“I had the feeling that to get into a schoolhouse and study would be about the same as getting into paradise.” - Booker T. Washington
I’d love to hear a kid of whatever color say that today.
It would be easy to sum up Booker T. Washington’s views as conservative and be done with it. These days the words conservative and liberal are overloaded with meaning; the two views are very polarizing. But that’s the kind of society we live in today. Though there’s some overlap, liberals and conservatives just have different ideas about the way things ought to be.
Tomorrow I’ll participate on a panel at an event celebrating what would have been Washington’s 150th birthday (his birthday is April 5). I have conflicting information about the panel topic, so I’ll probably keep my remarks general. Basically, I will talk about how Washington’s views relate to today’s political climate.
(It’s a shame that this harridan is getting so much press. I’ll bet Booker T. Washington’s birthday and legacy won’t get a fraction of her media coverage.)
Washington, considered the “foremost black educator of the late 19th and early 20th centuries,” was born a slave in 1856, and educated at the Hampton Institute (now Hampton University). He founded the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in 1881, which is still in existence as Tuskegee University. It’s obvious that Washington valued education, something you won’t find in abundance anymore.
Washington is famous for many achievements, but two of the most prominent are his autobiography, Up From Slavery, and a controversial speech dubbed the “Atlanta Compromise.”
In 1895, he spoke at the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia. One of the controversial points stemming from this speech was his “Cast down your bucket where you are” refrain. Washington illustrated the idea with a “ship lost at sea” analogy. Sighting a friendly ship, the lost ship signaled for fresh water. The friendly ship repeated this response: “Cast down your bucket where you are.” The lost ship finally cast down its bucket and discovered that it was floating in fresh water all along.
What did this have to do with the plight of former slaves? From the speech:
Cast it down in agriculture, mechanics, in commerce, in domestic service, and in the professions. And in this connection it is well to bear in mind that whatever other sins the South may be called to bear, when it comes to business, pure and simple, it is in the South that the Negro is given a man’s chance in the commercial world, and in nothing is this Exposition more eloquent than in emphasizing this chance. Our greatest danger is that in the great leap from slavery to freedom we may overlook the fact that the masses of us are to live by the productions of our hands, and fail to keep in mind that we shall prosper in proportion as we learn to dignify and glorify common labour, and put brains and skill into the common occupations of life; shall prosper in proportion as we learn to draw the line between the superficial and the substantial, the ornamental gewgaws of life and the useful. No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem. It is at the bottom of life we must begin, and not at the top. Nor should we permit our grievances to overshadow our opportunities.
Washington encouraged blacks in the audience to achieve economic progress through work (including traditional fields like domestic and agriculture) and urged whites, who were turning to immigrant labor, to hire blacks. SOUND FAMILIAR? There’s a goldmine of blogging topics on this idea alone. 
At the time, some 30 years after Emancipation, it was a big deal for a black man to speak to a mostly white audience in the South. Washington was and still is being judged for his “accomodationist” views about black progress. His chief critic, W.E.B. DuBois, believed the speech was important but came to distain Washington’s views.
DuBois urged blacks to fight for political rights; Washington urged them to focus on vocational training and work to show naysayers they could be industrious and hard-working. Washington believed that “privileges that will come to us must be the result of severe and constant struggle rather than of artificial forcing.”
We’re all too familiar with “artificial forcing,” especially those who had to endure the misguided and ill-conceived policy known as busing. Another treasure trove of blogging topics!
Star Parker will host a book forum tomorrow at the Family Research Council. Star will discuss her latest book, White Ghetto : How Middle Class America Reflects Inner City Decay. See you there. 
Related post:
Sources:
- The Two Nations of Black America
- Documenting the American South
- New Georgia Encyclopedia
- National Park Service bio
Addendum: “Coincidentally,” Star Parker’s latest column is on liberal v. conservative values.
Update (4/4): I feel morally superior to people who send e-mail like the one below but who’re afraid to use their names. Whatever people say or think about me, I have the integrity to sign my name and stand behind everything I write on this blog. Ad hominem-laced e-mail is bad enough. When the man sending it is too scared to be a man and stand behind his words, well, that’s just unmasculine, which is a bad thing. If you’re a man. How do I know it’s really a man? Call it a gut feeling.
An excerpt from “Joe”:
You are a racist and a race baiter. You stand for white racism and your color makes you popular. I will forever point out racist trash like you and Booker T. Washington would be the first to call you a racist nigger
if he were alive today. The White man will pay for what he did to my people because I will forever bring up race and make him feel guilty for his sins or the sins of his fathers. [The old keeping whitey on the hook routine.]
…
Your base is white and racist and they support your lies and hate. You may as well wear a Klan mask and join other hate groups. White folks need black like you and you let them use you to spread hate and lies about blacks. Black people will never change and if I had a choice of being a convict in a jail house I would rather do that then be the white man’s nigger like you are.
