ipl-logo

A Rhetorical Analysis Of Atlanta Compromise By Booker T. Washington

999 Words4 Pages

Booker T. Washington is a historically great African-American spokesman. Being the leader of a lesser treated race, Washington not only has proved himself throughout history as a fantastic speaker and motivator, but also as an educated man who deserves the respect of all men, regardless of their race. He is most famous for his prominent teachings of the African American race, and how they can better themselves. In his speech “Atlanta Compromise”, Washington brings to the forefront of southern business men, as well as some northerners, that for the African-American race to truly prosper that they not only need to make amends with whites and get industrial jobs, but to also receive the same overall freedom that the white south had. The audience, …show more content…

He begins his speech by explaining the amplitude of African Americans in the south. Washington quotes “One-third of the population of the South is of Negro race. No enterprise seeking the material, civil, or moral welfare of this section can disregard the element of our population and reach the highest success”. This goes to show the amount of power they hold, but are not recognized by. He appeals to the audience by logos as the sheer amount of people should be persuasive enough to convince them that something must be done. He says that no one can avoid mentioning them should that person wish to come to power, which also appeals to the audience’s sense of logic. Washington’s main point in the speech is conveyed in that recognition of the African-American race would be a “cementing” point in black/white …show more content…

Washington puts it as “The opportunity to earn a dollar in a factory just now is worth infinitely more than the opportunity to spend a dollar in an opera-house”. He appeals to the audience's sense of emotion somewhat here, as he shows that the average African-American can earn their money, but they are not allowed by the harsh society to use it at free will. This also connects with the previously stated sense of character and logic, as the good African Americans will do responsible things with the money, which could improve the American economy. Washington believed it was more important to be able to use the dollar, rather than just having

Show More
Related
1069 Words | 5 Pages

Washington (212). He rose up the ranks to become an honored guest and a leader in the Southern communities due to his more palatable ideas on race relations, primarily that black people should be thankful for the chance to earn money working in the factory and to not insist on desegregating social areas of society. His focus on the beauty of Southern culture and the romanticization of the relationship between the black man who built society and the white man benefiting along with the promise that black people would be “faithful”, “patient”, and “unresenting” in relation to white people allowed him to increase his class (213). While people of color have generally been at the bottom of the class hierarchy, people like Washington show that there was the possibility for a few to become exceptions to the rule, as Takaki points

Read More
838 Words | 4 Pages

Washington is wise because of his experiences and is well aware that even the whites Exposition organizers and attendees that largely support him have fears and reservations about how much opportunity they truly want his fellow black Americans to have. He knows that the white leaders feel threatened by the possibility of blacks achieving economic success and expecting to be equal and fully integrated with whites. Washington soothes these fears by saying that “in all things that are purely social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress”. Booker T. Washington understood that great progress requires great patience, and his choice of language in this speech is

Read More
673 Words | 3 Pages

The oration “The Atlanta Compromise” from Booker T. Washington was to have the White citizens realize that Blacks are no different from Whites, other than the skin color. Blacks perform as much strenuous activities as Whites do, maybe even more, but why do the Whites get so bothered with Blacks being equal? Whites were sufficed with slaves being and treated lower than them. Also, some did not allow Blacks to be equal to them as well as not cater them, even though slavery has ended, to proclaim their partiality.

Read More
727 Words | 3 Pages

Repetition is found all throughout Washington 's speech. He repeats the phrase "cast down your buckets where you are" to strengthen his allegory. The more it is said, the more it is clear that he is not just talking to the African Americans, he is also talking to the "those of the white race". He is implying that the Whites could look to the African Americans for the prosperity of the South, instead of looking to "those of foreign birth and strange tongue and habits" (Line 74-75). He is telling both sides to notice what is around them and use what they have.

Read More
1695 Words | 7 Pages

Washington was born a slave on a plantation in Franklin County, Virginia where his mother was a cook. His childhood on the plantation was miserable and hard, he and his brother, sister and mother slept on a bundle of rags laid on the plantation 's kitchen floor where they lived.. He never had time to play as a child but work as a slave and he said he does not remember sleeping in a bed until after they were free by the Emancipation Proclamation. It was just living like in hell on the plantation; the slave 's life was been dictated by the white men and didn 't have a life of their own. Washington never knew his father, never provided for him but he thinks he is a white man who lived o n a nearby plantation.

Read More
681 Words | 3 Pages

Washington believed in working simple labor jobs and starting from the bottom and progressing up in order to gain the respect necessary to achieve racial equality, Du Bois believed in not submitting to lesser occupations and demanding racial equality. Washington says that the key to prosperity is through learning to dignify common labor. Whereas Du Bois states that “Becoming a gospel of work and money to such an extent as apparently almost completely overshadow the higher aims of life.” “Common Labor” is viewed by Washington as the only way to make progress toward a higher quality life, however, Du Bois views “common labor” as a social setback. Washington’s views can be summed up, almost completely, in the following quote “It is at the bottom of life we must begin, not the top.”

