Structurally Equal

By KatieLantz on November 7, 2009 8:55 AM | | Comments (0)

"In design, beauty, and general finish the Negro Building was equal to the others on the grounds" (Washington, Two Thousand Miles for a Five Minute Speech para. 24)

   This was said by Booker T. Washington, after the Atlanta Exposition was passed and the Negro monument building was built. 

  I just find it a little funny that he chose to say that the building was equal in  design, beauty and finish to other buildings around it. It almost sounds as if he was surprised that the building was equal because it was built by "Negro mechanics." 

   Also, taking it to a more figurative sense, if the building represented the Negro community, Booker T. Washington's words are even more resounding. Of course he would point out that the building was equal, because his ideals of education and hard work went hand in hand. Now that African Americans were becoming educated, their work was seen as equal to that of White Americans. Washington even goes on to say that, "The people who seemed to be the most surprised, as well as pleased, at what they saw in the Negro Building were the Southern white people" (para. 25). 

    All of his traveling, speeches and lobbying were finally paying off. I believe Washington said these words not in surprise, but in realization that his community was actually beginning to be seen as equal, even if it was simply in the structure of a building.

Leave a comment


Type the characters you see in the picture above.

 

November 2009

Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
[1] 2 3 [4] 5 6 [7]
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30          

Brain-Rot

EL 266

"While England endeavors to cure the potato-rot, will not any endeavor to cure the brain-rot, which prevails so much more widely and fatally?" (Thoreau, ch 18 paragraph 7)

Yes, I agree once again with Thoreau. I think his point here is that society focuses to cure problems that may appear to be the most important, but in truth are not. He was referring to the Great Potato Famine that occurred in Ireland during 1845 -1852. The famine not only caused people to starve, lose jobs and economic status, but also caused a wave of English and Irish immigrants to America.  England, who received many crops from Ireland, was concerned about this problem on an economic scale. Their focus was on solving this problem, not educating the public.

I can see this happening today as well. Because of the "economic crisis" we are struggling so hard to put money into Federal Relief funds such as grocery assistance, cash assistance, and housing assistance. Our focus is on building up these programs so that those who have lost jobs (or those who live off the system) will be supported during this tough time. We should instead be focusing on educating them, so that when minimum wage jobs are cut, they can go to college, earn a degree, and find a better, higher paying job.

Many people believe that because they qualify to receive government benefits, they are entitled to them for life. They simply feel that they cannot go back to work for one reason or another. Our society has made it so easy for this to happen that almost anyone can claim that they are "unable to work." This is exactly the kind of brain-rot that Thoreau was speaking of. With a little bit of education and a shove, many more Americans can find themselves contributing to society.

Blogroll

Seton Hill University
blogs.setonhill.edu

Recent Posts

Archives

Categories