Booker T Washington

After carefully analyzing both activists, I would have to agree by far with Booker T Washington. Washington suffered a lot since he was a child and into adulthood. But I agree with Booker T Washington for many reasons. First of all, he seemed to be a humble person that didn't show any anger towards the whites, especially considering that he was enslaved by them. Booker T Washington proves to be an optimist and he would view any situation in a positive way. He would constantly urge people not to get involved with politics which is ironic because in a way he was involved. However, we can view this as Washington having deep love for his people and at the same time we can conclude that he cared for them, therefore he was willing to fight for their rights. Even though I believe that equal rights towards black people was something important to Washington, I don't believe that this was his main concern. Instead, he wanted to earn these rights by proving his race useful to the whites. He wanted his race to work hard and gain education so that they could be better prepared to face the world, which in turn would eventually earn the respect of whites. In fact, when freedom came, Washington realized that this could very well be possible because the blacks were well prepared in almost everything since they would constantly work for the whites. Another interesting aspect is that Washington believed that his people were ambitious. This would enable them to learn, and ambition would enable them to try harder in life, therefore allowing them to progress in life. I didn't live during Washington's time but I sometimes think that Washington was looking towards the future and knew that it would take some time to soften up the white race. He believed that it was better to be democratic rather than demanding, and this is something else that I believe helped Washington. Little by little he earned the respect of them, and his wish was that eventually by his people’s acts, they would earn the respect that they deserved.