...Washington successfully claimed national leadership of Southern Blacks by giving voice to their resignation: "The wisest among my race understand that the agitation of questions of social equality is the extremist folly, and that [the] progress . . . that will come to us must be the result of severe and...

...be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress. . . . The wisest among my race understand that the agitation of questions of social equality is the extremest folly."20 Washington's social policy "compromise" was this: blacks would disavow open agitation for...

...approval. In appealing to economic solidarity, the Tuskegeean suggested that divisive issues be set aside. "The wisest among my race understand that the agitation of questions of social equality is the extremist folly and that progress in the enjoyment of all the privileges that will come to us must...

...Negroes. At the Atlanta Cotton Exposition in the fall of 1895 he had clearly spelled out his position: "The wisest among my race understand that the agitation of questions of social equality is the extremist folly and that progress in the enjoyment of all the privileges that will come to us must...

...Northern philanthropists, who have made their gifts a constant stream of blessing and encouragement. The wisest among my race understand that the agitation of questions of social quality is the extremist folly, and that progress in the enjoyment of all the privileges that will...

...Northern philantbropists, who have made their gifts a constant stream of hlessing and encouragement. The wisest among my race understand that the agitation...enjoyment of all the privileges that will come to us must he the result of severe and constant struggle rather than of artificial foreing. No race that has anything...

..."Atlanta Compromise" speech of 1895, in which he charted a moderate course for black Americans — "The wisest among my race understand that the agitation of questions of social equality is the extremes! folly" — Booker T. Washington drew acclaim from white elites nationwide, including those...

...begin, and not at the top. Nor should we permit our grievances to overshadow our opportunities. . . . The wisest among my race understand that the agitation...constant struggle rather than of artificial forcing. . . . The opportunity to earn a dollar in a factory just now is worth infinitely more than the opportunity...

...political and civil rights with no hope of success. He thought it wrong to advocate social equality. 'The wisest among my race understand that the agitation...questions of social equality is the extremest folly," he said, "and that progress in the enjoyment of all the privileges that will come to us must be the...

...hand in all things essential to mutual progress.13 He renounced social equality in the following term: The wisest among my race understand that the agitation of questions of social equality is the extremist folly, and that progress in the enjoyment of all the privileges that will come to us must...