Booker T. Washington
was an important educator and driving force behind the growth of the Tuskegee
Normal and Industrial School which is now the Tuskegee University
(www.nps.gov). He was also a man who has a few beliefs and views that angered
the black activist of his day. Despite his controversial views, he became an
icon for the black community. He is
described as a man who “lifted the veil of ignorance” (www.nps.gov).
Booker Taliaferro
Washington was born April 5, 1856 on a small farm plantation in Piedmont Franklin
County, Virginia. In his autobiography, Up
from Slavery, he would describe his birthplace as a typical log cabin
measuring 14’ by 16’. His mother was the plantation cook (www.nps.gov). After
the Civil War, his family moved to Malden, West Virginia where he found jobs
working in the salt mines as well as a houseboy for Mrs. Viola Ruffner, the
wife of a local salt mine owner. She took an interest in Booker and his desire
for an education. He would attend classes at a local school for an hour a day
(www.biography.com).
His formal education
would begin at the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Virginia where
he worked as a janitor in order to pay for his room and board and the director
Samuel Armstrong found a white benefactor to pay for his tuition
(www.tuskegee.edu). He would graduate with honors in 1875 and return to Malden
to teach. He soon would be approached to develop the Tuskegee Institute. He
would become its first principal and where he would teach economic success and
working hard in order to obtain “financial independence and cultural
advancement” which would lead to eventually acceptance and respect from the
white community (www.biography.com). He believed that the educational system
should emphasizes practical skills and self-help (www.tuskegee.edu). He
believed that subordination to whites was a necessary until African Americans
could prove worthy of full economic and political rights (www.biography.com).
This belief would anger his critics especially W.E.B. DuBois.
In 1895, Washington
would give a speech in which he would explain his beliefs which is known as the
“Atlanta Compromise.” In this speech, he stated that the African American
communities should accepted “disenfranchisement and social segregation” as long
as they would allowed economic progress, educational opportunities and judicial
justice (www.biography.com). His statements would create a firestorm of
criticism especially from DuBois who would criticize Washington for advocating
white superiority and not demanding equality. Washington’s statement surprised
me as I researched his life. His statements came at a time when there was
severe segregation in the country especially the South. The African Americans
would being systematically excluded from the political process through black
codes and the Jim Crow laws.
In 1901, President
Theodore Roosevelt would invite Washington to the White House. The first
African American to be honored with an invite. Roosevelt and later President
Taft would ask for his advisement on racial matters. Quite possibly because
Washington accepted racial subservience (www.biography.com). Although he openly
supported racial subservience, he would secretly finance court cases
challenging segregation. By 1913, he lost much of his influence especially in
Washington as the Wilson Administration had no interest in racial integration
and African American equality. He would remain as the head of the Tuskegee
Institute until his death on November 14, 1915 at the age of 59.
Referneces
Biography
website www.biography.com
Tuskegee
University www.tuskegee.edu
U.S.
National Park Service www.nps.gov
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