Booker Taliafer Washington is an outstanding educator and a fighter for the rights of the black population of America, orator, politician and writer. His birth took place on a plantation in Virginia in 1856 on April 5. His mother was a black slave, a cook in the house of plantation owner and a white father he did not know. In childhood, like all slaves, he did not have surname. The civil war, which ended in 1865, brought release to the black slaves. Booker then decided to take the surname Washington as U.S. President.
After signing by Abraham Lincoln the Emancipation Proclamation, exploitation of black population ceased and people became free from their former masters. Mother of the future educator with her children went away from the plantation and moved to the city of Malden, located in West Virginia. Here little Booker managed to master reading, after which he was trained in the Sunday school, open to children of African-Americans.
Family needed finances, and Booker before school every morning went to work in the boiler room. In addition, he worked in the coal mines, saltworks, not interrupting his self-education.
In 1872, when he was seventeen years old, he began to study at Hamptons general agricultural institute, designed specifically for the black population. In there training program coincided with the program in the Sunday middle school. Three years later, Booker Taliafer Washington graduated and began working as a teacher in schools for blacks in the South. For some time he worked as a secretary for the rector in Hampton Institute, whose name was Samuel Armstrong.
Afterwards, the future fighter for the rights of the black population moved to Washington and there continued his education. In 1879, he received a teacher's diploma, and began teaching in the Hamptons Institute, which took the first batch of Indian students. Booker T. Washington became author of several books. The most famous work is "Up from Slavery." He had talent of a speaker, effectively using it in his advocacy and education in the fight for African Americans.
In September 1895, when Atlanta opened trade and industrial exhibition, Booker gave a speech, in which he outlined his social and political views on race and class of the world, as well as close cooperation between the white and colored population of the United States. For the first time in the American history, he, a black man, spoke to an audience of whites.
In his speech, an outstanding educator asked for equal rights only in two areas: in work and entrepreneurship. His ten-minute speech contributed to the formation of racial politics in the South and put him at the head of the black population. Booker Washington’s oratorical talent attracted the attention of listeners, and soon his public activity began to give tangible results. Popularity fighter for the rights of blacks increased so much that he began to consult even the Theodore Roosevelt.
In 1896, educator and campaigner for the rights of blacks went to travel across Europe. During his trip, he personally met with Mark Twain and Queen Victoria. At his return to the United States, black people in America, seeking a peaceful solution to the racial problem, recognized educator as their undisputed leader.
The institute was constantly experiencing financial difficulties. There was no money to buy land or build new academic buildings. During the first academic year as the Institute opened, students gained knowledge, sitting on the floor in the collapse of the old church building.
In the Institute Booker was engaged in creation of normal conditions for students to study and teach at the same time. As a result, he was able to expand the training facilities and training to introduce agricultural subjects and crafts. Every year he toured the country on a mule or a small wagon, collecting charitable donations for the institute. Incidentally, the level of school was so high that for the experience people came from Japan, China and Europe. As it developed, the Institute has grown to a hundred of buildings and 1,600 students.
Whom does hate change? What conditions are improving thanks to hate? The answer may surprise you. Hatred, like prayer, changes the person who is in it, and not the one who serves its purpose. If you kicked the brick wall that was in your way, it will hurt you, not the wall. Hatred does not change the person against whom it is directed. In such circumstances, it often detracts from the person who hates (Du Bois 105).
Each of us is responsible for his views on life and our positions. Hatred can be a double of the strongest feelings in the world. When we try to understand the natural human reactions, we often become convinced that the most fanatical hatred is usually based either on a deep fear, or a strong desire. It can help us to make a mental distinction between humans and our dissatisfaction with his actions. Do we sometimes vex people whose actions seem to deprive us of what we need? American writer James Baldwin said that it seems to me that people are so stubbornly cling to their hatred because if hatred disappears, they will have to cope with their pain (Washington, “The future of the American Negro” 68).
Black American educator Booker T. Washington was keenly aware of the truth of these words when he vowed that he would not allow anyone to belittle his soul by making him hate someone. Released for freedom slave, Washington lived in such poverty that he had to start working at the age of nine. He would have been very easy to blame circumstances and justify his hatred of them. But he was not allowed to have in his soul flocked pus of hatred, and managed to harness the power of his resentment and send it out to improve both his own position and the position of others.
Lack of money, equipment and facilities did not make the new director envy wealthy schools or hate those who were more fortunate. Washington began implementation of his objectives. He did not admit to something stopping him. During his management, Tuskegee Institute has grown so much that it had almost two hundred teachers and well-equipped laboratories.
When members of the black community criticized Washington for his excessive, in their opinion, passion for education (these people believed that the path to real progress lies in political activities), Washington coolly continued to follow in the direction that he thought was right (Washington, “The future of the American Negro” 178). Rather than consider these differences as an excuse for hatred and hostility, American educator continued his prolific work in the academic field.
A person can control what he admits to his mind. Focusing on how to maintain control over your inner world, the wise man prevents negative feelings and destructive actions. Negativism cannot give positive results. Washington realized this truth. Instead of wasting his precious strength in useless disputes, he looked for opportunities to realize his dream of an education. He would not let anyone diminish his soul, because he was responsible for his inner self. As well as many other great men, Washington realized that his self can only be controlled by himself.
Death of outstanding educator and campaigner for the rights of African Americans came in 1915 on November 14.
Works Cited
Du Bois, William Edward Burghardt. Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others. ProQuest Information and Learning, 2005.
Washington, Booker T. The future of the American Negro. MobileReference, 2010.
Washington, Booker T. Up from slavery: an autobiography. Wildside Press LLC, 2007.
