Booker T. Washington Journal

Jessica Granse

January 13, 2009

“’Cast down your bucket where you are’— cast it down in making friends in every manly way of the people of all races by whom we are surrounded,” (681).

Much like Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream”, this quote from Booker T. Washington’s Atlanta Exposition Address was the most famous line of his speech, more specifically the line saying “Cast down your bucket where you are”. You could consider it his catch phrase.

Booker T. Washington was one of the fathers of the progress for the African American race. His Atlanta Exposition Address was his most famous speech with the line “Cast down your bucket where you are”. There can be endless discussions about this one line. He said it in order to encourage his race and give them hope that they can contribute to the progress. Although this line was no doubt meant for this purpose, there still seems to be a little interpretation to do for it. One meaning you could get from it would be that you need to get started where you are. You can’t wait for someone’s help and you can’t wait for the time to be perfect. You must “cast your bucket”, or start your efforts, where you are. In this case, the people must start their new free lives and they must make the changes right there in the South. If they don’t it will never make them fully free. Another variation of the meaning for this line would be that one explained on The Booker T. Washington Inspiration Network’s blogspot, “Dr. Washington uses a true story, here, as an analogy of a truth he understood regarding how one may miss the life saving nourishment or answer when it is right in front of them.” They mean that you need to open your eyes to what’s right in front of you. The opportunity for change is right in front of them. The slave’s have been freed. What Washington believed was that in time the African Americans would eventually acquire all the same privileges that are already granted to the white people, but they need to take it slowly and not try to fight hard for all of it at once. Instead, they needed to open their eyes to and be happy for the freedom that’s right in front of them, rather than complaining right off the bat about the freedom’s they have yet to have gotten. In the analogy, it’s just like the seamen’s need to open their eyes to the fresh water right in front of them. This could also simply mean you need to stop worrying about changing your situation and you should be happy to enjoy the one you’re in. They need to enjoy their freedoms and work slowly at the rest rather than trying to acquire them all at once. Although there are these few variations at the line, it is still obvious of what Washington is basically trying to get at. He’s trying to make sure that all the African Americans are happy with their new freedoms and that they realize that all the freedoms don’t come at once, but they need to acquire what’s important first. Then worry about getting full equality after the more important rights are granted.