Booker T. Washington's Argument Essay

This work by Booker T. Washington, “The Atlanta Exposition Address”, or also known as “The Atlanta Compromise”, was a speech given in 1895 at the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta that had a lasting impact not only to the crowd listening, but to the nation as a whole. Booker T. Washington was admired and appreciated by many black Americans. Although, everyone in the African American Community admired his overall achievements leading up to his speech in Atlanta, some of his ideas and thoughts became very controversial within the black community and possibly encouraged the Jim Crow era by proposing the ideology of separate but equal. “The Atlanta Exposition Address,” was significant in shaping history because it; sparked a split and debate within the African American community over the ideas Booker T. Washington proposed in the address, and simultaneously affected the nation as a whole with future laws passed off the basis of Washington’s ideology. To understand the context of where Booker T. Washington’s stance is in the address, people must first understand Washington’s background and his audience during the speech.

Washington was a dominant figure of the African-American community, then largely based in the South, from 1890 to his death in 1915. His Atlanta Address of 1895 received national attention. To many he was seen as a popular spokesman for African-American citizens. Representing the last generation of black leaders born into slavery, Washington was generally perceived as a supporter of education for freedmen and their descendants in the post-Reconstruction, Jim Crow-era South. Throughout the final twenty years of his life, he maintained his standing through a nationwide network of supporters including black educators, ministers, editors, and businessmen, especially those who supported his views on social and educational issues for blacks.

There was no equal justice. Southern men had to be careful of their language; no doubt, also, careful of their thoughts. It befitted them to be careful, they would feel, in a land that had a bitter epithet, “nigger lover,” for those whom it wished to cast sharp stones. It would seem that as far back as 1906, when a fearful race riot overran Atlanta, Dr. Booker T. Washington had hastened there from Tuskegee and persuaded certain influential whites and Negroes to sit down and consult in the same room over causes of plague that had over taken them, this was the start of the interracial co-operation. Wat Booker T. Washington did was amazing, it was an act of non-violence and brought people from both races together.

racial conciliation Washington's philosophy on racial conciliation was embedded in the idea of accommodation. Rather than challenging or confronting white supremacy, Washington encouraged African Americans to prove their worth through hard work, economic success, and good moral character. C. Black economic progress Economic progress was a central theme in Washington's philosophy. He stressed the importance of self-help and economic self-sufficiency for African Americans. D. social equality Washington's philosophy on social equality was that it would come gradually once African Americans proved their worth through hard work, education, and self-sufficiency within their existing communities.

I have never ever been thinking about the country and its nations from this viewpoint, but his words made such a great impression on me. Indeed, no matter how different we are, we all suppose to work together for the whole country’s prosperity. Moreover, adding to Washington’s accomplishments, he was the first Negro in the whole history awarded an honorary degree from the Harvard University, an oldest university in the United

Booker T. Washington: The early life of Booker T. Washington was a African American Educator. During the four years after his graduation in 1875, he taught school at Malden, West Virginia. Washington came to exert control over giving to black colleges. Washington “advocated a policy of black accommodation to the oppressive climate”. Booker T Washington was raised in Virginia on a farm near Hale’s ford.

These two individuals have varying views on the education of black Americans. Booker T Washington took the view that proper higher education made for the betterment of the black community. He believed that taking pride in one’s race and becoming responsible citizens is what would help the black Americans against the racial discrimination they received. He also helped to create black higher education. The main difference between these two arguments is that one focused on education while the other focused more on social action.

Washington believed that deserving individuals should be rewarded as an individual, rather than as a whole, or as a group. Quite often, he thought of success not as being measured by where someone ends up in the long run, but rather the obstacles and the hardships that they overcame to get to where they are now. He references the enslavement of African Americans in the sense that he encourages them to “cast down their buckets where they are” (Washington 58). This meaning that former slaves should perform the services that they know how to do. They should strive for education and equality but they should not attempt to be highly educated, businessmen right away.

Washington advocated for African Americans to not challenge the existing social order and create separate but equal facilities. DuBois, however, saw segregation as a form of oppression that perpetuated inequality and denied African Americans the opportunity to fully participate in society. Therefore, he argued that African Americans should fight against discrimination and segregation and demand full citizenship rights. By fighting for their rights and being politically active, they would achieve true equality in the nation. He also believed that the key tool for achieving integration and assimilation was through higher education, as African Americans would be educated alongside whites, which will help break down racial

The first three chapters of the reading, The Struggle for Black Equality, Harvard Sitkoff runs through the civil rights movement in the 20th century; outlining the adversities facing black people, the resistance to black equality, hindrances to the already progress and the achievements made in the journey for civil rights. John Hope Franklin, in the foreword, dwells on the impact of the time between 1954 and 1992 and the impact it had on American Society, how fight for equality is far from easy and patience is required in the fight to "eliminate the road blocks that prevent the realization of the ideal of equality". In the preface, Sitkoff is clear that that history does not speak for themselves and attempt to detail any particular will be influenced by the author 's personal beliefs. Sitkoff, who associated and identified with the movement, believed "that the struggle was confronting the United States with an issue that had undermined the nation 's democratic institutions". Sitkoff elected

Booker T Washington Had a belief that African Americans needed to earn their respect from white people. Washington took a nonviolent approach into gaining social equality and education rights for all people of color. His approach was used to help white

Washington is wise because of his experiences and is well aware that even the whites Exposition organizers and attendees that largely support him have fears and reservations about how much opportunity they truly want his fellow black Americans to have. He knows that the white leaders feel threatened by the possibility of blacks achieving economic success and expecting to be equal and fully integrated with whites. Washington soothes these fears by saying that “in all things that are purely social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress”. Booker T. Washington understood that great progress requires great patience, and his choice of language in this speech is

The NAACP also “attacked segregation and racial inequality.”. Leaders of the NAACP “sought, first, to make whites aware of the need for

connect to the main question cause it 's racism been going around for a while and he became a leader and started to stand up for what he believes. “ Washington , historically a hero to many in the black community “Act 2. I pick this quote because Washington saved a lot of people lives and his own special way. It support it because it shows how much he care about how people live .

Washington gave his speech the Atlanta Compromise advising Blacks to basically not riot or go to more harsher lengths to gain equality whether it be socially or political wise. Washington felt if they worked hard and earned the respect of the whites they could gain the respect and full citizenship that they do not have yet. Washington basically felt if the African Americans took the more civilized route things could turn out better for them in the