This project explores the cultural shift from the value African- Americans during the time of Washington and DuBois placed on industrial and higher education to the value placed by contemporary African- Americans. This cultural shift is linked to African-American collective identity and the contemporary burden of "acting White." In an effort to understand the severity of the cultural shift, this project explores the debate between Washington and DuBois, explores how collective identity was formed within African-American culture, and provides a possible solution to eliminating the contemporary burden of "acting White" through cultural pluralism.