Booker T. Washington Lit. Response

At the Atlanta Exposition, Booker T. Washington delivered a great speech that became the talk of the South. He addressed his speech to white southerners and to the President as well. Washington wrote this speech to “cement the friendship of the two races.” He wanted the whites to accept black people and treat them like one of their own. Racial unity was very important to Washington and that’s what he tried to get his audience to realize. He connected to them by pathos. He left it in the hands of the south whether this country would be racially unified or separated by color-blindness.
In this speech, Washington starts by addressing his audience immediately, and telling his purpose for giving the speech. This informs the audience on what they’re about to listen to and keeps the audience’s attention. Washington’s speech is very understandable. He explains his theory through a story, which is also another way for the audience to connect to him as a speaker. Washington makes this speech somewhat personal. He talks to the white southerners and blacks directly and tells them his views and what he thinks they should do. He tells the white southerners to give his people a chance to make something of themselves other than just being work hands. He tells blacks to not let the slavery crisis get them down. They can still to make something of themselves. Slavery shouldn’t be an excuse for blacks.
The way Washington delivered his speech grabbed the attention of many people. He related to them by emotion in which they were able to relate. People appreciated his speech, and he was congratulated for it the next day. He even said “…to an extent which embarrassed me so much that I went back to my boarding place.” This speech also helped him gain his audience through ethos. His character attracted people because he was an educated African-American who delivered an exceptional speech. People wanted to hear more of what he had to say and his opinions due to the knowledge he had on certain subjects.
Booker T. Washington was an inspiration to many people in the United States, especially the South. He tried to bring the country together with his powerful speech. He was a great speaker and appealed to everyone, including the President. President Grover Cleveland wrote a letter to Washington addressing his speech. Booker T. Washington is known as a powerful African-American Speaker.

The Souls of Black Folk Chapter 7 Lit response

Life for blacks in the United States was still rough even after the Civil War. Once slaves got their “freedom”, they had to try to make it with many factors going against them. Discrimination was a huge factor that held back many blacks from live the normal, American life. In chapter 7, W.E.B. Du Bois talks about many situations and experiences he has witnessed with black people, mainly in the South.

Du Bois main focus is the treatment of black people in the South. He calls it the Black Belt which is the deep southern states, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, etc. White people were very racist there and it was hard for them to accept blacks in the society. As hard as blacks worked, they were still pushed back steps as soon as they took one. Du Bois talks about a twenty-two year old black man who had recently got married and got a home for him and his wife. They rented the home, however the cotton industry was falling so they had no way to pay for their home. Their house was seized and they were left with nothing. This is a good example on how black people back then tried to make it, but they had little to depend. The plantations ended up being a part of their lives even if they were free or not.

For the South, cotton was everything. Cotton made their economy, and whites needed the help of slaves to keep their plantations running. Without slaves, they would be losing out on money. “…the merchants are in debt to the wholesalers, the planters are in debt to the merchants, the tenants owe the planters, and laborers bow and bend beneath the burden of it all” (Du Bois, 154). Either way, blacks were never really able to leave the plantations. They were never able to really get a life outside the plantation because the whites needed them and blacks needed the low wages they got paid so they can try to make it on their own.

The way blacks got treated in the south was unfair and wrong. They were never able to really have a stable life and be able to raise a family like it’s supposed to be done. Blacks got paid little for their labor and were beat in return. In chapter 7, Du Bois points out several experiences to get his readers to feel and see what slaves had to go through back then.

The Souls of Black Folk (chap 3-4) Lit.

In W.E.B. Du Bois’ book, The Souls of Black Folk, he discusses African American’s role in the United States and how they are viewed by society. The thoughts of this book takes place after the civil war, when slaves were free and now have a way of life. Blacks fought for their freedom in the Civil War, whether they were soldiers or help with war supplies and ammunition. Also, he talks about the thoughts of Booker T. Washington and his take on the African American lives. Washington believes black people should give up three things: political power, insistence on civil rights, and a higher education of Negro youth.

I somewhat agree with Washington’s theory. Though I don’t believe in the way it was said. Blacks never gave up and they fought for what they believed in. When Du Bois says Washington distinctively asks black people to “give up”, it gives black people no hope for these things. Yet, later in the paragraph it says that even though we gave up those things, we still gained in return. We gained “the disfranchisement of the Negro, the legal creation of a distinct status of civil inferiority for the Negro, and the steady withdrawal of aid from institutions for the higher training of the Negro.

Though African Americans males were able to vote their vote was less effective than a white males vote. Washington maybe was trying to make a point saying that African Americans won the right to vote, but it really doesn’t count as anything. He might not have wanted Blacks to get worked up and think they won the fool privilege when they really didn’t.

After the civil war, blacks were actually counted as a whole citizen, not just three-fifths of a person. Washington says that Blacks have won a status of civil weakness. Whites treated blacks like garbage and even after the civil war, they were treated the same. The Civil war never really won them any citizenship. Blacks were still viewed as weak in the American Society.

Africans Americans were looking for a way of education and it was hard for them to find it. It has actually always been hard for Blacks to get an education. No white man wanted to see a black person smarter than them. They made it hard for them to seek and education. Some African Americans won an education through the civil war but it wasn’t for all. There were not many schools that would accept blacks.

W.E.B. Du Bois incorporated some of Booker T. Washington’s thoughts into his book which really gave different points of views. Washington makes good points. I never looked at it that way. He tries to protect his fellow Americans by not letting them get their hopes up on something that may take a while to achieve.