Atlanta Compromise

[citation needed] In the speech, also known as the Atlanta Exposition Speech, Washington promoted vocational education, industrial occupations, and the learning of other practical trades that would give African Americans opportunities for economic advancement and wealth creation rather than other more intellectual pursuits such as higher education.

[8][9] Booker T. Washington urged blacks to "cast down your bucket where you are" - emphasizing his view that they should stay in the South and try to make the most of their situation.

Essential elements of the compromise articulated in Washington's speech were that—at least for the present—blacks would not ask for the right to vote, they would not retaliate against racist behavior, they would tolerate segregation and discrimination, and they should receive free basic education, particularly vocational or industrial training (for instance as teachers or nurses).

Du Bois coined the term "Atlanta Compromise" to denote Booker's earlier proposal.

William Archer noted that race relations in the United States became more hostile in the decade following the Atlanta compromise, possibly because acceptance of blacks in the South required that each "knew his place",[10] which was undermined by Washington's program of seeking education and uplift without first seeking acknowledgment of equality.