Booker T. Washington: “Shall we prepare ourselves to do something as well as anybody else or better?”

I have long since ceased to cherish any spirit of bitterness against the Southern white people on account of the enslavement of my race.

When they saw that I was not afraid or ashamed to work, they began to assist with more enthusiasm.

When persons ask me in these days how, in the midst of what sometimes seem hopelessly discouraging conditions, I can have such faith in the future of my race in this country, I remind them of the wilderness through which and out of which…

From any point of view, I had rather be what I am, a member of the Negro race, than be able to claim membership with the most favoured of any other race.