Read More
278 Words | 2 Pages

On September 18, 1895, the African American educator and leader Booker T. Washington, delivered his famous "Atlanta Compromise" speech at the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta. It is widely one of the most significant speeches in American history. Washington’s Atlanta Exposition Address was presented in the auditorium on the exposition grounds. The auditorium was packed, mostly with whites, but there was also a segregated Negro section. This speech is often called the "Atlanta Compromise" because Washington encouraged African-Americans to worry less about social segregation and more about achieving economic security.

Read More
1568 Words | 7 Pages

He also highlights some of the paradoxes that the approach of the Atlanta Compromise, and how Booker T. Washington “is striving nobly to make Negro artisans businessmen and property-owners; but it is utterly impossible, under modern competitive methods, for workingmen and property-owners to defend their rights and exist without the right of suffrage.” (Du Bois p.43). The results and paradoxes of the approach of Booker T. Washington show how when issues aren’t discussed, people tend not to pay any attention to them, leading them to get worse. But it also shows how when issues are only discussed in the way that is comfortable to society or the population at large it leads to people not discussing the issue in away that will meaningfully solve it, rational deliberation allows people to break through these

Read More
488 Words | 2 Pages

Washington believed that collaboration was key to creating a more inclusive society for both races. Instead of getting African-Americans to the position of the whites, their contribution to the economy is enough for the whites to acknowledge their success. With one-third of the population being African-Americans, Washington points out that the one-third could either could add to the “crime and ignorance” or the “intelligence and progress” of the South. This meaning that through a collective effort, the success of the South would be furthered. “Cast down your bucket among these people who have helped make possible of this magnificent representation of the progress of the South.”

Read More
1479 Words | 6 Pages

Washington relied too heavily on the premise that whites will follow their self interest, which he assumed would be to help blacks gain economic freedom and eventually political equality. But the path to attain equal rights was more complicated than that. Whites were too fickle for Washington to predict and rely on. Contrary to his argument, it was not always in the self-interest for all whites to help blacks. Even though providing industrial education to blacks might help Northern factory owners receive more productive labor, these blacks posed a threat to white workingmen.

Read More
846 Words | 4 Pages

He says that "It is at the bottom of life we must begin, and not at the top. Nor should we permit our grievances to overshadow our opportunities" (Washington). Because of Washington's acceptance of inferiority of his race, at the time, economically, he again appeals to the white audience in front of his speech, at the African American expo. He almost apologizes for how low the blacks are starting by saying "Gentlemen of the Exposition, as we present to you our humble effort at an exhibition of our progress, you must not expect overmuch" (Washington). This puts the pressure of equality on the black community, and takes pressure off the white community.

Read More
640 Words | 3 Pages

Delivered in the year 1895, the Atlanta Exposition Address by Booker T Washington calls for the emancipation of blacks from slavery. The address also includes the discussion of possible obstacles or challenges that the black Americans may face in the path towards establishing their right as equal members of the white American society. Thus, his address ultimately calls for unity and cooperation between blacks and whites in order to generate a successful socio-economic force within their society. Washington is able to accomplish the goal of his proposal by using analogy, a formal diction, and a passionate tone. Booker T Washington's use of analogy helps to successful deliver his point during his Atlanta Exposition Address.

Read More
1241 Words | 5 Pages

One of the first ways Washington shows his segregationist ideas is through an allegory that describes the state in which black people were in. He compares blacks to whites by saying black people are part of a distressed vessel seeking help to find water from another “friendly” vessel who represent the white people. He concludes this analogy by stating if the distressed vessel just casts down a bucket into the water around them, they will be able to find clean water. But as he explains what the water represents for the black people, his

Read More
1137 Words | 5 Pages

Booker was just hoping that all white people could come together and help make African Americans' lives easier. Booker T uses his ethos to connect with the audience he is delivering the speech to. Washington was not always popular, and he made it clear through his career that he was born into a slave family. During his speech he stated, “I am a product of the state of Virginia, of the unpretentious soil of the state of Virginia” (Washington np). He appeals to his audience by stating that he knows what the struggle is

Read More
968 Words | 4 Pages

4. He pays respect to Martin Luther King Jr. He appreciates the work done by him for freedom, humanity and for blacks or as MLK said ‘negroes’. NM does not say Negroes but he makes a speech for all mankind, irrespective of race, religion, gender or creed [but

Read More

More about A Rhetorical Analysis Of Atlanta Compromise By Booker T. Washington

Related Topics

Open Document