In Booker T. Washington’s Atlanta Compromise Speech he is telling the nation that he wants the men of the south to see that at the bottom where they are starting does not mean that they are less then the white men of the south nevertheless, they have to work their way up to the life they want. He wants them to realize that they do have skills and that they can use to make a life for themselves.
When Booker T. Washington says in his Atlanta Compromise Speech “Cast down your bucket where you are” he is saying that the people of the south need to start where they are and work their way up, instead of looking for a life of luxury to start with. He is saying that starting as a farmhand, a blacksmith assistant, or something of that nature is an excellent place to start because that is where they as a race are. Many of the African Americans learned some kind of labor whether it is skilled or unskilled during their time as slaves and they can now use that skill to start over now that they are free. He was saying that they need to start somewhere and earn money to feed their needs and the needs of their family. If that is not the life they want then they need to save up and work hard to buy themselves a farm, forge or just work there way up at the job they have so that they can earn more. Then they just need to keep adding on to what they have so that they earn the life they want.
Booker T. Washington gives this advice to the blacks of the south so that they can make a better life for themselves. From what he said many of the African Americans are looking to get into a place of power right off the back. He is telling them to look for the way they can earn it because that is the best way for them to get it. This is good advice because it is where everyone that is not born into the life of wealth needs to see. Everyone has to start where they are and always be looking to expand their horizons. Earn before you spend it, as Washington says.
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One of the interesting fact of how Washington depicts southern blacks is how he saw that to get away from the whites looking down on the blacks they needed to be skilled workers. They need to learn a trade and this is the only way for them to be treated better. However, in Booker T. Washington on Citizenship he says that African Americans already have skills that they learned while they were slaves. He also says that as the African Americans started to get more book smart they stopped teaching their young the skills in the industry of labor. Which left a place for immigrants to come in and take their place. Washington said this is because they did not see those jobs as dignified. His opinion was that they should continue to learn while still earning the living they need.
Washington is doing the blacks a favor in telling them that working hard and not relying on others will build themselves up and their race as a whole. He wants his people to look at where they are and see what they need to do to earn the way up. Instead of asking for greatness, earn it. This is all he is saying is that they at this point have nothing but they have the means to and the ability to be more if it is their will. However, if it is not something they are willing to work for then, yes they will be stuck in second-class citizenship.
In summation, Washington wants the men of the south to start where they are and work their way up to the life they want. He wants them to realize that they have skills that they can use to make a life for themselves.
