What Booker T. Washington thinks about racism
American educator, author and orator (1856 to 1915); the primary leader of the African-American community from 1890 to 1915; author of Up from Slavery.
Booker T. Washington did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
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10 dated positions, c. 1899, in their own words. Our reading of what Booker T. Washington has said — not written or endorsed by them.
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Their wordsI think it would have been better for all concerned if, immediately after the close of the war, an educational and property qualification for the exercise of the franchise had been prescribed that would have applied fairly and squarely to both races, and, also, if, in educating the Negro, greater stress had been put upon training him along the lines of industry for which his services were in the greatest demand in the South.
↗The Future of the American Negro (1899)gutenberg.org All 18 from this book
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Their wordsI would not have the standard of mental development lowered one whit; for, with the Negro, as with all races, mental strength is the basis of all progress.
↗The Future of the American Negro (1899)gutenberg.org All 18 from this book
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Their wordsNothing else so soon brings about right relations between the two races in the South as the commercial progress of the Negro.
↗The Future of the American Negro (1899)gutenberg.org All 18 from this book
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Their wordsSo long as the colour line is the dividing line in politics, so long will there be trouble.
↗The Future of the American Negro (1899)gutenberg.org All 18 from this book
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Their wordsAs to my own position, I do not favour the Negro's giving up anything which is fundamental and which has been guaranteed to him by the Constitution of the United States. It is not best for him to relinquish any of his rights; nor would his doing so be best for the Southern white man.
↗The Future of the American Negro (1899)gutenberg.org All 18 from this book
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Their wordsAny law controlling the ballot that is not absolutely just and fair to both races will work more permanent injury to the whites than to the blacks.
↗The Future of the American Negro (1899)gutenberg.org All 18 from this book
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Their wordsI believe the permanent cure for our present evils will come through a property and educational test for voting that shall apply honestly and fairly to both races.
↗The Future of the American Negro (1899)gutenberg.org All 18 from this book
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Their wordsThe adjustment of the relations of the two races must take place here; and it is taking place slowly, but surely. As the Negro is educated to make homes and to respect himself, the white man will in turn respect him.
↗The Future of the American Negro (1899)gutenberg.org All 18 from this book
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Our readingBlack Americans will stand differently once wealth is commonly associated with a black skin
Their wordsThe Negro will be on a different footing in this country when it becomes common to associate the possession of wealth with a black skin.
↗The Future of the American Negro (1899)gutenberg.org All 18 from this book
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Their wordsI do not believe much in the advice that is often given that we should patronise the enterprises of our race without regard to the worth of those enterprises.
↗The Future of the American Negro (1899)gutenberg.org All 18 from this book