Atlanta Compromise

The Atlanta Compromise was an informal agreement, between the black people of the cotton-producing states of the United States, and the government of these states. It came after a speech by Booker T. Washington, given in 1895. The compromise is the following: The black people would tolerate means of racial segregation, most notably the Jim Crow laws. In exchange the white government of these states would allow them to get some basic education for free; this education was focused on technical jobs or basic training in jobs the industry needed. This would also improve the living conditions of the black people. Black people would no longer focus on fighting for equality, integration into society or justice. White people would finance educational institutions for black people, such as Tuskegee University. Even though people agreed on these points, their agreement was never written down.

Shortly afterwards, around 1900, African-American leaders, such as W. E. B. Du Bois and William Monroe Trotter, said that black people should instead focus on the struggle for civil rights. It was Du Bois who coined the term to Atlanta Compromise to refer to the speech by Booker T. Washington.

Category:19th century in the United States
Category:African-American history