Booker T. Washington

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Booker T. Washington was one of the most well-known African American educators of all time. Lessons from his life recordings and novelistic writings are still being talked and learned about today. His ideas of the accommodation of the Negro people and the instillation of a good work ethic into every student are opposed, though, by some well-known critics of both past and current times. They state their cases by claiming the Negro’s should not have stayed quiet and worked their way to wear they did, they should have demanded equal treatment from the southern whites and claimed what was previously promised to them. Also, they state that Washington did not really care about equality or respect, but about a status boost in his own life. Both arguments presented by Washington and his critics are equally valid when looked at in context, but When Mr. Booker gave his speech at the Atlanta Acquisition, he was more-so correct in his belief of accommodation. His opinions concerning that hard work achieved success and respect and that demanding requests does not give immediate results were more rational, practical, and realistic than others outcries of immediate gratification and popularity contests.

Literary critic Lyman Abbott points out to readers in his literary analysis that ”He [Washington] made no demands upon the white race to respect the Negro; but he pointed out to the Negroes how they could earn that respect, and this he did not only by his words, but by his life of unselfish and devoted labour” (para 7). Nothing should just be handed over to you, whether it is material wealth or respect. Hard work and dedication is the one thing that will achieve greatness inside and out. When the Negro people were being prejudiced against, even ...

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...t him, that he did not care about the hard work, assimilation, and education so much as he wanted to be popular and equal to the whites. These accusations, though, do not hold up when compared to the actions put forth by Mr. Washington. If a person did not truly stand up for what he believed in, then his actions would prove true to the accusations being brought against him. This was not the case though, and Washington’s actions spoke way louder than his words could have.

In closing, when Mr. Booker promoted accommodation as opposed to political aggression, not only was he choosing to take the path less traveled, he was also making the wise decision to do the only thing that would have worked at the time. His actions proved to be legitimate and his theories proved correct when over time, his people were accepted and legally treated as equals to the white population.

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