Booker T. Washington Post

Rich Hoggan
English 48B
Booker T. Washington Post
01-11-10

Online Journal
Washington Entry

Booker T. Washington can be considered one of the first advocates for civil rights. A quote from the reading confirms such thoughts by stating "Between the last decade of the nineteenth century and the beginning of World War I, no one exercised more influence over race relations in the United States than did Booker Taliaferro Washington…" (663). He was born into slavery and grew up a child with no education and only a longing to be educated. You could argue that it was his tenacity that got him to where he was -- a spirit of hard work and dedication by which he could grow to be judged by, not by color. Washington wasn't someone who made a call to arms in order to pry his freedom from white society but said "I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed" (679). This quote makes an important point that it's about what accomplish in our lives that is judge-worthy. He continues in saying "No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem. Is is at the bottom of life we must begin, and not at the top" (681).

Washington didn't really have much in the way of hatred from what he had experienced the majority of his childhood. There was no way he could blame society for the institutions that ended up becoming what is now a vivid part of our national history. He writes "No one section of our country was wholly responsible for its introductions[slavery], and, besides, it was recognized and protected for years by the General Government" (671). But Washington's outlook on society in his later years can be attributed to his upbringing by his mother. His mother was a woman who was hard working and provided for her children. A cook back at the plantation, she did what she had to in order for her children to eat. The same mentality was held as Washington wanted to start reading, as she got him a spelling book with no questions asked. Another example was when she made a cap for him to wear to school because she didn't have the money to buy one from the store.

In a quote from his Wikipedia page, Washington met with friction as "Late in his career, Washington was criticized by leaders of the NAACP, a civil rights organization formed in 1909. W. E. B. Du Bois advocated activism to achieve civil rights. He labeled Washington "the Great Accommodator". Washington's response was that confrontation could lead to disaster for the outnumbered blacks. He believed that cooperation with supportive whites was the only way in the long run to overcome racism" (Booker T. Washington - Wikipedia). Washington's response to W.E.B Du Bois was appropriate for we can not expect to see results confrontation confrontation. Du Bois could be looked at as the opposite of Washington because he felt more action was necessary to obtain civil rights rather than working with those who were supportive of the cause. Fast forward to the civl rights era and marches and activism was rampant but how far off was Washington in attempting to come to some compromise with those willing to listen if it meant better income and possibly jobs, jobs with which to pay for an education.

As there were a great number of influential advocates for civil rights from Washington all the way to Martin Luther King Jr., Washington can still be considered someone who didn't fan the flames of hatred but attempted to "Cast down [his] bucket where [he] [was]" (680).