Rarely do I read or hear a well-reasoned critique of my viewpoint, and such e-mail from black haters is typical. This anonymous person could have given a few examples of these “lies and hate” he drones on about. The archives go back to November 2003, for crying out loud. Oh, well. It’s easier to get into a stink than to think. This e-mail has given me something else to talk about today: the idea that I’m a self-hater and a tool for the white man, when people like this unmanly “fan” can’t see how ineffectual they are by refusing to deal with the substance of an argument and attack me instead.
Accountability requires courage, people.
LaShawn:
I think that appearing on this panel is a worthy thing to do, regardless of whether people espouse their political views or not. Booker T. had valuable insights that are still valid today, if anyone dares to read his writings and discuss them with others. I just skimmed a couple of his samples from his character building series, and I am going to print them out and share them with my family. The children that are growing up today need to be familar with the values that will help them becaome a more valuable member of society. I think that this is the point that people don’t understand about him. At his school, he was training people to be personally responsible for their own futures. Isn’t that what we all want?
Comment by Robert Tatum — 04.03.06 @ 12:44 pm
I read up from slavery in a college English class and absolutely loved it. I found it very inspirational and consider Washington an American hero.
I would agree with you about his being conservative. My only emphasis would be that the man was incredibly wise and that wisdom was born in his humility. He knew exactly where he was and where he wanted to go. He did what needed to be done and earned his place as a national figure.
He may not have drafted the Constitution or written the Gettysburg Address. Even so, he (and men like him) is part of what it means to refer to the “Founding Fathers.”
I’m going to have to pull that book out again.
Comment by Randy — 04.03.06 @ 2:06 pm
Thanks La Shawn for the reminding us about the REAL contributions to america of Booker T (not just black America but all of America). I had just started re-reading Up From Slavery again on Friday night (you know me, always looking for the “where did we go wrong”
and Booker T has some pretty insightful comments about politics, work and the church which I always love reading).
Comment by Renee — 04.03.06 @ 4:02 pm
But why did the recently freed slaves need to prove that they were industrious and hard working? It seems to me that was the reason why blacks were used as slaves instead of whites and Indians in the first place!
You know, LaShawn, this is why it is so difficult forme to totally embrace conservatism as defined by whites. For the sake of their self esteem, whites, particularly southern ones, needed us to be inferior. What Washington said in that speech went well I’m sure, and I am unaware of any serious attempts by white southerners to hire others to help them rebuild their economy after the Civil War. I have read, however, of attempts to cajol or force the former slaves to continue working the land.
If nothing else, I guess the fact that America is not perfect is a good thing, in a way. It keeps me looking first to the Kingdom of God.
Comment by Delwyn Campbell — 04.03.06 @ 11:11 pm
I’m stopping by the library tomorrow to see if I can find a copy of his book.
Comment by Doug — 04.03.06 @ 11:30 pm
Thanks for the post and the links.
I am sure that I had learned a little about Booker T. Washington in school. Though, I think some of his views would have been out of popular favor in the late 70’s/early 80’s.
So it was with fuzzy memories, that I read the speech and related links (including the related parts of his autobiography). All I can say is WOW. His words are so relevant even today.
I realize that my race limits me in diagnosing problems or prescribing solutions in another. But if kids today (of all races) valued education like he did, and if they tried to earn respect by bettering themselves, that we would all be the better for it.
Thanks again for the reminder. I just wish his birthday made more news than the local loon Miss McKinney.
Comment by Tom — 04.03.06 @ 11:34 pm
By the way, just to add some controversy…
With the current political ignorance in this country, I’m not sure I’d object to a educational test for suffrage.
Of course, I’d want the same test given to the politicians as well. 
Comment by Tom — 04.03.06 @ 11:42 pm
I didnt read Up from Slavery until I was over 50 years old. It ought to be required reading for all Americans.
Comment by Ted Wegener — 04.04.06 @ 12:42 am
I didnt read Up from Slavery until I was over 50 years old. I was cheated. It ought to be required reading for all Americans in school.
Comment by Ted Wegener — 04.04.06 @ 12:43 am
Cast Down Your Bucket
If Washington were alive today, I’m sure his message would not be a very popular one with Black America.
Trackback by Random Thoughts — 04.04.06 @ 2:22 am
Thanks for blogging about Booker T. Washington. The traditional way of describing the views of Washington and Du Bois as being mutually exclusive is similar to the way many people describe conservatives and liberals today. I believe that Washington may be one of the most misunderstood Black thinkers in history. You’ve inspired me to do some blogging about Washington myself. Thanks LaShawn and God bless you.
