James Lee Dickey: An Analysis of One African-American's Leadership in Jim Crow Texas

The Power of Education

Basic education was paramount to the success of African American equality. When Southern states granted local control over education, Washington protested this was a way to defund colored schools and sought assistance from other black leaders to protest the trend. Rather than support him, black opposition accused him of being an Uncle Tom by supporting industrial education. Washington stressed that industrial education trained students in “practical and useful skills.” While Southern whites focused on Tuskegee's industrial arts such as brick-making and farming, his students were also introduced to academia. Each student was assigned a curriculum that suited his talents and the best students were assigned an academic curriculum. One Tuskegee alumni, Alfred B. Xuma proceeded to medical school, practiced medicine and became the president of the African National Congress.
 

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