Booker T Washington Essay

He was in no doubt as to the fact that America was controlled entirely by the white majority. He thus urged his black brethren to be "fast in learning the lesson that he cannot afford to act in a manner that will alienate his Southern white neighbors from him" (75). Washington knew that in order to lift the race from its plight, they needed the help of white people. White men were entrenched in industry, banking, farming, merchandising - virtually every aspect of American business life. To gain support, he worked diligently to win white people over to the idea that the improvement of blacks would also improve their own standing (111). Again, we see Washington's leadership skills at their pinnacle. By forcing the idea that blacks must work to integrate into white America, he began to pave the way for the advancement of the race. For as much good as Booker T Washington did, he, at the same time, did a great deal of harm. Despite painting himself as an august man, consumed with the betterment of his race, Washington had ulterior motives. It would appear that what he wanted more than anything else was to be seen, in all aspects, as white. The accusations of being an "Uncle Tom" are justified. What places Washington in this idiom is his utter denial of any white indiscretions against the black populace before and after the Civil War. He makes the outrageous claim that "the black man got nearly as much out of slavery as the white man did" (37). He