The Future of the American Negro, Booker T. Washington
The Future of the American Negro, Booker T. Washington
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The Future of the American Negro

Author: Booker T. Washington

Narrator: Andrew L. Barnes

Unabridged: 4 hr 15 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/15/2020


Synopsis

Booker Taliaferro Washington (1856-1915) was an African American political leader, educator and author. He was one of the dominant figures in African American history in the United States from 1890 to 1915. Born into slavery in Franklin County, Virginia, at the age of 9, he was freed and moved with his family to West Virginia, where he learned to read and write while working in manual labor jobs. He later trained as a teacher, and in 1881 was named the first leader of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. The Future of the American Negro was written to put more definite and permanent form the ideas regarding the condition of the negro. Booker T. Washington, a prominent African American leader, educator, and author, articulates the importance of Industrial education. He emphasized the importance of the development of the Negro in hand and heart training, which would provide the solid foundation necessary to attain the highest form of citizenship. This volume is the outgrowth of a series of articles written to enlighten readers on the doctrine of Industrial education that would address the mistakes of the reconstruction period. Booker T. Washington expresses arguments through sound reason in an impassioned plea to resolve the problems of increased crime, ignorance, discrimination, and debilitating debt crippling the black race. He substantiates his case with inspiring examples of former students of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute who overcame adversity to achieve their dreams. Listeners will develop a greater understanding of the horrific outcomes of slavery, the colossal errors of the reconstruction period, the extreme levels of poverty and ignorance, the failures of government, and the instability of industry in the south. In the midst of these problems, Booker provides a remedy, which in many respects is still relevant to the future of the American Negro.

About Booker T. Washington

Booker T. Washington (1856–1915) was an educator, race leader, author, and founder of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama. He was born on April 5, 1856, in Franklin County, Virginia, the son of a white slave owner he never knew and a black slave. Freed from slavery after emancipation in 1865, Washington worked as a houseboy, during which time he learned to read and write. At the time it was illegal to educate slaves in schools, so Washington's only exposure to them was when he carried his employer's daughters' books to school for them. He studied to be a teacher at the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Virginia, a school for young blacks, and eventually became a writer and speaker on black issues and struggles.

In 1881, Washington was appointed principal of the newly opened Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama, and he built it up into a major center of black education. By cooperating with white people and enlisting the support of wealthy philanthropists, he helped raise funds to establish and operate hundreds of small community schools and institutions of higher education for blacks. Washington had learned early the values of hard work and industrial skills and they became the foundations for the school.

For a number of years, Washington toured as a lecturer, expressing his philosophy on racial advancement, education, and accomodationist compromises for blacks. His eloquent "Atlanta Compromise" speech on September 18, 1895, at the Atlanta Cotton States and International Exposition positively appealed to northern and southern whites and blacks from the south. The fates of all were inextricably bound, he said, and he pled for greater understanding and perseverance. He emphasized that through hard work, self-discipline, and education blacks would gain their deserved respect.

Though he was strongly criticized by W. E. B. Du Bois and other black leaders and his policies repudiated by the civil rights movement, Washington remains the foremost black leader of the late 1800s. In 1901, he published his autobiography, Up From Slavery, which is still widely read today.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Josaih on December 31, 2024

I found this book difficult to finish. Washington provides an account of the American South, with a particular focus on the state of the Black community—both economically and socially. He argues that the only way forward is to build a Black culture and economy that can lay the groundwork for a finan......more

Goodreads review by Megan on March 20, 2013

I'm really glad I picked this up as an audio book at my library, and even happier I stuck with it in spite of a lot of repetition throughout. Some of the most interesting parts come towards the end, such as the rather dispassionate discussion of lynching. I suppose I'd imagined that lynchers wore th......more

Goodreads review by Yossi on March 06, 2021

Beyond being an excellent observation on race for its time, this book provides an interesting way to look at education. In a way, Washington’s philosophy of combining industrial work with intellectual education reminded me of early kibbutzniks in Israel. Although I did not agree with some of the con......more

Goodreads review by John on January 13, 2021

This book absolutely blew me away at how well thought out it was. Booker T. Washington was an amazing man, and this book solidified that in my mind. There are things that are addressed in this book that are so relevant, they could have been written yesterday. It's a fantastic read.......more

Goodreads review by Adam on August 15, 2021

Sign me up for the Booker T. Washington fan club. Not sure if there's a definitive answer on what was the best approach to integration, as I think it might be easy to say he was too optimistic here, but the work he did was incredible.......more