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Introduction
The term "systemic racism" refers to the way white superiority is reflected in everyday
thought at a system level, rather than focusing on individual interactions. Racism isn't always
blatantly obvious; it can sometimes be hidden inside a larger system. (Winters and Mary-Frances).
There are two types of racism: systemic and structural. These are the kinds of racism that
permeate and imprison people of color, causing harm to their physical and mental well-being.
Many people have been enslaved and abused for arbitrary reasons throughout history, both in the
United States and other countries. These people have been subjected to atrocities on an
unimaginable scale, from societies over the world enslaving one another to the current era of
racial tyranny. The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the United States were critical
turning points in the evolution of this form of abuse. People of color became freer after the war
and the enactment of Amendments 13, 14, and 15 to the Constitution (Hasbrouck and Brandon
200). This generation of African-Americans should draw on the wisdom of pioneers like
Frederick Douglass, WEB DuBois, and Booker T. Washington to chart their course. In order to
gain their independence, oppressed people should pursue education, appreciate their own worth,
and put in the effort necessary to show their oppressors that they are on an equal footing with
themselves.
One of the most important civil rights leaders of all time was Booker T. Washington.
Runaway slave Frederick Douglas campaigned to abolish slavery (Crowder and Ralph 59-81) After
the Civil War, Booker T. Washington was a freed slave who dedicated his life to improving the
lives of African-Americans. In their own ways, both of these titans of American history shaped
the country. While under slavery, Frederick Douglas witnessed and suffered some of the most
heinous acts imaginable. He worked tirelessly to ensure that African-Americans had equal rights.
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Booker T. Washington, who was born a free man after being a slave, is a well-known activist. To
him, educating African-Americans was the most effective means of assisting those people. The
Tuskegee Institute, where he served as president, was founded by him. Despite their differing
upbringings, these two guys aspired to better the world as adults.
Douglas and Washington had a conviction of inequality, but they differed on how to
attain it. born in slavery." Washington believed in hard effort whereas Douglass believed in
agitation. In his self-referential lecture, Douglass delivered a stinging indictment of American
hypocrisy through the deft use of vocabulary. In his speech, he expressed his fervent desire for
freedom and equality for all people. As a free black man and as a slave, Douglass claimed that
July 4th was a mockery in the eyes of both groups (Lande and Jonathan 364-395.) To the
predominantly white abolitionist audience, Douglass's role as a former slave was the antithesis of
the event's intended purpose.
As an African American, Douglass could relate to the struggles of his predecessors
against an oppressive government. A rhetorical tactic was used to remind his audience of what
they were commemorating and how African Americans fought for their freedom (McClish and
Glen 29-44). To understand the gulf that existed between the people of the United States, one only
looks no farther than the writings of Frederick Douglass. This man remarked that for African-
Americans, July 4th was a day of grief, whereas it was a day of unbridled celebration for white
Americans.
There are many various reasons why blacks have the same right to be free as any other
human being, according to Frederick Douglass. It is ethically reprehensible to turn a man into a
brute, and slavery is not a divine institution, he said (Bizzell et al). For equality and reform, he
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advocated. For him and other black people, the Fourth of July served as a sickening reminder of
the continuous inhumanity America was trying to hide behind its ridicule.
By drawing a contrast between the ideals of white Americans visiting the Chapter with
the daily realities of Black Americans, Douglass set the tone. It would have been good, according
to Douglass, if the magnificent display of wealth and power on display in the Speech also
showed how far the United States' moral advancement had advanced alongside its economic
progress and material civilization. It would be a brazen disrespect of the truth, however, to
suggest that this beautiful American environment was not tainted by the sin of American slavery,
which was perpetrated by institutionalized race hatred (Thuram and Lilian). So, as he had done
before, Douglass pointed out the hypocrisy of white America's self-celebration of individuality
and liberty that was obtained via the brutality and exclusion of Black Americans. While
Douglass protested and attacked the political system, Washington never raised the issue of social
justice or equality. Washington's stance on racial disparity is widely criticized.
Washington concentrated on what blacks might accomplish and how they could
compromise. He was of the opinion that the militant rhetoric of Frederick Douglass and others
had diverted the attention of blacks away from the pursuit of economic and political freedom.
(Flowers and Sandra). Both blacks and whites were responsible for making the blacks more valued
participants in industrial expansion, according to Washington. However, Washington believes
that the employment of African-American labor in the pursuit of equality is beneficial because he
believes that African-American men are entitled to the same liberties as truly free men and that
laboring is an activity below the dignity of those truly free.
The industrial revolution and the impending rise of capitalism were causing concern in
black society, and Washington emphasized only economic and political tolerance while also
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acknowledging that the supply of labor was not exempt from the laws of supply and demand and
that immigration was not in the interests of African Americans. Washington stressed that African
Americans should not worry about their status in society, but rather should seek to be
economically self-sufficient. He believes that the rights that are afforded to blacks should only be
enjoyed after a long and arduous struggle, rather than by a slap in the face. In contrast to
Frederick Douglass, he exhorts African-Americans to abandon their quest for equal rights in
favor of economic success, regardless of the everyday injustice they face (Fox Jr and James).
