I was also painfully conscious of the fact that, while I must be true to my own race in my utterances, I had it in my power to make such an ill-timed address as would result in preventing any similar invitation being extended to a black man again for years to come.
Washington describes the heavy burden of responsibility he felt to represent his race effectively without jeopardizing future opportunities for Black speakers.
Share
More from Booker T. Washington
No one section of our country was wholly responsible for its introduction, and, besides, it was recognized and protected for years by the General Government.
He was simply another unfortunate victim of the institution which the Nation unhappily had engrafted upon it at that time.
As a rule, not only did the members of my race entertain no feelings of bitterness against the whites before and during the war, but there are many instances of Negroes tenderly caring for their former masters and mistresses who for some…