Up From Slavery: Washington Vs. Washington

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With individual minds comes individual beliefs. So often does society try to lump members of the same demographic together. People belonging to the same group will be labeled with the same names expected to have the same morals and follow the same principals. However, within every group are autonomous thinkers who can be completely different in character from other people within the same demographic. During the time of slavery, black Americans were thought to all be the same in the eyes the white Americans. Slaves were not seen as separate individuals, but rather a race of people who felt the same way, thought the same things, and had the same experiences. After slavery was abolished and the US went through the reconstruction period, former …show more content…
His views expressed in his story differed from many other previous slave narratives. For instance, in the past, narratives written by black people talked about the goodness of becoming a preacher in the church because it was a way to serve other black people and support their wellbeing. Washington believed that black individuals should steer away from becoming ministers and work towards industrial occupations because those types of jobs would improve the character of the black individual rather than preaching, which only contributed to the uneducated and ignorant nature of the black race perceived by white America (Washington 72). After slavery, many black Americans felt that they had the right to enjoy some of the luxuries that were completely denied to them because of slavery. Washington believed that these people did not know the value of toil and hard work. He believed that these individuals lived dangerously above their means, and that they relied too heavily on the government to supply them with money even though they could just work vigorously until they actually could afford such luxuries (Washington 76). Lastly, many black individuals wanted to exist with white society, but they didn’t want to conform into white society. When Washington is describing his experiences teaching Native American students at Hampton, he talks about the discontent many of the students felt about cutting their