Washington’s Take on Slavery and Emancipation
Booker T. Washington (Getty Images)
In chapter 1 of Up From Slavery, Booker T. Washington recounted his experience growing up enslaved with his family on a plantation in Franklin County, Virginia. He described the conditions in his “poorly built” log cabin which simultaneously functioned as a bedroom and a kitchen, but lacked anything indicative of such: beds, insulation, a stove, etc. His everyday challenges ranged from enduring the pain of “breaking in” a flax shirt, to performing harsh labor that he sometimes was unable to complete due to his young age and the sheer difficulty of the tasks. Because his life was dedicated to these duties, he was also denied an education, which left a profound longing in him.
He explained how although enslaved persons were intentionally kept uninformed, a “grape-vine telegraph” set into motion by slaves in positions to overhear relevant conversations kept them updated on the state of the nation regarding the Civil War. Despite Washington’s emphasis on his own early suffering and the general desire for freedom among the enslaved population, he explained that this did not lead him to harbor resentment towards his (or any) slaveholders. Even while slaves wished to be freed, Washington described the sense of loyalty they felt toward their slaveholders, as he mentioned that some even continued to care for them after the war ended. When the proclamation was issued, Washington described leaving his slaveholders, with whom his family had forged a deep connection. He said that his former slaveholders appeared to be sad not “because of the loss of property, but rather because of parting with those whom they had reared and who were in many ways very close to them.” It is unclear whether Washington truly felt this way about slaveholders or if this was a strategic move to maintain good relations with those in power in order to achieve a political agenda.
Emancipation Proclamation (National Archives)
Following emancipation, he explained how slaves experienced a period of happiness that quickly turned into disillusionment. They were expected to enter a world that had previously rejected them with no guidance. He was, however, able to identify ways that being a slave benefited him, like learning certain trades while white slaveholders and their families were essentially made lazy and dependent. While his talk about the ways that slavery was beneficial could be viewed as an appeal to slaveholders, the critique of white slaveholders and their families could appeal more to former slaves and abolitionists.
What is most fascinating to me about Washington is his ability to compartmentalize and separate slaveholders from the actual system of slavery. Specifically, Washington did not accuse whites of being bad people. Instead, he argued that the system enabled and encouraged this behavior. I have always thought that the creation of hierarchies in society could be attributed to human nature, because historically groups have taken power over others. How could he attribute blame to the system but not to the people who created it? Given the arguments about the existence of institutional racism and informal slavery today, I wonder if Washington would still blame the system, or if he would change his argument and condemn those who have helped to maintain it.
Excerpt from Booker T. Washington’s Up From Slavery, read by Charlotte Goodman with music by Nick Rickert:
By: Charlotte Goodman, June 2021