In order to prepare for the Silent Discussion, have students use the internet to individually define the term “respectability politics.” Share out and write a class definition on the board.

Lead a silent discussion to connect this idea to Booker T. Washington and other Black leaders in various struggles for civil rights in history and today. Instruct students to write a paragraph response to a discussion prompt, and then leave their response on their desk. Every student stands and moves to another student’s desk, reads that student’s response, and then writes a comment or a question directly on that student’s paper. Consider giving students clear directions for their replies, such as to agree or disagree with the student, to come up with an additional example, or to link to a primary source they have read. Have students again stand and move to a third student’s desk and write another reply to add their voice to the discussion unfolding on the page in front of them. Then have students return to their desks and read through the responses on their page. Lead a brief verbal debrief of the prompt and then repeat the process with a new question.

Consider the following prompts for the silent discussion:

• The term “respectability politics” was coined by historian Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham to help analyze the ways in which Black women and the Black church both sought to “counter the images of black Americans as lazy, shiftless, stupid, and immoral in popular culture,” from 1880-1920–the height of Washington’s leadership. In what ways do you see respectability politics and this goal of defying stereotypes reflected in Booker T. Washington’s work? What are the benefits and the limitations of this tactic?
• Mwende “FreeQuency” Katwiwa, a leader of the Black Youth Project 100 in New Orleans, commented in 2015 that “there’s a lot of respectability politics in general in the Black community, a lot of poverty shaming, a lot of [other] shaming. It just naturally happens because the Black community has for so long been in a struggle for survival, and for so long had to choose the “best” representative in order to shine for us.” To what extent do you agree that respectability politics is still a tactic used by some Black leaders to argue for equal rights? Explain your response with an example from current events. 
• Do you see the politics of respectability playing out in any other social justice movements either from history or today–and if so, how? Think about the LGBTQ+ rights movement, second and third wave feminism, the disability rights movement, the nonviolent civil rights movement, the Black Power movement, the Asian American movement, arguments over affirmative action, the MeToo movement, etc.
• Critics of both Booker T. Washington’s work and respectability politics in general assert that assimilating into White society should not be the ultimate goal of racial justice organizations. To what extent do you agree? Is there a place for respectability politics, or is this a misguided tactic that fails to address White supremacy as the root issue?