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Booker T. Washington

 

            Ever since African Americans traveled from their homeland over to America, they have faced many hardships amongst their people. One of the main difficulties that they have faced is discrimination. The African Americans originally came to America as slaves and pretty much nothing more. Most of the white population simply wanted it to stay that way. But it was only through the African Americans coming together as a people, that they were able to overcome all of the injustice. Booker T. Washington had a plan for how to handle what they faced. Then there was many other African American after him that disagreed with his plans and came up with their own.
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             Booker T. Washington had a somewhat simple way to deal with what his people were faced with. He first started with the Tuskegee Institute, which emphasized industrial training as a means to self-respect and economic independence for the African American people. He gave many lectures in the interests of his work; he was considered one of the best public speakers of his time. In 1895, in Atlanta, GA, he made a controversial speech on the African American's place in American society. In this speech he stated that it was "foolish for blacks to agitate for social equality before they had attained economic equality." His speech was very appealing to the white people, because they agreed with the way he thought blacks should be placed in society. This ended up giving him financial support for the Tuskegee Institute. He told the African American people to use caution and restraint when dealing the white people. He knew what white people were capable of, and probably going to do, so he figured why not try and prevent what is inevitable. He told blacks to forget about social and political issues, and focus more on education and industrial working. He concentrated more on commercial issues, and chose to not think about civil rights. He was basically doing exactly what all white people wanted the African Americans to do at the time.


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