The Rhetoric of Washington and King.
For the people of African American descent, nearly all aspects of life had been encompassed and affected by Jim Crow’s laws. These are laws that permitted them to discriminated, and Racial slur with synonymous with Negro was permitted to be used against the blacks.
For African Americans, Jim Crow laws victimized and influenced all aspects of American life. The racial slur associated with the negro and the laws used to victimize them. Booker T. Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr are two of the most popular iconic figures who advocated and fought against Jim Crow’s laws. Both figures lived at different times, but both men shared the same dreams of making the situation for black people much better. Washington became famous after his September 1895, when he delivered a speech to the dominantly white audience at the cotton states and white exposition in Atlanta, Georgia, and Martin Luther King, Jr. became very influential with his speech “ I have a dream” and his letter from Birmingham Jail. The two people had different approaches to managing solving racial discrimination; each method had positive and negative properties. There are many similarities between the two icons, bearing in mind the fact that the two lived in different generations.Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had achieved much greater success than Booker T. Washington in his efforts. Washington made his efforts in the labormarket.He tried to improve the financial status of African Americans, but he did not do as much as King to strengthen African Americans financially and socially. The small difference between the Washington Principles was that African Americans had nothing to do in their time to advance socially and politically. You do not need to focus on financial education, andin a general sense recognize their cultural position at the present time and hold on for it to change as they become even more financial stability
The first similarity between Booker’s Speech and King’s letter was the issue of Racial segregation. During Booker’s opening remarks by stating that Africans make up third of the population in the southern part of the United States, “ one-third of the people of the south is of the negro Race” ( Washington, 1895). This opening remarkswere addressing the issue of segregation and meant that whatever happens to the black southerners would have a severe impact on the entire population of the south. King also addresses the issue of Racial segregation at the point when he depicts the shame of “when your first name becomes ‘nigger'” and “your center name becomes ‘kid'” and of the torment felt when dark kids acknowledge society esteems them less due to the shade of their skin. He expounds on being “tormented with inward feelings of dread and external feelings of disdain,” not to pick up compassion toward his “deteriorating feeling of ‘nobodies,'” regardless, to call forward empathy and understanding from his peruser. If people genuinely perceived what it felt like to be deceived, perhaps they wouldn’t support such inclination ( King, 1963)
Secondly, The issue of Equalityequality was also addressed by Washington and King in their Speech and letter, respectively. In his speech, Washington said“It is atthe bottom of life we must begin, and not at the top” (Washington, 1895). Washington was expressing that Blacks had started from the bottom at the beginning of the century, and it was time they also got equal opportunities as their white counterparts. King expresses his disappointment through his letter about the issue of racial equality. He says that the white moderates are the contributors to racial inequality than the Ku Klux Klan. He claims that the white moderates are not genuine as they support the mission to bring equality, but they fail to put in any action. King prefers to be named a radicalized “for the cause of justice” (King, 1963) rather than him just watching helplessly as these injustices continue to persist as the white moderates are doing in the south of America.
Thirdly, both King and Washington spoke about discrimination against black people against voting. King lays it out clearly about the voting discrimination of blacks claiming that the time of waiting patiently for civil rights to be respected is over. He expresses that the time for blacks must openly condemn, resist and criticize the slow pace which the civil right is making “African Americans are still creeping at horse and buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter.” Washington, in his Speech, uses an analogy that expresses a friendship between a white man and a black man, and thus, he wishes from black people to also get the opportunities which white people get like right to vote.
Conclusively, Both Washington’s Speech and King’s letter addressed very fundamental problems that existed in the society, the issue of Racial segregation, rights to vote, and Racial inequality. They shaped the course of Justice and human rights completely. As in the 21st century, laws and rights have ensured the Racial discrimination was a thing of the past. However, some communities continue to discriminate, which has proven to be a challenge.
Works cited.
King Jr, Martin Luther. “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” UC Davis L. Rev. 26 (1963): 835.
Washington, Booker T. Address of Booker T. Washington, Principal of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, Tuskegee, Alabama: Delivered at the Opening of the Cotton States and International Exposition, at Atlanta, Ga., September 18, 1895; with a Letter of Congratulation from the President of the United States. 1895.
“Letter From Birmingham Jail Analysis | Shmoop.” Shmoop.Com, 2020, https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/historical-texts/letter-from-birmingham-jail/analysis#rhetoric.