On Booker T. Washington's Up from Slavery (2)

Yuen M. Ho
English 48B
February 7, 2007
Journal #23 Booker T. Washington

I. Quote

“I recall that I had an intense longing to learn to read. I determined, when quite a small child, that, if I accomplished nothing else in life, I would in some way get enough education to enable me to read common books and newspapers.”

II. Summary

As a slave, Booker T. Washington did not have a chance to go to school. Since his mother was just as uneducated, she could only take some time before and after work to teach her children what she knew. Nevertheless, with the reason unknown, Booker T. Washington yearned to learn; he was passionate about reading and going to school. That’s why he has been able to craft a thought-provoking piece of artifact despite his lack of standard schooling.

III. Response

What we should learn from Booker T. Washington is not just his perseverance and indomitable spirit in fighting for rights and freedom for his people. As a student being blessed with the chance of studying in a college, we should also be shameful when we compare our learning attitudes with Washington’s. While we have been studying in formal school for years, very often we do not value our chance of having such an opportunity to learn. We study for the purpose of taking exams, and all we concern most is test scores, but not our learning process. While it may be unfair to make such a generalized comment, I believe it reflects a substantial portion of the picture. It is just because everything seems so easy and natural for us. We can never conceive not being able to go to school due to family circumstances. Nevertheless, for Washington, the chance of learning was scarce and had to be fought for. Thus, he could not give up any time or chance to learn.

The question of why Washington, as a slave and a child of a slave, had such great passion for learning certainly worth pondering over. The same kind of passion was not found in his culture (black or slave culture); his craze for learning indeed grew individually. I would conjecture that there were certain people/ incidents who/ which posed great influence on him during his childhood. Yet, no such thing seems to be mentioned in his own biography.