Booker T. Washington "Up from Slavery" pg 665

One of the things that I noticed as I was reading Booker T. Washington’s “Up from Slavery” was the humor he inserted into this story. It began early on when he was talking about not knowing where or when he was born and adding, ‘but at any rate I suspect I must have been born somewhere and at some time’. This put me at ease right away because the last thing I wanted to do was read a stale autobiography that was written in a monotone manner. Thank goodness, as it turns out, this was not that kind of autobiography. The humor was spread throughout each section and was nice to read considering how heavy the content of the story was. The humor sometimes took the bite out of the awful truth of the life he had to endure. This is true for everyone’s life, however. If you can’t find something to smile about when you are going through afflictions, then the afflictions win.

A person can speculate and try to understand what it is like to be in someone else’s shoes, but it is not until they walk in their shoes and can ‘see’ what that person is going through, that they can fully understand that person’s place. Booker T. Washington writes this story in a manner that makes the reader wear his shoes; the reader becomes part of the story. I think that this, along with the humor, was intentional. As I read, I could picture the images that he was writing about. I could imagine the ‘grape-vine telegraph’ that the slaves used to know what was going on around them; I could see all the holes in the walls of the cabins that let in the cold air of winter and the hot air of summer. I could imagine what ‘a dozen or more chestnut burrs, or a hundred small pin-points, in contact with his flesh’, would feel like when putting on a new flax shirt for the first time.

Washington wanted understanding from the one’s that had not walked in the shoes of a slave. He also wanted to remind those that did walk this walk, that though progress was slow, it was still progress. It would take time to acclimate to the freedom that they were given. This is true for everyone in every race. You can’t tell someone to go cook dinner, if they have never cooked before. If you do, then you must suffer the consequences. One of three things will happen; they will either get lucky and dinner will be edible, or dinner will be unrecognizable and no longer in the food category, or your house could get burned down, in which case would suck. So wouldn’t it be better if a person is taught first before they are let loose in the kitchen? I think that this is what Booker T. Washington was getting at, when he wrote this story.

I do not agree with DeBois’ assessment about Washington. I do not believe Washington was trying to keep the black man oppressed, but was trying to get them to understand that they need to have patience and to gain knowledge of what their freedom really meant. He was trying to get them to see that there was no need to envy or hate the white race because that puts them on the same level with whom they are condemning. This way of thinking was what was going to keep the black race where they were; an oppressed race.

Be proud of whom you are and if you don’t like where you come from, then change where you are going. But before you can change, you must gain the knowledge to make the change correctly. If you do not, then you set yourself up for failure. Booker T. Washington’s advise spans through every race and in every time period. Do not envy those that have more than you, for sometimes they are more oppressed than you are. Most importantly, do not cast stones if you live in a glass house. This advice should be held to all men and women of every race. I believe Washington knew this and this is why he said and did the things that he did. For out of adversity, triumphs success.