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Charles S. Whitman
Booker T. Washington is a historical figure who appears briefly when Coalhouse Walker Jr. occupies J. P. Morgan’s private library. Washington is Black American who was born and enslaved in the southern United States prior to the Civil War. Following emancipation, Washington receives college education and becomes the director of the Tuskegee Institute in the 1880s. Washington dedicates his life to the advancement of Black people through education. In the novel, Charles S. Whitman invites Washington to talk to Coalhouse in hopes that the older man will encourage the younger to turn himself in. Washington and Coalhouse agree that Black people face oppression and racism in America, but they disagree about how to address the problem. Washington advocates for Black people proving themselves the equals of white people through education and conformity, while Coalhouse uses violence to get white people to recognize his humanity dignity.
Booker T. Washington Quotes in Ragtime
The Ragtime quotes below are all either spoken by Booker T. Washington or refer to Booker T. Washington . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 37
Quotes
He was against all Negro agitation on questions of political and social equality. He had written a best-selling book about his life, a struggle up from slavery to self-realization, and about his ideas, which called for the Negro’s advancement with the help of his white neighbor. He counseled friendship between the races and spoke of promise for the future. His views had been endorsed by four Presidents and most of the governors of Southern states. Andrew Carnegie had given him money for his school and Harvard had awarded him an honorary degree.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
It is a great honor for me to meet you, sir, [Coalhouse] said. I have always stood in admiration for you. He looked at the marble floor. It is true I am a musician and a man of years. But I would hope this might suggest to you the solemn calculation of my mind. And that therefore, possibly, we might both be servants of our color who insist on the truth of our manhood and the respect it demands. Washington was so stunned by this suggestion that he began to lose consciousness. Coalhouse led him from the hall into the West Rom and sat him down in one of the red plush chairs. Regaining his composure Washington […] gazed at the marble mantle of the fireplace as big as a man. He lanced upward at the polychrome ceiling that had originally come from the palace of Cardinal Gigli in Lucca.
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Booker T. Washington Quotes in Ragtime
The Ragtime quotes below are all either spoken by Booker T. Washington or refer to Booker T. Washington . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 37
Quotes
He was against all Negro agitation on questions of political and social equality. He had written a best-selling book about his life, a struggle up from slavery to self-realization, and about his ideas, which called for the Negro’s advancement with the help of his white neighbor. He counseled friendship between the races and spoke of promise for the future. His views had been endorsed by four Presidents and most of the governors of Southern states. Andrew Carnegie had given him money for his school and Harvard had awarded him an honorary degree.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
It is a great honor for me to meet you, sir, [Coalhouse] said. I have always stood in admiration for you. He looked at the marble floor. It is true I am a musician and a man of years. But I would hope this might suggest to you the solemn calculation of my mind. And that therefore, possibly, we might both be servants of our color who insist on the truth of our manhood and the respect it demands. Washington was so stunned by this suggestion that he began to lose consciousness. Coalhouse led him from the hall into the West Rom and sat him down in one of the red plush chairs. Regaining his composure Washington […] gazed at the marble mantle of the fireplace as big as a man. He lanced upward at the polychrome ceiling that had originally come from the palace of Cardinal Gigli in Lucca.
