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Reading Booker T Washington’s Up From Slavery, the question arises whether Washington is an Uncle Tom or a trickster. An Uncle Tom is a black man/women that is trying to win the approval of white men, even if it means betraying his/her own race. While a trickster is a black man/women that is willing to do whatever it takes to gain standing as an African American and overcome oppression except trying to win the approval of the white man, they usually try to make the white man's’ life more difficult.
Looking at Up From Slavery, specifically, the paragraph discussing bathing and the paragraph discussing sleeping in a tent, one can take away the idea that Booker T Washington was, infact, a Uncle Tom. The line about sleeping in the tents makes
it very clear, “The winter that we spent in those tents was an intensely cold one, and we suffered severely -- how much I am sure General Armstrong never knew because we made no complaints”. (p 1769). This shows Washington's desire to appease General Armstrong, a white man. Washington’s appearance as an Uncle Tom also continues when he is discussing bathing. Washington says, “ I sometimes feel that the most valuable lesson I got from the Hampton Institute was in the use and value of the bath. … In all my travels to the South and elsewhere since leaving Hampton I have always in some way sought my daily bath. … I have always tried to teach my people that some provision of bathing should be a part of every house” (pp. 1769-1770). This shows that he may think less of his own people, colored people for not bathing regularly as the white man does. Washington has even picked up the habit of bathing, possibly in an attempt to become more like the white man.
When it all comes down to it, one of the greatest intellectual battles U.S. history was the legendary disagreement between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois. This intellectual debate sparked the interest of the Northerners as well as the racist whites that occupied the south. This debate was simply about how the blacks, who just gained freedom from slavery, should exist in America with the white majority. Even though Washington and DuBois stood on opposite sides of the fence they both agreed on one thing, that it was a time for a change in the treatment of African Americans. I chose his topic to write about because I strongly agree with both of the men’s ideas but there is some things about their views that I don’t agree with. Their ideas and views are the things that will be addressed in this essay.
Booker T. Washington was an African American leader who established an African-American college in 1181. Then in 1895 delivered the Atlanta Compromise Speech to an audience of mainly Southerners, but some Northerners were present. In his speech he made a few points. He said, “No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem.” Washington believed that the African American race needed to learn first that manual labor was just as important as the work of intellects. He thought that until they learned this they were not worthy of becoming intellects themselves. The color line is thus important in teaching them this lesson. He also said, “It is important and right that all privileges of the law be ours, but it is vastly more important that we be prepared for the exercise of these privileges.” His opinion was that one day blacks would deserve to have equal rights with the whites, but right now in 1895 the blacks needed to be...
The book, Up From Slavery, written by Booker Taliaferro Washington, profoundly touched me when I read it. Washington overcame many obstacles throughout his life. He became perhaps the most prominent black leader of his time. Booker T. Washington belived that African Americans could gain equality by improving their economic situation through education rather than by demanding equal rights.
We can see that African Americans were still struggling for equality even after the emancipation and the abolishment of slavery. They still did not get the equal rights and opportunities compared to whites. This had been reflected in the first essay in Du Bois’s book with a title Of Our Spiritual Strivings that indicates blacks were denied the opportunity that were available to the whites even after emancipation. During the days of Jim Crow, people of color received unfair treatment from almost all aspects of their lives. At that time, not all people were brave enough to express and speak up their desire for transformation. Two most influential black leaders that were known to have the courage to speak up their beliefs in social equality were
Literacy plays an important part in helping Douglass achieve his freedom. Learning to read and write enlightened his mind to the injustice of slavery; it kindled in his heart longings for liberty. Douglass’s skills proved instrumental in his attempts of escape and afterwards in his mission as a spokesman against slavery.
Washington grew up in the South. Southern baptism was the dominant religion. People were having the calling to be ministers in every congregation. Having all of this religion around you instills attitudes of guidance from the bible. I feel that Booker T. Washington was heavily influenced by the bible whether he knew it or not. It states in the bible, “turn the other cheek, forgive one another and seek treasures of comfort from heaven, when someone is mean to you be kind to them and coals of fire will burn on their heads.” We have all heard these phrases throughout our life time. Could these ideologies be in stowed in Booker T. Washington’s mind set? Of course, it was. This is why Mr. Washington sees that forgiving the white race and to move on is justified. He’s trying to help his own race by trying to take away the hate and vengeful feelings towards the white race so that his own race is clear to move forward and eventually perhaps become equal. The first step in mental health to move forward is to forgive and forget the past. This was one of the ideologies Washington was trying to promote.
