And in Alabama in '85
A Negro was lucky
To be alive.
But Booker T.
Was nobody's fool:
You may carve a dream
With an humble tool.
The tallest tower
Can tumble down
If it be not rooted
In solid ground.
So, being a far-seeing
Practical man,
He said, Train your head,
Your heart, and your hand.
Your fate is here
Repetition. 
 By reiterating that Booker T. is a “practical” man Hughes is  trying to make the point that  Booker T. is  “realistic and sensible” . Thus, he paints Booker T Washington with a more generous brush and sees him as not a sellout, but rather a clever man planning ahead.
Ballad of Booker T.