DuBois was a student of Booker T. Washington's, but past that they shared little in terms of philosophy and viewpoint. Washington was pragmatic, one could argue. He believed, as a former slave himself, that there was no way in the near term that white government would grant full equality to African-Americans, and therefore he should try to achieve what equality he could. His Atlanta Compromise speech accepting segregation on behalf of all blacks in exchange for slightly better educational opportunities was seen by DuBois as the ultimate sellout.
DuBois believed that, as a human and a citizen, he and all blacks already deserved equality. He also was a socialist who thought that, if blacks could achieve something like economic parity with whites, then social and political equality would follow. This is essentially what happened in the 1950s and 60s and what made eventual boycotts so successful, but DuBois was way ahead of his time in that regard.
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