to segregate the races only made their situation worse. Yet white progressives remained mostly silent on the systemic racism and racial violence that characterized the era. Two African American leaders, Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois, came to dominate the debate over the best course for racial advancement in America.