The Awakening of the Negro (impromptu format)

My friend Sarah goes to a predominantly Caucasian school. However she hates it there because they treat her different because she is colored. Even her teachers subtly discriminate against her, and don’t give her the attention she needs. School for Sarah is terribly difficult because of this harsh reality. Although she has this seemingly difficult time in school because of this, she doesn’t let it get her down. She perseveres through it and still manages to get straight A’s in her all of her classes.

So when looking at the autobiography of Booker T. Washington, “The Awakening of the Negro,” we can understand this autobiography, by looking at three aspects. First we can look at the positive aspects, secondly the negative aspects, and finally, what we can draw from this nonfiction story of Booker T. Washington to better us as a country.

First let’s look at the positive. In the autobiography, Washington tells about the struggle African Americans had to go through mainly him, to get an education. He also tells how it was not allowed for Negros to learn anything especially read and write. He describes how hard times were and how the only thing to do to lesson this harsh reality, was to get an education. Within the story you can see a lot an appeal to pathos by him being very descriptive. As stated in the autobiography, “By walking, begging rides, and paying for a portion of the journey on the steam-cars, I finally succeeded in reaching the city of Richmond.” This let the reader know that there was a hard time of poverty typically for Negros without an education. Now you may ask what could be positive about that. The answer lies in the struggle. An old proverb once said, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” As the story progresses, Washington becomes educated, and more knowledgeable of the world around him. Because of his dedication, determination, and perseverance, he was able to become an educator, orator, author, and leader of the African American community. So you can see that because he endured through all of the struggles, he became an overall stronger individual than what he would have been had he stayed in an ignorant state of mind. That is a positive quality that we all can learn from.

Secondly, we can look at the negative outlook on this autobiography. Fortunately, Washington didn’t take the negative view on what could have been a life changer for him. When you look behind the description that Washington gives, you can find a deeper emotion within the “victim.” When they experienced poverty, and mistreatment, and slavery, did they feel anger, pity for themselves or nothing at all? At the point when Washington became successful, he gained the much respect from Caucasians, as well as African Americans. However as Abraham Lincoln once said, “If you want to see a mans true character, give him power.” This you can see that Booker T. Washington did not take revenge upon the people who opposed him when he became higher in class than them. Surely it was a possibility that he could have done so seeing as how he was a Harvard Graduate, and had the smarts to think of something that could be diabolical. However he did not do so. He continued to make the world a greater place, and helped thousands of people and in the process, became a historic icon.

Finally we can look at what exactly can we draw from this autobiography. Well as you can see that slavery obviously a good thing. However through any situation even slavery, you can overcome and be successful. A KEY icon and prime example is no other than Frederick Douglass. Douglass was a slave from the early 1800’s, who was a firm believer in equality of all people. No one would have guessed, that an African American slave would someday be the very first African American nominated as a Vice-Presidential candidate in the U.S. running on the Equal Rights Party ticket with Victoria Woodhull, the first woman to run for President of the United States .It just goes to show us that no matter what the obstacle we are facing in our lives, there is always a way to overcome it and use it in someway to better our lives as individuals.

So next time you take a look at an autobiography similar to “The Awakening of the Negro,” remember that although it may seem impossible, there is always a way to triumph over it. That’s what my friend Sarah did in her struggle against discrimination against almost the entire school including her teachers. So why can’t you?