Throughout his essay, Du Bois challenged Booker T. Washington’s policy of racial accommodation and gradualism. In this article Du Bois discusses many issues he believes he sees
In 1881, I founded and became principal of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute. I started this school in an old abandoned church and a shanty. The school's name was later changed to Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University). The school taught specific trades, such as carpentry, farming, and mechanics, and trained teachers. As it expanded, I spent much of his time raising funds. Under Washington's leadership, the institute became famous as a model of industrial education. The Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site, established in 1974, includes Washington's home, student-made college buildings, and the George Washington Carver Museum.
Lewis’s viewpoint is not without it’s truths. The Harlem renaissance was overseen by a number of intellectuals such as Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey, and W.E.B. Dubois. Booker T. Washington‘s, a highly influential speaker of the age, words appealed to both Caucasians and African-Americans. Washington forged an interracial bridge of communication through his unique tactics in the quest for equality. He believed in more subtle ways of gaining equality through hard work, cunning, and humility. He stated, “The wisest among my race understands that the agitation of questions of social equality is the extremist folly, and that progress in the enjoyment of all the privileges that will come to us must be the result of severe and constant struggle rather than of artificial forcing.”(Salley, 15) With this statement, Washington himself denies that this new awakening in equality and arts could be forced,...
This book was about Booker T Washington who was a slave on a plantation in Virginia until he was nine years old. His autobiography offers readers a look into his life as a young child. Simple pleasures, such as eating with a fork, sleeping in a bed, and wearing comfortable clothing, were unavailable to Washington and his family. His brief glimpses into a schoolhouse were all it took to make him long for a chance to study and learn. Readers will enjoy the straightforward and strong voice Washington uses to tell his story. The book document his childhood as a slave and his efforts to get an education, and he directly credits his education with his later success as a man of action in his community and the nation. Washington details his transition from student to teacher, and outlines his own development as an educator and founder of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. He tells the story of Tuskegee's growth, from classes held in a shantytown to a campus with many new buildings. In the final chapters of, it Washington describes his career as a public speaker and civil rights activist. Washington includes the address he gave at the Atlanta Cotton States and International Exposition in 1895, which made him a national figure. He concludes his autobiography with an account of several recognitions he has received for his work, including an honorary degree from Harvard, and two significant visits to Tuskegee, one by President McKinley and another by General Samuel C. Armstrong. During his lifetime, Booker T. Washington was a national leader for the betterment of African Americans in the post-Reconstruction South. He advocated for economic and industrial improvement of Blacks while accommodating Whites on voting rights and social equality.
Harlan, Louis R., and Raymond Smock. Booker T. Washington in perspective essays of Louis R. Harlan. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1988. Print.
Frederick Douglass’ landmark narrative describes the dehumanization of African-American slaves, while simultaneously humanizing them through his moving prose. Douglass shows the dehumanization of slaves through depictions of violence, deindividuation, and the broken justice system. However, Douglass’ pursuit of an education, moving rhetoric, and critique of his own masters demonstrates to the reader that African-Americans are just as intelligent as white people, thus proving their humanity.
Booker T. Washington was the first African American whose likeness appeared on a United States postage stamp. Washington also was thus honored a quarter century after his death. In 1946 he also became the first black with his image on a coin, a 50-cent piece. The Tuskegee Institute, which Washington started at the age of 25, was the where the 10-cent stamps first were available. The educator's monument on its campus shows him lifting a symbolic veil from the head of a freed slave.
Booker T. Washington is a well known Negro leader who fought for what he believed in. Though Washington was born into slavery, he persevered and worked through racial struggles. By learning to cope with discrimination, he led other Negroes to a better life. Booker T. Washington was a pivotal leader in the advancement of the Negro race because he lifted up the Negroes in a slow, steady process; he made work an important part of their lives and education; and he was highly respected by both the Negro and White races.
Booker T. Washington uses a variety of metaphors to convince the white people that the newly freed slaves are the catalysts for their economy and have not changed from before. Washington stresses the importance of the black people to the white peoples as he commands them to “Cast it down among the eight million of Negroes whose habits you know” (450). The whites are looking for new labor to fill the positions opened by the freeing of the slaves, and Washington replies to look no further than the freed slaves. Through “casting it down” where they are, the white people can still gain prosperity through hiring the people they had once enslaved, without going distances to find what they need. With this he proves that the black people are vital to the economy and prosperity for America, enslaved or freed. Furthermore, Washington first sets the scene for the white people about the black people’s situation, making it a dark and dreary scene...