The Writings of Booker T. Washington

Readings:

• Up from Slavery, 1–6 (pp. 1–58)

Discussion Questions:

1. In the first chapter of Up From Slavery, Washington makes clear that the enslaved people longed for freedom. The denial of freedom over the course of so many generations might easily lead to bitterness toward those who enslaved others, and toward the white race altogether. Yet, Washington insists that, in the main, former slaves did not feel bitterness. How does he explain this phenomenon?
2. Instead of feeling bitterness, Washington speaks of feeling “pity” for the former masters. As we will see, pity plays a prominent role in Washington’s thought. What accounts for this feeling of pity?
3. What does Washington mean by “the school of slavery”? What were the lessons delivered by that school?
4. At the end of Ch. 2, Washington argues that what seems like disadvantage can, in fact, be an advantage. How so? How can the unfairness of life be an opportunity? Does Washington’s approach depend on the existence of a “great human law” that favors merit (p. 26)?
5. According to Washington’s account of his education in Ch. 3, what he learned from Mrs. Ruffner was “as valuable” as any other part of his education. What did he learn from her and why was that so important? What does this incident suggest about the relationship between moral virtue and intellectual virtue?
6. Drawing upon other moments in Chs. 3–6, discuss Washington’s understanding of character-building. Possibilities include: his Hampton entrance exam with Mrs. Mackie; General Armstrong; self-respect and hygiene; Yankee teachers; service to others; the dignity of labor; mistaken approaches to education (see especially Ch. 5).

Readings:

• Up from Slavery, 7–12 (pp. 59–101)
• “The Educational Outlook in the South” (1884)
• “Democracy and Education” (1896)

Discussion Questions:

1. Washington places great importance on “facts.” Based on this week’s readings, summarize the material and moral situation that confronts Washington when he begins work at Tuskegee (such things as the “real, everyday life of the people” and the state of race relations).
2. Washington’s system is sometimes called “industrial education.” He himself more often speaks of the education of the “head, hand, and heart.” Explain the main elements of Washington’s approach to education. What contribution does the element of the “hand” make?
3. Would you consider the education of the “head, hand, and heart” to be a type of liberal education or not?
4. The speech “Democracy and Education” offers Washington’s fullest treatment of the connection between education and citizenship. Washington flat out calls American education “a failure.” In what sense has it failed and what path is open to African Americans to remediate that failure?
5. Toward the end of “Democracy and Education,” Washington makes the striking claim that blacks are merely inconvenienced by the injustices they suffer (and remember this was a time not only of segregation and discrimination, but of lynching), whereas the whites who perpetrate those injustices are permanently injured. Explain what he means. What understanding of freedom and the soul is implied by such a statement?

Readings:

• Up from Slavery, 13–17 (pp. 102–160)
• “Atlanta Exposition Address” (1895)
• “On Making Our Race Life Count in the Life of the Nation” (1906)

Discussion Questions:

1. In the “Atlanta Exposition Address,” Washington famously said, “In all things that are purely social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress.” Analyze this metaphor. In what sense are fingers “separate”? What is the unity of the hand? Washington’s audience was composed of distinct elements (Southern whites, African Americans, Northern whites); how might each of them have understood this metaphor?
2. In Ch. 13 of Up From Slavery, Washington said that his object in the Atlanta speech was “getting a hearing from the dominant class of the South.” Why was this his aim? How did this aim influence his rhetoric?
3. Why is Washington prepared to lessen immediate political demands and concentrate instead on educational and economic advancement? What understanding of human nature informs Washington’s policy of gradualism?
4. In the essay, “On Making Our Race Life Count in the Life of the Nation,” Washington indicates that African Americans have a high destiny in America and a particular contribution to make to the life of the nation. Yet, much of his focus is on the uplift of the individual. How does Washington understand the relationship between the individual and the group (both racial and national)?

Readings:

• “Early Problems of Freedom” (1907)
• “The Intellectuals and the Boston Mob” (1911)
• “Letter to J.R. Barlow” (1911)
• “Is the Negro having a Fair Chance?” (1912)
• “My View of Segregation Laws” (1915)

Discussion Questions:

1. Washington had great admiration for Frederick Douglass. In the biography that he wrote of Douglass, Washington explains the situation after the war and the reasons that led Douglass to advocate adoption of the 15th Amendment. In retrospect, Washington believes that the push for the franchise was premature. Explain Washington’s critique based on both “Early Problems of Freedom” and the stance he takes on protest politics in “The Intellectuals and the Boston Mob.”
2. In “The Intellectuals and the Boston Mob,” Washington has harsh words for those who “make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. . . . Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs.” According to Washington, why is the politics of protest misguided? What does it get wrong about human psychology and the constituents of progress? Washington considers his approach to be a “constructive, progressive program.” How so?
3. In the final two selections, Washington discusses segregation, convict labor, lynching, and other types of racial injustice. Do you sense a change in his rhetoric and approach or not?