The Atlanta Exposition Address

[@1stanzione]

Booker T. Washington was a very wise man. I would have like to have known him. God bless him and his family!

[@markjohnson9455]

When a public person makes statements, I always try to think about what they are trying to convey. I try to understand their life experiences that lead to their understanding of their world and what they are trying to address. Washington wanted to end racial strife to become one culture by honoring all races live together. MLK shared the same sentiment in his 1963 March on Washington. I read books written by Thomas Sowell, Shelby Steele, WE Dubois, and watched Malcolm X videos. Their different perspectives help me understand that accepting one's personal responsibility leads to freedom. When people do this, then we can live together in one culture.

[@olivermoisedegno3131]

I like so much this author.

[@MissTuskegeeAlabama]

I’m from Tuskegee and absolutely admire BTW🥰….He had to do what he had to do. He had to play the game🧏🏾‍♀️….Come look at Tuskegee University now✌🏾💕….#TU🐯🗣️

[@lyndaanthony1154]

He was in a tough spot - having to grovel like this. W.E.B Dubois was more impressive in my opinion unwilling to pretend to be less capable or intelligent than others. He did "cast his bucket down" and went to Harvard where he earned a Phd in 1895. The crowd that cheerfully enjoyed Booker T Washington's speech would most likely not have been pleased to hear of Dubois' success. It did not support their "theories" of supremacy and therefore would not do. Booker T Washington did his best but there were better and braver men around who were his contemporaries. They remained unbroken and unbowed. They are my heroes.

[@Civille7]

He had to be very political when giving this speech. It was a speech given before blacks, immigrant whites, former Confederates, and former Union soldiers, etc. So he had to conduct himself in a way that wouldn't offend any of these of competing peoples. That was a very hard thing to do, but he pulled it off.

[@backtoafrica1822]

I think this speech is misunderstood. The playbook he describes has been adopted by every other immigrant group. they secure their economic foundation first, and obtain financial independence. the real power in the country is business ownership not necessarily political office. Only then do they seek formal political power.

[@yourstruly3349]

There’s a raccoon in my ear.