Booker T. Washington

DESCRIPTION: "Old Booker T. Washington, the big Black man, To the White House went one day. He wanted to see the President in a quiet sort of way." "Teddy" invites him in. "And you can't blame Booker for making those goo-goo eyes." The singer insults both
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Browne-AlabamaFolkLyric)
KEYWORDS: political Black(s)
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Browne-AlabamaFolkLyric 135, "Booker T. Washington" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11342
NOTES [126 words]: According to Louis Auchincloss, Theodore Roosevelt [a volume in the American Presidents series edited by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.], Times Books, 2001, p. 63, "Early in his first term TR [Theodore Roosevelt] had invited Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House, which had aroused a howl of protest in newspapers throughout the South. Roosevelt's response was: 'As things have turned out I am very glad that I asked him, for the clamor aroused by the act makes me feel as if the act was necessary.... I do not intend to offend the prejudices of anyone else, but neither do I allow their prejudices to make me false to my principles.'
"But in private he admitted that the invitation had been a political mistake, which he did not repeat...." - RBW
Last updated in version 4.3
File: Brne135

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