What indication did Theodore Roosevelt give that he supported equality for blacks?

T Roosevelt was a republican president, a party that had warmed up to black interests in the period after the civil war.

He delivered a speech whereby he argued that the debasement of black rights would consequently lead to the debasement of whites rights.

He also invited key black civil rights leader Booker T Washington for a dinner with him in white house, and supported equal pay, voting rights of the blacks.