Douglass' call for racial and political equality was a stark contrast to Washington's acceptance of
segregation.
In his speech, Washington emphasized compromise rather than outright opposition to the
segregationist system that African Americans were forced to live in. He eschewed agitation and
protest and pushed African-Americans to put aside their aspirations for political and equal rights
in favor of learning to work and become more productive in the workplace (Shah et al. 134-146.).
Once whites realized that black people could contribute to the global marketplace and be
comfortable with making a livelihood via their labor, Washington anticipated that the barriers of
racial inequity and social injustice would begin to fall away. Washington had a reputation for
being a racial accommodative leader. Rather than pursuing political and social equality with
whites, he chose to focus on honing his occupational abilities and establishing a reputation for
stability and dependability in the workplace. African-Americans were exhorted by Washington
to stay in the Jim Crow South and accept racial discrimination rather than making what he
regarded as intemperate appeals for equality (Verney and Kevern). Tuskegee helped Washington
build a political machine supported by a coalition of northern financiers, members of the white
Southern elite, and conservatives who were drawn to his accommodationist rhetoric and ardent
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espousal of the principle of self-help. Some African American intellectuals, on the other hand,
were vehemently opposed to Washington's view on racial equality. A lack of political authority
meant that economic gains may be short-lived and vulnerable, while a lack of liberal arts training
meant that African American leaders could not be well-trained. Civil rights are more important
now than ever, and blacks must fight for them rather than accept racial injustice.
In conclusion, Washington feels that once free, many men will be ill-prepared to deal
with this newly gained position, and this idea is quite opposite to Douglass who was fighting for
the freedom and equality of the Black man. Washington's efforts to educate the freed black man
relied heavily on giving blacks a chance to achieve respect and a measure of accomplishment by
working with their hands. In spite of their shared conviction that slavery was wrong and must be
abolished, the two men's approaches to doing so are diametrically opposed. "Agitation of
concerns of social equality is the extremist stupidity," stated Washington, contradicting his
concealed support for legal challenges to discrimination. " Even with his remarkable access to
presidents and other important whites in the country, Washington's refusal to speak out publicly
against lynching and other acts of violence against blacks at the time had a detrimental influence
that can't be calculated.
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References
Bizzell, Patricia, and Lisa Zimmerelli, eds. "Nineteenth-century American Activist Rhetorics."
Modern Language Association, 2020.
https://www.mla.org/Publications/Bookstore/Nonseries/Nineteenth-Century-American-
Activist-Rhetorics
Crowder, Ralph L. "Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, and John Edward Bruce: The
Relationship of a Militant Blackjournalist with the" Father of Civil Rights," and the"
Wizard of Tuskegee."."@Afro-Americans in New York Life and History 41.2 (2020): 59-81.
https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE
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Flowers, Sandra Hollin.@African American Nationalist Literature of the 1960s: Pens of Fire. Routledge,
2019. https://www.amazon.com/African-American-Nationalist-Literature-1960s-ebook/dp/
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Fox Jr, James W. "The Constitution of Black Abolitionism: Reframing the Second Founding."@U.
Pa. J. Const. L. 23 (2021): 267. https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/jcl/vol23/iss2/2/
Hasbrouck, Brandon. "Abolishing Racist Policing with the Thirteenth Amendment."@UCLA L. Rev.
Discourse 68 (2020): 200. https://www.uclalawreview.org/abolishing-racist-policing-with-
the-thirteenth-amendment/
Lande, Jonathan. "“Lighting Up the Path of Liberty and Justice”: Black Abolitionist Fourth of
July Celebrations and the Promise of America from the Fugitive Slave Act to the Civil
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War."@The Journal of African American History 105.3 (2020): 364-395.
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/709135
McClish, Glen. "“Gems of Negro Eloquence”: Memorializing the African American Rhetoric of
the 1895 South Carolina Constitutional Convention."@New North Star 3 (2021): 29-44.
McClish, Glen. "“Gems of Negro Eloquence”: Memorializing the African American Rhetoric of the
1895 South Carolina Constitutional Convention." New North Star 3 (2021): 29-44.
Shah, Paru, and Robert S. Smith. "Legacies of Segregation and Disenfranchisement: The Road
from Plessy to Frank and Voter ID Laws in the United States."@RSF: The Russell Sage
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Thuram, Lilian.@White Thinking: Behind the Mask of Racial Identity. Legend Press Ltd, 2021.
Winters, Mary-Frances.@Black fatigue: How racism erodes the mind, body, and spirit. Berrett-Koehler
Publishers, 2020. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/647356/black-fatigue-by-
mary-frances-winters/
Verney, Kevern. "The Great Depression and the Second World War, 1930–1945."7The Debate on Black
Civil Rights in America. Manchester University Press, 2020. 61-86.
