Up from Slavery (Oxford World's Classics) Review
A fascinating read about the life and times of Booker T. Washington and his march from slavery to one of the foremost men of his time.
His views may seem quite antiquated in today's world, given what has happened and not happened in the last 100 years in race relations and it is easy to see how Black leaders of today might be critical of Washington's views and perspectives.
But to do so would be to make the all too common mistake of imprinting and transferring today's value system and experiences on a culture and time of long ago. Anyone can look back with 20-20 hindsight and criticize. What matters most is having a plan to move forward from where you are, and Booker T. Washington certainly had that. His is a remarkable story of courage, grace, and iron-willed determination, for himself and for his race.
While today's leaders and purists might criticize Washington, it should never be forgotten that he took the first steps and led his race and the entire South in the first steps, no matter how imperfect they may be in hindsight, up and away from slavery.
There had to be a Booker T. Washington to bridge the gap between what was and what was to be. He knew his role and peformed it well.
Up from Slavery (Oxford World's Classics) Feature
- ISBN13: 9780199552399
- Condition: New
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Up from Slavery (Oxford World's Classics) Overview
For the 50 years that followed its publication in 1901, Up from Slavery was the most widely known book written by an African American. The life of Booker T. Washington embodied the legendary rise of an American self-made man, and his autobiography gave voice for the first time to a vast group that had to pull itself up from nothing. In the well-documented ordeals and observations of this humble and plainspoken schoolmaster we find traces of Washington's other nature: the ambitious and tough-minded analyst. Here was a man who had to balance the demands of his fellow blacks with the constraints imposed on him by whites.
Up from Slavery (Oxford World's Classics) Specifications
Nineteenth-century African American businessman, activist, and educator Booker Taliaferro Washington's Up from Slavery is one of the greatest American autobiographies ever written. Its mantras of black economic empowerment, land ownership, and self-help inspired generations of black leaders, including Marcus Garvey, Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X, and Louis Farrakhan. In rags-to-riches fashion, Washington recounts his ascendance from early life as a mulatto slave in Virginia to a 34-year term as president of the influential, agriculturally based Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. From that position, Washington reigned as the most important leader of his people, with slogans like "cast down your buckets," which emphasized vocational merit rather than the academic and political excellence championed by his contemporary rival W.E.B. Du Bois. Though many considered him too accommodating to segregationists, Washington, as he said in his historic "Atlanta Compromise" speech of 1895, believed that "political agitation alone would not save [the Negro]," and that "property, industry, skill, intelligence, and character" would prove necessary to black Americans' success. The potency of his philosophies are alive today in the nationalist and conservative camps that compose the complex quilt of black American society.
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Customer Reviews
Great read - Liane M. Clark -
I read this book with my 12 year old as part of a book club.I didn't know much about Booker T. Washington,and this book was very interesting.He was truly a remarkable man living in a time of extreme change for our country.I feel I now have a broader view of the post slavery South then I had,even growing up there.
My Hero - Carol A. Cook - Wapakoneta, OH USA
Up From Slavery Booker T. Washington has been one of my all-time favorite American heroes -- ever since I first read about him in 4th grade. Washington had a gift for writing, and his autobiography, as well as his essays, are very easy to read, understand, and enjoy. The more I study and learn about him, the more impressed I am with his vision, his integrity, and his drive to improve his people and their lot in life.
up from slavery - Morris J. Jones - IRAQ
a good read with much information from the early america era. Booker T. Washington use the brain over violence and suceeded where others failed. excellent read.!!!!
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