Comment by Phillipe Copeland — 04.04.06 @ 6:08 am
Delwyn:
Whites and Indians were also slaves, whites moreso in the North, where they served as indentured servants. Some managed to get out of this status, some did not.
Blacks were in the South because it was thought they were better suited to the climate. Blacks needed to show that they could be industrious because it was thought that they needed to be working for “the master” and pushed to work, because it was thought that they were incapable of surviving on their own, and Washington’s method would have proven otherwise.
Comment by Mike — 04.04.06 @ 8:28 am
I second #4’s views.
Were Washington and Dubois christians?
Education is important. I may be an idealist but I’ve always thought if America followed its “Christian” roots and truly worshipped God instead of worshipping wealth and worldy achievement, there would have been no need for a Booker T. Washington or W.E.B. Dubois.
Funny that Washington thought blacks had to prove they could work and be industrious. Centuries of slavery didnt prove this?
This is why I cant label myself either conservative or liberal. I go against my conscience with either label. If they arent talking about needing Christ only and needing to born again first and foremost, I have no interest.
Comment by lukeNC — 04.04.06 @ 8:54 am
Wow, La Shawn! That little composition from “Joe” was quite impressive, in a totally negative sense. The name-calling must make him feel better in some demented way. I’m very glad you don’t let this kind of vicious bile get to you.
The level of mindless hatred coming from the left these days is both astounding and disgusting.
Comment by RedBeard — 04.04.06 @ 9:38 am
I agree with you on BTW’s comments not being true today. At s USC Education department class we saw “Eye on the Prize”. Too bad many (not all) people who perceive themselves as victims, mostly blacks, do not still have this as a goal — Education. Remember the “not acting white” comment from about ten years ago? More recently the comment, “marriage is for whites”. Time for real freedom: An education, a family, and earned acceptance.
Comment by Chief RZ — 04.04.06 @ 9:45 am
“A little less complaint and whining, and a little more dogged work and manly striving, would do us more credit than a thousand civil rights bills.” - W.E.B. DuBois
Actually, by today’s standards, DuBois would be considered quite conservative. Washington was just more to the right than DuBoise and Washington would be considered somewhat extreme today. There is not a mainstream conservative today that would be against any group legitimately fighting for equal rights.
The problem is how DuBois’s and his NAACP’s ideas have been expanded and mishandled since the 60s. Before that time, the NAACP was a viable organization. Now it has become a joke.
Comment by Shade — 04.04.06 @ 9:53 am
#4 and #13
Being a slave didn’t automatically mean you were industrious or hard working (we see that even today). Just as being white doesn;t mean youa re automatically smarter. You must remember, the former slave owners and those against educationg blackas believed blacks (slaves) to be inferior, hence why Booker T said “Prove them WRONG!!!”
Comment by Renee — 04.04.06 @ 10:10 am
One of the reasons that Blacks were made slaves instead of indentured was that the first Blacks were indentured. When their indentures were up they returned to the type of life they had known before they were brought to America. Subsistence farming, a little hunting, etc. This got them in trouble with the Whites who saw them as lazy and no account and a problem to the community. Though the Blacks were just continuing their native culture it didn’t fit with the Culture in America. The people in charge (Whites) didn’t want the problems being caused by indentured Blacks completing their time so they changed it so that they were made slaves instead on indentured. That way a responsible person would look after them and make sure they caused no problems.
Slaves are lazy there is very little reason to be otherwise. This just reinforced the idea that Blacks were lazy.
Culture clash leading to BAD solutions.
Couldn’t happen today, could it.
Comment by Dan Hamilton — 04.04.06 @ 11:12 am
When their indentures were up they returned to the type of life they had known before they were brought to America. Subsistence farming, a little hunting, etc. This got them in trouble with the Whites who saw them as lazy and no account and a problem to the community.
Below is a detailed account of the transition from indentured servitude to slavery. It doesn’t mention the reason that you posted. Where did you get your info from?
http://www.balchfriends.org/Glimpse/JPetersIntroBkLaws.htm
Comment by Shade — 04.04.06 @ 12:12 pm
LaShawn Barber has a great piece that discusses the life, mental work, educational habits, focus and goals of Booker T Washington. Mr Washington is a American that we should all look to for a example of how to live and thrive within the land of opportunity.
Pingback by Swap Blog — 04.04.06 @ 1:13 pm
The blacks mentioned were not brought from Africa, they were brought from the Caribbean. How could they continue a native culture when they most likely never knew it? Black were used as slaves because white indentured servants died too quickly in the Caribbean heat, and Amerindians knew the lay of the land and could escape. So the Portuguese bought slaves from African rulers and imported them. That is how black slavery in the New World got started.
