Ralph Ellison fancies himself a Booker T. Washington, in potential, but he becomes despised in the same sort of way as Booker T., who use to ride first class railroad cars and hotels, promote the idea of segregation for the good of African-Americans but does not practice what he preaches.
             "For decades, Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) was the major African-American spokesman in the eyes of white America. Born a slave in Virginia, Washington was educated at Hampton Institute, Norfolk, Virginia. He began to work at the Tuskegee Institute in 1881 and built it into a center of learning and industrial and agricultural training.
             A handsome man and a forceful speaker, Washington was skilled at politics. Powerful and influential in both the black and white communities, Washington was a confidential advisor to presidents. For years, presidential political appointments of African-Americans were cleared through him. He was funded by Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, dined at the White House with Theodore Roosevelt and family, and was the guest of the Queen of England at Windsor Castle.
             Although Washington was an accommodator, he spoke out against lynchings and worked to make "separate" facilities more "equal." Although he advised African-Americans to abide by segregation codes, he often traveled in private railroad cars and stayed in good hotels."
             This also could be what the character's grandfather was talking about if all black men through "servitude" would make themselves powerful players and eventually insert some amount of control in the situation. Nevertheless the solidarity is what is presently invisible and his "exemplary" attitude is only drawing resentment and not support from the men with him in the service elevator.
             "There was nothing to do but we were told."
             The irony of this story is in the main character's purpose and the contradictory measures he took to try...