How Did Booker T Washington The Atlanta Compromise

Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois. Prior to the riot, African Americans had listened to Washington’s advice. Washington believed that African Americans should be sublevel to whites and focus all their time working diligently and progressing in blue-collar society. This would allow whites to feel supreme, but also allow African Americans to make something of themselves and provide for their families. Washington wanted blacks to be educationally ready for the argument of equality.

Washington appears to make some compromises in his argument. His speech is actually called the "Atlanta Compromise." He says that "in no way have the value and manhood of the American Negro

DuBois wanted blacks to take a more aggressive stance against those who were against them. The approach more beneficial would most likely be Washington’s. Obtaining an education, getting a job, and becoming an active

Achieving African American Equality Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Du Bois were two of the most influential advocates for African American equality during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (Blatty, 1). Although both men ultimately had the same goal, their methods for achieving African American equality were remarkably different. To begin, the men had conflicting ideas about what constituted as African American equality. Booker T. Washington argued that the accumulation of wealth and the ability to prove that Blacks were productive members of society would be the mark of true equality for African Americans (Painter, 155).

was a respected individual of his time, there were many other famous civil rights activists who had similar but contradictory views, as in W. E. B. Du Bois In full William Edward Burghardt. William was a black civil right activist whose views contradicted Booker T. views, “Although he admired Washington 's intellect and accomplishments, he strongly opposed the position set forth by Washington in his Atlanta Exposition Address (“ushistory.org”)”. This shows how William stood up for what he believed for and what he thought was right. Washington views as opposed to Du Bois, urged blacks to “accept discrimination for the time being and concentrate on elevating themselves through hard work and material prosperity; He believed in education in the crafts, industrial and farming skills and the cultivation of the virtues of patience, enterprise and thrift (“Wormser, Richard. Booker T Washington PBS”)”.

Dr. W.E.B Du Bois uses this essay to sway the audience of the insufficiency of the statements that Mr. Booker T. Washington has made about African Americans being submissive of rights and the creation of wealth. Mr. Washington believes that the black race should give up and give into what the society norms were at that time sequentially just to have a certain right. Dr. Du Bois refused to believe that the black race should give up one right to get another right. Especially, when the white South had all rights without expecting to give up anything to have those rights.

Du Bois believes that Washington exhibits an old attitude of submission. Whereas Washington sees starting from the bottom as necessary and beneficial Du Bois sees it as submissive and harmful towards the progression of equality. Both Du Bois and Washington believed that their viewpoint was going to lead to more equal treatment and overall improved quality of life for African Americans. Both Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois had ideas on how to improve African American lives, Washington believed in starting at the bottom and working up whereas Du Bois had an opposing viewpoint he saw starting from the bottom as submissive and believed African Americans should hold important jobs in

Wells and Du Bois felt like the black population could not become equivalent with the white population in their surroundings, but in another way, Washington thought the compromise was okay between the two parties. Washington was denounced by the leaders of the NAACP ( Wells and Du Bois) it was formed in 1909, especially Du Bois, who demanded a harder line on civil rights

Booker T. Washington is by far one of the brightest and strongest minds from his time. During his Atlanta Exposition address he displays his intellect masterfully. From Mr. Washington’s use of language he was able to seamlessly piece together a speech that we still analyse to this day. Mr. Washington use of rhetoric explains and enlightens the circumstances of freed African Americans trying to fit into communities in the south. From mistreatment and racism still present in the newly freed people.

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.

“George could see both sides of the debate, and while he agreed with Booker T. Washington, he did not want to make an enemy of W.E.B. Dubois. George believed that every man had to follow his own conscience, and no one could say that George Washington Carver was not helping white people to accept and respect him as a black scientist. (Benge 143)” This quote could be inferred to mean that George Washington Carver wanted no enemies, not even of white people. This goes to show the type of man that he was and the type of legacy he left behind.

Booker T. Washington, Jan. 2005, p. 1. Reason as to why he spoke- Wesson, Stephen. “Booker T. Washington and the Atlanta Compromise.” Booker T. Washington and the Atlanta Compromise | Teaching with the Library of Congress, 29 July 2011, blogs.loc.gov/teachers/2011/07/booker-t-washington-and-the-atlanta-compromise/. Accessed 26 Apr. 2017.

It was there he experienced the Jim Crow laws and began to analyze the problems of American discrimination. William Du Bois philosophy on race was different compared to educator Booker T. Washington(Booker). They did not come to terms with a significant amount of topics, had different ideas on progressivism, yet still were able to merge their ideas to help Blacks gain equal rights. W.E.B. Dubois and Booker T. Washington had one of the biggest rivalries in the 20th century. They were both accomplished scholars and activists, but it was their differences in black progress and background that shaped blacks’ communities’ future.

Regardless, they were able to aid in ending discrimination and received equal standing in education, labor, acquiring of land, etc.. If it had only been Du Bois fighting for equality, then he would have achieved the fight for equality sooner. On the contrary, Du Bois only provided one view to how African Americans were being treated; Washington had a friendlier approach. This may be due to his fear of being lynched or placing African Americans in a harsher situation than they already were. Washington seemed more methodical—he was thinking about African Americans having the full rights of the 14th and 15th amendments. At the same, he was also concerned about the consequences of his speech, and if it angered the whites more than it relieved the situation they were all facing.

Washington’s “Atlanta Compromise” speech is a highly influential agreement struck since he used so much imagery while encouraging African Americans and whites to not be resentful people mainly towards each other. He wanted to inspire African Americans to take their education seriously and also improve economical gains to support political equalities for all. Washington used a simple story to illustrate a moral to point out his call for economic comity. However, disfranchise and segregation movements started in 1890. The south treated African Americans with denigration and humiliation.