Booker T. Washington Essay

To me it is obvious why many whites agreed with Washington and many blacks disagreed with him. I agree with Washington by not demanding our rights because making demands would be met with opposition and nothing will be done that is necessary to bring blacks up to the equality line. On the contrary, I disagree with the way that Washington believed that blacks should just ignore how whites treated us with violence then turn around and try to earn their respect. African Americans during this time wasn’t trying to hear this because just 3 years before his speech in Atlanta, 156 blacks were lynched in one year alone. To the blacks of that time, forgetting that was too big of a pill to swallow and it is obvious why blacks second-guessed the views of Booker T. Washington.

For starters, by using repetition and metaphor in his speech, Booker T. Washington informs his audience concerning the importance of collaboration between the white and black races during the process of developing and growing the economic conditions of the South. For instance, in the third paragraph of the address, Washington mirrors a crucial state on the ocean. The crew of the lost ship almost lost their lives as a result of the lack of water, but later get told to drop down the bucket and get some water by a friendly ship, “And a third and fourth signal for water was answered. ‘Cast down your bucket where you are.’ The captain of the distressed vessel, at last heeding the injunction, cast down his bucket, and it came up full of fresh, sparkling water from the mouth of the Amazon River” (Washington 450). Also, by metaphorically referring that particular situation he portrays to the reality that

Washington is remembered chiefly for this “Atlanta Compromise” address. In this speech, he called on white America to provide jobs and industrial-agricultural education for Negroes. In exchange,

To me it is obvious why many whites agreed with Washington and many blacks disagreed with him. I agree with Washington by not demanding our rights because making demands would be met with opposition and nothing will be done that is necessary to bring blacks up to the equality line. On the contrary, I disagree with the way that Washington believed that blacks should just ignore how whites treated us with violence then turn around and try to earn their respect. African Americans during this time wasn’t trying to hear this because just 3 years before his speech in Atlanta, 156 blacks were lynched in one year alone. To the blacks of that time, forgetting that

and got a job as a waiter. Soon after this period of time he got a

Booker T. Washington’s philosophy and actions betrayed the interests of African Americans because he was more interested on the blacks getting educated and getting the respect of the white authorities, instead of worrying on getting their political and social equality right away, which was the main interest of the African Americans. In “The Atlanta Exposition Address”, Washington said that blacks would sacrifice their civil rights and social equality for the time being, as long as whites guaranteed that they would receive industrial education and jobs because he believed that in order to fully obtain equality, the blacks should improve themselves. “It is at the bottom of

Booker T. Washington is one of the most respected and influential African American figures in American history, Mr. Washington was born into slavery and was freed by the Emancipation Proclamation. His peaceful personality along with his exceptional education in many different studies turned him into a well-rounded individual. Washington wanted blacks and whites to become partners and strive for both races to succeed. He delivered his most famous speech in 1895 known as the “Atlanta Compromise”. In Atlanta Georgia, Mr. Washington expresses himself with exceptional rhetoric and tone throughout his speech. He states that African Americans should take benefit of what they know and endeavor

The further into the speech he got the stronger the points were. This developed the speech in a way that drew in the audience’s attention. Washington also payed attention to whom he was delivering the speech to. He arranged the speech in a way that would be most effective for them. The speech was directed toward an esteemed crowd of whites and blacks, so with this as the audience, Washington wrote a formal speech. He did not include any contraction words. Washington also avoided using first person in his speech. The words he used were technical making it seem like a serious concern to the crowd.

Booker T. Washington delivers the 1895 Atlanta Compromise Speech to a white and black audience about the equality blacks and whites deserve. As a black speaker in the north, Washington influences and impresses many of the northern citizens with his moving speech. Washington brought with him “...evidence of racial progress in the South”. His audience contained the president and the board of directors as well as citizens.

Booker T. Washing had a view of what it was to be American. In “Up From Slavery”, his address made in Atlanta, Booker T. Washington says “Cast down your bucket where you are.” In effect, he proposed that African Americans should accommodate themselves to racial segregation and political disenfranchisement in order to enjoy a greater degree of economic security. “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’s Atlanta Compromise Speech was one of the most iconic speeches about racial injustice in American history. Washington’s plan, which he explained in his speech, definitely has its strengths, however had some weaknesses as well. The plan requested that white Americans help to fund education for black Americans. One of the strengths of the plan was that it was not asking for a lot. Caucasian Americans were not likely to get offended or angry about his plan when he asked for so little. Another strength of the plan was that it was very easy to carry out. It was one step, and although it may have been a small step, it was still a step in the right direction. His plan was simply requesting to improve racial equality by just a bit. This small-scale goal was easy to accomplish and very reasonable. On the other hand, Washington’s plan had its weaknesses. The main weakness of the plan was the lack of political action proposed to end or at least lessen racial inequality. Booker T. Washington basically agreed to submit to white law and segregation, only if black Americans received education. His plan was rather insufficient. Giving African Americans an education was not even close to reaching social, political, and economic equality in the nation. Therefore, Washington’s plan was a beneficial plan on the small-scale, but long-run proposed no major ideas to lessen racial

In contrast to Douglass, Washington’s famous speech known as the “1865 Atlantic Compromise” was not a protest or challenge of the political system, nor did he speak about the lack of social equality. Instead he focused his efforts on what blacks could accomplish, how they could compromise. He believed the militant rhetoric of Douglass and others distracted blacks from the path of liberty, equality, and economic success. Washington’s speech emphasized that it was the dual responsibility of blacks and whites to make the blacks a more

The Afro-American Almanac located on Professor Tygiel’s “Sites of Interest to History Majors” have a copy of Booker T. Washington’s famous “Atlanta Compromise” speech that he delivered in 1895. Neither before, nor since, has one speech had such a profound effect upon the career of a politician and the people that he sought to represent. Indeed, Washington’s primacy was assured when he in dramatic fashion promised (eye witness accounts have him thrusting his hand forward to underline this point) the south 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.” The south, indeed America quickly embraced

Washington, who had faith in the future of his race in the country, believed that hard work, patience, and self pride would build their character and eventually earn them their civil rights. This is evident in Washington's The Future of the American Negro. He shows the "impatient extremists" within the Negroes of the North whose "ill-considered, incendiary utterances tend to add to the burdens of our people in the South rather than relieve them." ("Washington," Discovering Authors)

Within his speech given at the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta in 1895, Washington shared his views on race relations and his belief that black should go to work to prove to whites that they would not be burdens to society. One of the most notable excerpts from his speech, is “in all things purely social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress” (Washington, 107). Some people thought that this simile alluded to an agreement with segregation and a settlement with the morals in that Jim Crow era. Likewise, the phrase “cast down your bucket where you are” was repeated many times throughout the speech. This sentence in particular could be interpreted many ways, by all races. For whites in the South, this expression acted as an offering of black