Booker T. Washington was the first black man to dine with the president in the White House. Theodore Roosevelt had a moment of hesitation when before he invited Washington, the country’s most prominent African-American of the era and founder of the NAACP, because of the color of his skin. As soon as he realized how silly it was to be ashamed of such a trivial detail he sent the invite out before he could change his mind. The dinner caused a scandal among Southern Democrats who still lived their lives segregated from their fellow Americans.
