"Up From Slavery"

Charles So

English 48B

Jan. 10 2011

Journal for Washington

Author Quote:

"Every persecuted individual  and race should get much consolation out of the great human law, which is universal and eternal, that merit, no matter under what skin found, is, in the long run, recognized and rewarded." (679-680)

Internet Quote:

"Though Washington offered little that was innovative in industrial education, which both northern philanthropic foundations and southern leaders were already promoting, he became its chief black exemplar and spokesman. In his advocacy of Tuskegee Institute and its educational method, Washington revealed the political adroitness and accommodationist philosophy that were to characterize his career in the wider arena of race leadership. He convinced southern white employers and governors that Tuskegee offered an education that would keep blacks "down on the farm" and in the trades." (ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SOUTHERN CULTURE edited by Charles Reagan Wilson and William Ferris)

Summary:

 An autobiography, Booker T. Washington brings the reader into his past and history. In his youth, just as Frederick Douglass, Washington finds himself endeavoring to achieve knowledge and to fulfill his goals. Washington explains the folly of slavery on both the white boys and slaves themselves, he also writes about how the best interests of black people in the post civil war, would be through education in the crafts and industrial skills and the cultivation of the virtues of patience, enterprise, and thrift. He urged his fellow blacks to cultivate their industrial and farming skills so as to attain economic security. Through his passive outlook he believes that through hard work and grit, equality will come eventually.

Personal Opinion:

Washington's outlook for me required Blacks to work harder and still wait, and not confront segregation and discrimination as it rised. His idea that eventual acquisition of wealth and culture through hard work would gradually win the respect and acceptance of the white community and in turn break down the divisions between the two races and lead to equal citizenship for blacks in the end is realistic, but it seems very grueling and unfair for the Blacks. Washington in many ways is looking forward for black people, but he isn't trying to resolve the issues of equality, for he is more on the morality and drive of the black people. He wants to invigorate newly freed slaves with a sense of responsibility and strong will that will overcome all shadows of hate that may come there way. In Washington's writing there is still a sense of cautiousness in freedom as he preaches to the blacks to still keep working hard and become better people, as he his apprehensive about freedom and equaltiy for black people.