Journal #15 Booker T. Washington

Shirly Ong
English 48B
8 February, 2008
Journal #15 Booker T. Washington

Quote:
“When a white boy undertakes a task, it is taken for granted that he will succeed. On the other hand, people are usually surprised if the Negro boy does not fail.”

Summary:
This quote is from Up From Slavery, Chapter II. Boyhood Days. In this chapter, Booker T. Washington illustrated his boyhood days and the experiences of other Negro boys.

Response:
This quote reveals how the world passes judgment upon the Negro boys. Because of their skin color and family backgrounds, the Negro boys are expected to fail when they undertake tasks. I think Booker T. Washington has well explained and proved this phenomenon with his personal boyhood experience. He points out that the Negro boys have disadvantages in succeeding when comparing to the white boys. He illustrates this by comparing the whites and the black people. Most Negro boys, like Booker T. Washington, do not have any ideas about their ancestry backgrounds. In contrast, the white boys are conscious that if he cannot overcome obstacles, discouragement, and temptations, “he will disgrace the whole family record”. It is true that the white boys’ proud family records and connection helps them to overcome obstacles while the Negro boys’ race and missing ancestry records are discouraging them from striving for success. However, this does not mean people can have presumptions against the Negro boys. The Nero boys must have suffered a lot when they are striving for knowledge and success because of the presumptions against colored people. This is very unfair to them. To me, this phenomenon has been diminishing nowadays. This might be a result of the change in culture and the cases of successful black people.