"Hace ya hace mucho tiempo
que decidí que no iba a permitir que ningún hombre, sin importar cual fuera su
color, estrechara o degradara mi alma haciéndome odiarlo."
"It
is now long ago that I resolved that I would permit no man, no matter what his
colour might be, to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him."
Booker Taliaferro
Washington (5 de abril de 1856, 1858 ó 1859 - 14 de noviembre de 1915) Fue un
educador, orador, cohesor y líder de la comunidad negra estadounidense. Fue
liberado de la esclavitud en su infancia, y tras desempeñar varios trabajos de
poca relevancia en Virginia Occidental se procuró una educación en el Instituto
Hampton (Hampton Institute) y en el Seminario Wayland (Wayland Seminary). Con
la recomendación en 1881 del fundador del Instituto Hampton, Samuel C.
"Sam" Armstrong, fue designado como el primer líder del reciente
Instituto Tuskegee (Tuskegee Institute) de Alabama, que, por entonces, era una
universidad de formación del profesorado para negros.
Booker Taliaferro
Washington (April 5, 1856 – November 14, 1915) was an
African-American educator, author, orator, and advisor to Republican
presidents. He was the dominant leader in the African-American community in the
United States from 1890 to 1915. Representative of the last generation of black
American leaders born in slavery, he spoke on behalf of the large majority of
blacks who lived in the South but had lost their ability to vote through
disfranchisement by southern legislatures. Historians note that Washington,
"advised, networked, cut deals, made threats, pressured, punished enemies,
rewarded friends, greased palms, manipulated the media, signed autographs, read
minds with the skill of a master psychologist, strategized, raised money,
always knew where the camera was pointing, traveled with an entourage, waved
the flag with patriotic speeches, and claimed to have no interest in partisan
politics. In other words, he was an
artful politician."
