DuBois were very outspoken in their criticism of Washington. He stated that this wealth and culture would be the result of Blacks being educated in agriculture and industry rather than in other fields.Īlthough widely accepted among the middle and working-class Blacks of that time, Washington drew much criticism from the Black intellectual community who called him an accomodationist. His reasoning was that through the acceptance of segregation and discrimination, Blacks would eventually gain wealth and culture and would then win acceptance and respect from the White power structure. The opportunity to earn a dollar in a factory just now is worth infinitely more than the opportunity to spend a dollar in an opera-house.” It is important and right that all privileges of the law be ours, but it is vastly more important that we be prepared for the exercise of these privileges. No race that has anything to contribute to the markets of the world is long in any degree ostracized. “The wisest among my race understand that the agitation of questions of social equality is the extremist folly, and that progress in the enjoyment of all the privileges that will come to us must be the result of severe and constant struggle rather than of artificial forcing. It was here that Washington stated publicly that social segregation would be accepted as long as Whites would allow Blacks to progress economically, have the opportunity to become educated, and receive justice through the courts. One of the defining moments in Washington’s life, and in American history, took place on Septemwhen he delivered an address at the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia. At the time of Washington’s death 34 years later, it had more than 100 well-equipped buildings, approximately 1,500 students, a faculty of nearly 200 teaching 38 trades and professions, and an endowment of approximately $2,000,000. At that time it consisted of two small, converted buildings, no equipment, and very little money. It was in 1881 that Washington was selected to lead the newly established normal school for blacks at Tuskegee. Washington’s is widely known for his commitment to Tuskegee Institute, which became a testament to his life’s work. After graduating, he returned to Hampton as a teacher, and then in 1881 he was named as the first leader of the new Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.Ī prominent and influential leader and educator, Booker T. His determination to get an education propelled him through Hampton University and Virginia Union University. Following emancipation, he worked in a variety of manual labor jobs including the salt furnaces and coal mines of West Virginia before making his way to the Norfolk area in search of an education. Washington was born into slavery to a slave mother and white father, in rural southwestern Virginia. From the vantage point of the current day, his contributions to African Americans and civil rights are now more appreciated.īooker T. Because, during his period of prominence, a large portion of his social justice work against racism was done behind the scenes he was viewed as an accomodationist more than a public activist. His conservative views, political savvy, and ability to raise significant amounts of money from powerful White people to support his cause allowed him to attack institutional racist policies. Washington, the African American educator, author, orator, and political leader, to be the most well known Black man in the United States from the late 1890’s to 1915. “No man, who continues to add something to the material, intellectual and moral well-being of the place in which he lives, is left long without proper reward.” – Booker T. Washington (Ap– November 14, 1915) – Educator, Author, Political Activist In: Civil War, Reconstruction, and Progressivism, Education, Eras in Social Welfare History, People, Programs Booker T.
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