"Radicals and Conservatives" by Kelly Miller, an excerpt

"The radical and conservative tendencies of the Negro cannot be better described than by comparing, or rather contrasting, the two superlative colored men in whom we find their highest embodiment -- Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington, who were both picked out and exploited by white men as the mouthpiece and intermediaries of the black race. The two men are in part products of their times, but are also natural antipodes. Douglass lived in the day of moral giants; Washington lives in the era of merchant princes. The contemporaries of Douglass emphasized the rights of man; those of Washington his productive capacity. The age of Douglass acknowledged the sanction of the Golden Rule; that of Washington worships the Rule of Gold. The equality of man was constantly dinned into Douglass' ears; Washington hears nothing but the inferiority of the Negro and the dominance of the Saxon. Douglass could have hardly received a hearing today; Washington...

would have been hooted off the stage a generation ago. Thus all truly useful men must be, in a measure, time-servers; for unless they serve their time, they can scarcely serve at all. But great as was the diversity of formative influences that shaped these two great lives, there is no less opposability in their innate bias of character. Douglass was like a lion, bold and fearless; Washington is lamb-like, meek and submissive. Douglass escaped from personal bondage, which his soul abhorred; but for Lincoln's proclamation, Washington would probably have arisen to esteem and favor in the eyes of his master as a good and faithful servant. Douglass insisted upon his rights; Washington insists upon duty. Douglas held up to the public scorn the sins of the white man; Washington portrays the faults of his own race. Douglass spoke of what he thought the world should hear; Washington speaks only what he feels it is disposed to listen to. Douglass's conduct was actuated by principle; Washington's by prudence. Douglass had no limited, copyrighted programme for his race, but appealed to the Decalogue, the Golden Rule, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States; Washington, holding these great principles in the shadowy background, presents a practical expedient applicable to present needs. Douglass was a moralist, insisting upon righteousness to public affairs; Washington is a practical opportunist, accepting the best terms he think it possible to secure."

Kelly Miller, "Radicals and Conservatives," in Race Adjustment: essays on the Negro in America, pp. 19-20 (1909)