Journal #19 Booker T. Washington: How Ex-Slaves Can Thrive!

QUOTE:

“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” (Washington 681).


SUMMARY:

This is another part of Washington’s speech, The Atlanta Exposition Address. Washington is promoting the idea of “Separate but Equal” with this metaphor.


RESPONSE:

I think Washington’s metaphor could have worked better if people really understood what he was envisioning. In my opinion, he is saying that white people and black people don’t have to hang out together, but that everyone needs to be able to work together. It’s hard not to see this statement as a promotion for segregation though, and especially since Washington describes black people as being “unresentful” and still willing to “lay down [their] lives” (Washington 681) to protect the same people who have kept them in daunting slavery. It’s good to be forgiving, but I don’t know if I could have let go of all the torture, rape, and servitude slaves had to endure, if I were an ex-slave.

When we read this quote in class, I understood what Washington meant, but then I started analyzing his metaphor. The first thing I thought was, “I think people don’t really need their pinky finger to survive.” What was I thinking??!! I can only imagine what other interpretations and thoughts came up, perhaps, from someone who didn’t really want to see black people reach any success in life. People tend to hear what they want, especially listening to a speech coming from a representative of the “inconvenient” situation. Maybe I’m being too hard on Washington though. I still understand that he was looking out for the extremely oppressed people, and that he was trying to suggest the most practical way they would be able to thrive.