Booker T Washington Research Paper

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.

His rise to national prominence came in 1895 with a brief speech, which outlined his social philosophy and racial strategy. Washington was invited to speak before an integrated audience at the opening of the Cotton States and International Exposition held in Atlanta in September 1895. He was the first Negro ever to address such a large group of southern whites

One of his main problems was always finding enough money. The support he received from the state was neither generous nor stable enough to build the kind of school he was developing. So he had to raise the money himself by going on speaking tours and solicitating donations. He received a lot of money from white northerners who were impressed with the work he was doing and his non-threatening racial views. Industrialists like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller would donate money on a regular basis. It was these non-threatening racial views that gave Washington the appellation "The Great Accomodater". He believed that blacks should not push to attain equal civil and political rights with whites. Eventually they would earn the respect and love of the white man, and civil and political rights would be accrued as a matter of course.

Washington was often looked at as an “Uncle Tom” because of the things he did, such as advising blacks to remain in the South and to avoid politics and protest in favor of economic self-help and industrial education. He eventually became a powerful political boss, friend of white businessmen like Andrew Carnegie, and advisor of some presidents. Washington publicly accepted without protest racial segregation and voting discrimination, but secretly financed and directed many court suits against such proscriptions of civil rights. To Washington his ideas was obvious and clear, by earning the respect of whites they would either help blacks or deal with their crime against humanity that will eventually bring them down.

W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington were two very influential leaders in the black community during the late 19th century, early 20th century. However, they both had different views on improvement of social and economic standing for blacks. Booker T. Washington, an ex-slave, put into practice his educational ideas at Tuskegee, which opened in 1881. Washington stressed patience, manual training, and hard work. He believed that blacks should go to school, learn skills, and work their way up the ladder. Washington also urged blacks to accept racial discrimination for the time being, and once they worked their way up, they would gain the respect of whites and be fully accepted as citizens. W.E.B. Du Bois on the other hand, wanted a more

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 was born in around 1950s in Franklin County of Virginia and spent the better part of his childhood as a slave. Following the emancipation, majority of the black community including Washington ware convinced that obtaining a formalized education was the best approach to improve their lifestyles and social class. The Blacks had a fairly limited opportunity to access education due to the prevalence of social segregation.

Washington contributed secretly and substantially to legal challenges against segregation and disfranchisement of blacks. In his public role, he believed he could achieve more by skillful accommodation to the social realities of the age of segregation

In his 1901 autobiography Up From Slavery author, educator, and orator Booker T. Washington chronicles his rise from Virginia slave to President of Tuskegee Institute. The work outlines Washington’s roadmap for racial uplift which is centered on agricultural and industrial education. Washington argued that hard work and virtuous living — traits instilled African Americans during slavery— would demonstrate the value African Americans possessed to the South and the nation. Operating within the political realities of the time, Washington was able to mobilize a coalition of middle-class blacks, church leaders, white philanthropists, and politicians from the North and South to build Tuskegee Institute and his vision for the African American community. However, Washington’s strategy asked for African Americans to put aside immediate demands for voting and the end of racial segregation. Washington’s willingness to publicly side step these civil rights issues to advocate for slow progress towards true equality earned him powerful critics such as NAACP president W.E.B. DuBois and journalist William Trotter. By the time of Washington’s death in 1915, Jim Crow laws entrenched segregation throughout the South. Washington’s plan for racial uplift was pragmatic and realistic. However, his advocacy for dignity in labor played into white stereotypes that black men and women were made solely for labor.

Lastly, Du Bois and Washington's individual experiences are historical in the fight for black equality. The two men both lived very fulfilling lives dedicated to their life work of the black cause. Washington began his educational career at the age of 16 at the Hampton Institute while performing janitorial duties to pay his board. After graduating he returned back to West Virginia and taught adults and children. He then went away to study at the Wayland Seminary in Washington D.C. where upon his completion joined the staff at the Hampton Institute. Years later in 1881 he was asked to be the president of the Tuskegee Institution which promoted literacy among freed blacks. Here began the monument of his life work, for the rest of his days would be spent supporting the school. Then, the year 1895 marked a turning point in his life when he gave the Atlanta Compromise Address speech that would outline his beliefs for the rest of his days. Furthermore, in 1900 with help from T. Thomas Fortune the creation of the National Negro Business League happened with Washington the first president. He even accepts and invitation by Andrew Garrison to go to Europe and preach his words of wisdom. The book ends with a speech before a mixed crowd of black and white to the City Council of Richmond, Virginia, and Washington never feeling more hopeful for the African-American race. Like

Washington was powerful and influential in both the black and white communities. He was a confidential advisor to President Roosevelt and for years, presidential political appointments of African-Americans were cleared through him. By the last years of his life Washington began speaking

Booker T. Washington was born, into slavery, on April 5th, 1856 in Hale’s Ford, Virginia. He was nine years old when his family was emancipated, and they moved to West Virginia. It wasn’t until after he moved that he began to receive an education. He eventually graduated from the Hampton Institute; he worked through the time he was in school in order to pay for his education. He went on to later become the leader of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama – a position he held until the day he died. He made huge contributions in the African-American community, and was one of their strongest leaders in the fight for their rights. He advocated strongly for the right to education and for social issues.

He decided to get a job at a restaurant. He was also a part time janitor at Hampton. One time when he was working at the restaurant he found ten dollars. He decided to tell the manager, which was very honest, but also very dumb. When he went to his boss he showed him the money. The manager said since it was his restaurant, he would get to keep the money. He ended up taking it and keeping it for himself. In 1981, Booker founded and established Tuskegee Institute. The Tuskegee Institute was the first African,American College. A lot of people came and applied for Tuskegee. As you can see Booker T. Washington started as a slave and ended up starting a College for African, Americans. Washington started as a kid who would stand at a telegraph and listen to people talk. Soon he could talk well like them. He ended up being a smart professor at Tuskegee Institute. Later in his older years he died, at the college everyone was sad, but till this day it still is standing and people still go there. It was one of the best college anyone could go to. It was very popular to

The autobiography of Booker T. Washing titled Up From Slavery is a rich narrative of the man's life from slavery to one of the founders of the Tuskegee Institute. The book takes us through one of the most dynamic periods in this country's history, especially African Americans. I am very interested in the period following the Civil War and especially in the transformation of African Americans from slaves to freemen. Up From Slavery provides a great deal of information on this time period and helped me to better understand the transition. Up From Slavery provided a narrative on Washington's life, as well as his views on education and integration of African Americans. All though this book was