Comment by Ian MacD. — 04.04.06 @ 2:00 pm
04 04 06
Well LaShawn: Regarding the controvery between WEB and Booker T, really they were both right. Sort of like Elizabeth Wright from Issues and Views versus a JC Watts type character. She says practical education and capitalism and he says pull yourself up by your bootstraps. Well either way, the intent is to benefit a historically marginalized class of people and obviously the methodology is different. If the tension didn’t exist between those two intellectuals, I wonder if Blacks would have been as successful as we are now. I was always taught that we need people on both sides of the fence and I think that is a more general way of saying that you can skin a cat in more than one way.
BTW the trolls are ridiculous.
Comment by mahndisa — 04.04.06 @ 2:15 pm
Booker T. Washington
Tomorrow is Booker T. Washington’s birthday, and La Shawn Barber writes a piece summarizing his life and accomplishments. One of the best books I ever read aloud to the kids was his autobiography Up From Slavery.
Trackback by Trivium Pursuit — 04.04.06 @ 7:40 pm
Hello Lashawn I really appreciate you putting up this post. I read up from slavery about 15 years ago and I absolutely enjoyed it. Although I dont not remember very much about the book I do remember being inspired by it. When he said up from slavery he really meant it. Mark
Comment by mark bey — 04.04.06 @ 9:23 pm
Wow, this guy has waaaay too much emotional baggage. He’ll probably die of cancer from all that treasured bitterness of his.
Comment by Michele — 04.04.06 @ 9:27 pm
LaShawn, I think your view is over simplistic and an example of the typical sad commentary on the state of political discourse today.
Again, this, to me, is an example of why I think the “conservative” vs. “liberal” “debate” for Blacks is a major waste and an unnecessary distraction.
The debate between Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. DuBois was important.
Yes, Booker T. was correct in stating what he did in the quote you provided, but DuBois was also right in being concerned with the civil rights and protections that were being denied to Negroes. It was not wrong to aggitate for fair due process. It was not wrong to argue for “tilling of the soil.”
Why must the debates and views of two of America’s great men be put into a bin of one or the other? Why not both?
Or, as Avery likes to write, why must it be “OR” vs. “AND”?
Perhaps you didn’t notice, DS, but the post is about Booker T., not DuBois. Nowhere in the post do I even imply the “debate” between DuBois and Booker isn’t important. Do me a favor: learn to value good reading comprehension and don’t take out your frustrations about the “liberal v. conservative” concept on me, OK? I take enough heat as it is, and attributing something to me that I didn’t say or imply is not cool. I’ve banned people for less. - Admin
Comment by DarkStar — 04.04.06 @ 10:17 pm
Booker T. vs. DuBois
LaShawn Barber has a piece on Booker T. Washington. In her comment section, I wrote something that I am posting here. Plus, I’m adding more. LaShawn’s piece happens to be the catalyst for my finally posting about this, but this
Trackback by DarkStar Spouts Off — 04.04.06 @ 10:59 pm
Charlie’s Show Prep #68
To summarize the anti-war referendums: they won in a bunch of small towns (got 18 votes in Couderay) as…
Trackback by The American Mind — 04.05.06 @ 4:06 am
LaShawn, my comments were triggered by this:
At the time, some 30 years after Emancipation, it was a big deal for a black man to speak to a mostly white audience in the South. Washington was and still is being judged for his “accomodationist†views about black progress. His chief critic, W.E.B. DuBois, believed the speech was important but came to distain Washington’s views.
DuBois urged blacks to fight for political rights; Washington urged them to focus on vocational training and work to show naysayers they could be industrious and hard-working. Washington believed that “privileges that will come to us must be the result of severe and constant struggle rather than of artificial forcing.â€
We’re all too familiar with “artificial forcing,†especially those who had to endure the misguided and ill-conceived policy known as busing.
I stated my opinion and in doing so, I don’t think I was out of line.
Comment by DarkStar — 04.05.06 @ 6:25 pm
I’m quite familiar with the entire post since I wrote it, and I repeat what I said. Neither that portion nor anything else states implicitly or explicitly that the “debate” isn’t important. And where did I write that the discussion is either/or? Did I imply that DuBois was wrong and Washington was right? My previous comment stands. Your opinion of my post is based on what I consider your personal issues and frustrations. I don’t like being the receptacle for someone else’s garbage.
Fortunately, my judgment about your opinion is the only one that ultimately matters on this blog, and I say you misrepresent what I wrote. Perhaps you should learn to explain yourself better and/or read more carefully.
I won’t hold my breath waiting for an apology.
Comment by La Shawn — 04.05.06 @ 6:36 pm
Now you’ve gone and done it, I have to read Up From Slavery. You’re killing me LaShawn, I can’t keep up with all the reading I have to do.
I put a reference to this on my blog but don’t have trackback so consider this one
Comment by Christopher Taylor — 04.06.06 @ 3:01 pm