The contributions of Booker T. Washington to the emancipation of Black people in America.

Booker Taliaferro Washington was born in April 5^th 1856 in the slavery family in Franklin country Virginia. He was Africa America author, educator, orator and advisor of president in America. In 1872 when he was at the age of sixteen, he enrolled at the Hampton normal and agriculture institute founded by a farmer union general F, Griff: This Morgan who paid Washington tuition. 1878 Washington graduated then be come on instructor there a year later while also supervising a group of Native Americans who were attending as an experiment. Then in 1881 he was chosen to organize and continent an academic, agricultural and industrial school for Africans Americans of Tuskegee in Alabama where he saves as a principle until his death in 1915.

Moreover emancipation of black people refers to act or process by which the black people or Negros in America for purpose of liberating themselves from the white authorities in different aspects such as socially, politically, economically. Washington was among the pioneer of black emancipation in aware followed by others like Willium Dubois, Martine Luther King Jr. Marcus Gurvey and others.

To Washington emancipation of black people should base on economic liberation and education to black American as a way to emancipate them, the following are the contributions of Booker T. Washington in the emancipation of black people in America.

He contributed greatly toward the organization and foundation of academic, agricultural and industrial school for Africa Americans at Tuskegee. He serves there as a principle until his death in 1915. Under his direction Tuskegee institute became one of the leading Africa America educational institute. Its programs emphases social skills training as well as agriculture and industrial training them economically as a means to obtain self respect and economic independence. Up to 1915, the year of his death, the institute had 1,500 students which was very high number compared to any African American Institutions in America during that time.

He wrote different books which expressed the position of black Americans and their real life in America. One of the famous publications was “Up from slavery” (1901) in which he expressed black problems; also it will give overly optimist view of black life and race relations in America. Another book was “The souls of black folk” in which he addressed African demands including to be given job and accommodation which he considered as a basic for black liberation. The mentioned book and others which he wrote contributed much to black consciousness by stimulating them to unite their struggle for emancipation also the book acted as catalyst and influential factor for the rise of other black American leaders who came with various new ideas and tactics towards black emancipation. For instance Dubois who was much influenced by “The souls of Black folk”

The addressing of Atlanta compromise speech in 1895 in Atlanta. In this speech he called on white America provide jobs and industrial agricultural education for Negros. In exchange blacks would give up demands for social equality and civil rights. His message to the immediate goals that economic respectability and independence. He suggested that if blacks gained an economic foothold and proved themselves useful to whites, then civil right and social equality should eventually be given to them. He stressed the mutual inter independence of blacks and white in south but said they were to remain socially separate from his speech he said “ In all things that are purely social we can be separate as fingers, yet one as a hand in all things essential to mutual progress”. He insisted that black had to remain independent so to obtain useful education, save their money work hard and purchase property. Therefore by doing such thing is believed that the Negro could ultimately careful citizenship rights. The speech influenced white Americans to respond with enthicisiasin to Washington racial policies, and made him the nation Negro leader and spokes man for the entire Negro community. With strong white support Washington became the outstanding black leader of only in the field of education and philanthropy but in the business and labor realities, political and public affair.

He supported civil right group; Afro-America league and later the national associasion for the advancement of colored people through he was reluctant to make this public information for fear that his white supporters would abandon him. He also used journalist, News paper and various organizations to spread the idea of black emancipation. These civil rights groups, journalist together with newspapers performed a very significant contribution toward emancipation of black people by provide a chance to discuss for their problems and proposed and suggested various techniques to overcome those problems.

He founded and supported different trade and agriculture organizations which aimed at improving black economy and standard of living, for instance in 1900 he helped to organize a national Negro business league as an effort to helping black American to develop their own commercial ventures. He also founded black agriculture scientists George Washington curver worked at Tuskegee from 1896 to 1943, devising new products from peanuts and sweet potatoes. Then it improved their farming techniques, income and living condition.

 He advocated for accomodation between black and whites as the ways to reduce and remove hostility between them. In his Atlanta compromise he said “At the bottom of education, polities even religion. There must be for our race economic independence he believed that the strong the economic you are the more other rights comes. Therefore in accommodation he emphasized for black economic liberation so as to make them satisfied in all their basic needs and thereafter there should followed by political liberation. More about accommodation explained well in his book “up from slavery” In this book gave an ovary optimist view of black life and race relations in America.

Lastly he contributed much when he was adviser to president of America such as Franklin Roosevelt. One of the contribution, he supported court challenge to segregation, Disfranchisements and the Jim Crow discriminatory laws enacted in the post reconstruction southern state in the late 19^th and early 20^th Century.

Generally Booker Taliaferro Washington played a big role and contribution in black emancipation as we have discussed, although through his policies and arguments he was criticized by some black American liberators including Dubois by his non-aggressive towards violence and inequality, supports of legal segregation and loss of voting rights. Dubois claims that social and political power were to be given not the way Booker suggested and to him violence was the best way for black emancipation.

On our own views they all demanded the first class citizenship although the methods, tactics and ideology differ. Thus why economic independence was more favorable to Booker than political and social rights. But in consideration Booker’s ideology was strong enough because economic independence is more necessary to any person who fight for his/her rights thus he believed if people are strong economically other rights will come slow in his strategies “slow but sure” and this is true even in contemporary people who are rich their voices are more likely to be heard.

REFFERENCES

Booker, T.W (1901), Up from slavery: An autobiography, A.L. Burt: New York.

Booker, T. W (1899), the future of American Negro, Project Gutenberg: New York.

Du Bois, W.E.B & Booker T. W (1907), The Negro in the south, Project Gutenberg: New York.

Norrel, R.J (2009), Up from history: The life of Booker T. Washington, Harvard

                                University press: New York.