Asher Sisneros

In this essay, I will discuss two topics in Booker T. Washington’s autobiography. The first section will be about racial prejudices in America. The second part will be about the poverty that followed freedom. 

The racial prejudices in America during the nineteenth century are incredibly revealing. In Booker T. Washington’s autobiography, he talks about those racial prejudices. Today it is assumed that Americans back then were partial to color; the whites had privileges while everyone else was of lesser importance. However, the prejudices went beyond just color and targeted specific races. Booker described an incident when he was in Washington D.C. He was traveling with an American Indian. When they stopped at a hotel to spend the night, his acquaintance received boarding but he was rejected. Booker found that pattern elsewhere in life. The Indians received delightful treatment, while the negros received discrimination. They were both colored, but people didn’t treat them as equals. I find this entire predicament very curious. 

What’s more, the American Indians also looked down on the negros. One would assume that both races would band together as people of color, but that was not the case. Far from it. When Booker tried teaching the Indians how to read, he realized that they looked down on negroes. It’s not surprising. The Indians prided themselves on knowing that they’d never be slaves. They’d prefer to die than live as a slave. Regardless of all of this, Booker didn’t think much about it. He chose to ignore racial prejudices and live life to its fullest. He didn’t squander his time worrying about what other people thought; instead, he worked on his calling. His resources were spent educating the negros. Why? Because that was something he could do. It was the way he contributed to society. 

The second topic is debt. Booker points out that in their desire to find acceptance into the social norms, the negros went into debt. They sought luxury over stability. They went into debt to purchase clocks that couldn’t tell time and organs they couldn’t play. To me, the organ seemed particularly ridiculous. Why would someone go into debt for something they couldn’t use? If you can’t play the organ, it’s just furniture. They went into debt for furnishings. Then it occurred to me: not much has changed over the past hundred and fifty years. I find it interesting that Booker warned against going into debt. He argued that it was the same as returning to servitude. When you’re in debt, you are a servant to the lender. The negros, who now had freedom, were willingly returning to slavery. One could argue that their living conditions were better because of debt. That is where things get interesting. Though Booker doesn’t explicitly point this out, from his descriptions of slave plantations and the cottages they lived in following freedom, the difference was minimal. Unfortunately, the negros went into debt for unnecessary purchases. In one instance, a family only had one fork they all took turns using. Because they didn’t restrict their expenses, at an elementary level, they were still in servitude and poverty. I should mention that the circumstances made it hard for them to escape poverty. I’m not criticizing them for what was out of their control. It’s just intriguing. 

To conclude, Americans weren’t partial to color, they were partial to race. Thankfully, over time that’s changed. It also took the negros time to escape poverty.