TH3 blog Booker T. Washington

After reading Booker T. Washington’s Atlanta compromise speech it made me thankful to be where I am today. His speech also opened my eyes even more to the difficulties blacks had to face in the south. In a time period when black lives were treated like the lives of animals Booker T. Washington was able to speak in front of the southern and northern whites. His speech was very submissive and I don’t agree with his main points especially the point of  industrial education. These points he pushed and the way the south viewed blacks in general at the time makes me wonder what he really could have said to end the southern white mindset.
I’m thankful to be alive in today’s time because in Washington’s speech he tells his people to be civil and work with what is around them while they face so much uncontrollable death. Telling them to do this in my opinion is dangerous. People in the 1890s were lynched for even aiding blacks in the slightest way possible. Washington stated “To those of my race who depend on bettering their condition in a foreign land or who underestimate the importance of cultivating friendly relations with the southern white man who is their next door neighbor, I would say cast down your bucket where you are”. This quote was so confusing. I just don’t believe that in a time where black people could be killed for any reason that they be friendly and have relations with the people that harm them.
The pushing of industrial education for African Americans was also confusing to me. Blacks were seen as things and put to work in harsh conditions like machines and yet Washington’s plan was to achieve “a new era of industrial progress”. I cannot understand why he pushes more harsh labor for people of color but at the same time I can clearly see why he does. Washington gave his speech in front of a predominantly white audience and I can imagine how carefully to chose his words. He was chosen to speak to impress the Northerns. What if Washington would have demanded more for blacks in front of the predominantly white crowd? Would he have finished his speech as the prestigious spokesman that he was or would he have been just another negro lynching statistic? Washington walked on a tightrope giving this speech.  He had African American rights and progress on one side and complete submission to southern white pride on the other side. Washington balanced each side all while impressing the northerns.
Booker T. Washington’s choice of words and points of emphasis make me thankful for today. It makes me thankful that I can fully utilize my freedom of speech without the thought of death. It also shows me how lucky I am to have the access to limitless amounts of education.

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