Help, I don't get this at all.?

Question

Ok, i feel really dumb. i am trying to do a report on Booker T. Washington and we are supposed to use the internet and books for our information. I was reading on http://northbysouth.kenyon.edu/1998/edu/home/btw.htm and i got to a paragraph i don't get at all could somone help me out? Here it is "Booker T. Washington stands out in American History as a school book black hero. Some have even gone as far as to label Booker T. Washington a token ***** in the company of white heroes. This is because of his acceptance of segregation, his outward humility, and his opposition to black militancy, even more than because of his constructive achievements as an educator and race leader. His critics argue that his methods were too compromising and unheroic to be placed in the forefront as the spokesperson for black progress."

Answer 1

In other words, Booker T. Washington tried to work within the system, and encourged blacks to avoid "rocking the boat" - knowing that by becoming militant, they could actually endanger the advances they had made.

For example, compare Washington to WEB Dubois. Dubois helped found the NAACP, and is best described as a moderate civil rights activist - he worked against segregation (Washington was tolerant of segregation), promoted full educational opportunity for blacks (Washington promoted vocational education over college education), was willing to work with whites (same as Washington).

The key difference was that Washington was from the South, and felt that accomodation was necessary to avoid backsliding to slavery or near-slavery, and DuBois was from the North, and felt that accomodation was essentially accepting a subserviant role.

The long run shows that in their way, both were right: Washington's work helped bring a lot of philanthropic and political clout, and DuBois's work helped capitalize on what Washington achieved.