Compare And Contrast Booker T Washington On African American Leaders

Booker T. Washington once said, “Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.” W.E.B. Du Bois quoted, “The worker must work for the glory of his handiwork.” These are two quotes from two great leaders of the African American community in the late 19th and 20th Century. Although they were great leaders, they both had their own outlook on strategies regarding social and economic progress in the African American community. Regardless of their differences and outcome of their strategy, both remarkable leaders had one common goal, to end racism in America and build up the black community. Booker Taliaferro Washington was born into a slave family in Virginia (1865-1915). Growing up during the Reconstruction, he served as a houseboy for a white family, worked in a salt furnace, and attended

Washington believed that with Education, blacks could use that as an instrument to uplift the economic prosperity for the black community. Washington founded many organizations such as the National Negro Business League. National Negro Business League’s purpose was to promote the interests of African American Businesses. He also founded the Tuskegee Institute which is a black school for training public school teachers while focusing on industrial and moral education. The Tuskegee was an establishment that developed very well for African Americans and became a major center for the economy. He became a very well know speaker at that, and was looked up as leader in the black community. His famous speech, “Atlantic Compromise Address” was given at the 1895 Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia. His speech focused on accepting discrimination for the time being and to concentrate on elevating themselves through hard work and material prosperity. With this speech he gained the support of whites and blacks but very few, such as W.E.B. Du Bois, opposed Washington’s