One way Washington actively pursued Black political rights was by supporting the organized boycotts of segregated streetcars by Black Americans from 1895 to 1906. And he did advocate for political rights for Black Americans, both explicitly and behind the scenes, sometimes with surprising success. He also formed numerous organizations, such as the National Negro Business League, that enabled Black Americans to come together, pool resources, share knowledge and improve their lives. He modeled Black achievement in his own life and wrote several autobiographies to show Americans that Black people were capable of education and achievement-they weren’t naturally inferior. It was Washington’s task, in becoming the “leader of the race” following Frederick Douglass’ death, to demonstrate that the enlightened experts were wrong. It was a time when many “enlightened” Americans, in both the North and South, embraced scientific racism and believed that Black people were racially inferior to whites. Washington moved to Alabama and took over the Tuskegee Institute at the height of Jim Crow. How else could he and the Tuskegee Institute-the Black college he literally helped build, and which he served as president for most of his life-survive in the milieu of Southern racism? Therefore Washington encouraged self-reliance, practical education and coexistence with whites. He wanted Black Americans to have civil rights, but he also wanted them to build schools, get a useful education and create a sustainable community. It is true that Washington had a more moderate approach to Black civil rights than many of his successors in the civil rights movement. The reality couldn’t be further from the truth, as we demonstrate in our forthcoming book, “ Black Liberation Through the Marketplace: Hope, Heartbreak, and the Promise of America.” Washington’s contributions were essential to developing the robust civil society institutions that significantly improved Black life and also provided a foundation for the civil rights movement. But he is often maligned by modern-day historians and activists who view him as an accommodationist to white racism.
Washington is an icon of the civil rights struggle in the United States.
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