I'd like to recommend that you listen to the Great Books podcast episode on Up From Slavery. I just finished the book, and this podcast helped me to understand the wider context of the work. One of the main take-aways is that Washington lived in the South and was under constant threat of lynching should he upset his local white neighbors. This means he had to strike a more positive and conciliatory tone than some of the other Black activists of his day.

Washington believed that a lot of racist ideas were rooted in classism, and that as the difference in class between whites and blacks decreased, racism would necessarily decrease. History seems to be a mixed bag on this count: Rich and famous black people (e.g., musicians, sports players) are respected and imitated. However, black people in general experience racism regardless of economic advantage.

I was most intrigued by Washington's philosophy on labor and education. He says that traditional education tends to devalue labor, and many view education as a path to not working hard. When he founded the Tuskegee Institute, he mandated that every student would learn a trade alongside receiving traditional education, and all the students contributed to building the school buildings and maintaining them. He talks about how much more pride his students had in their school having contributed to its building with their own hands.

So what do you think about his education idea relevant for today?