So education is back to haunt us again. From Booker T. Washington to W.E.B DuBois, the one question that leaves a resounding note is: Why educate ourselves?" Why establish intitutions of higher ed that try and develop a holistic approach to enable students to become independent and free thinkers? What's the place of a science class in a Literature major? I've thought about this often, and honestly, to my mind, the ideal major would be a combination of history, political science, art and literature. I think most people who know me also know by now that I am inextricably attached to books. But how does that reflect on the formal education that I've received? I hope that my education has served its purpose in liberating my mind of the prejudices that I've seen around me; that I've been taught to question blind faith and that I've carried my teachings into my every day life. Case in point being:
What place in the future development of the South ought the Negro college and college-bred man to occupy? That the present social separation and acute race-sensitiveness must eventually yield to the influences of culture, as the South grows civilized, is clear. But such transformation calls for singular wisdom and patience" ( Of the Training of Black Men 7).
This is a man after my own heart, I tell ya. Yes change needs time, patience and wisdom. In an ideal society, every new generation would learn from the mistakes of the previous one and slowly and surely trickle down change through the social ranks. Not to say that it hasn't happened, but significant change usually waits for radical movements that take over society by storm. Proven theorem in history, and reiterated by DuBois:
When sticks and stones and beasts form the sole environment of a people, their attitude is largely one of determined opposition to and conquest of natural forces. But when to earth and brute is added an environment of men and idea, then the attitude of the imprisoned group may take three main forms,- a feeling of revolt and revenge; an attempt to adjust all thought and action to will of the greater group"( Of Mr. Booker T. Washington 3).
This is the eye of the storm, as it were. The perfect condition for people to look amongst themselves and find the one person that can lead them through their adversity and pain and suffering. Are leaders born or made? Does every event they encounter, including the education they receive, culminate into a single purpose? Perhaps. Leaders like Gandhi, Mandela and Martin Luther King found their voices when the need was dire. Which is a great segue to ask the question: Just how far can oppression linger before people start realizing that they need to make a difference in their lives and for the lives of generations to come? What empowers their free thought? Knowledge. Education. The good stuff.
The world's a circle. Have I ever told you about the time I went picketing?
How far do you think you'd be willing to go to spread education and stand up for your rights? How much does education even matter to people anymore? Im going to go ahead and make a sweeping general statement and say that too many kids of our generation really don't care as much. It's sad to see that school has become about earning grades instead of learning. Anyone who can "work for ten hours during the day at some trade or industry, and study academic branches for two hours during the evening" (1) definitely deserves to receive the best education available.
This is thin ground - what defines a "good" education? Something that gets you A's, something that gets you a job or something that you carry with you for the rest of your life? Clearly the foundation for Washington's success as a speaker in the late 1800's lay in his desire to make a better life for himself - imagine how enlightening education really is.
It's remarkable how people choose to live in ignorance day after day after day. This excerpt from his speech caught my eye:
Now, whenever I hear any one advocating measures that are meant to curtail the development of another, i pity the individual who would do this. I know that the one who makes this mistake does so because of own lack of oppurtunity for the highest growth. I pity him because he is trying to stop the progress of the world...." (3).
By the way...the 90's are coming back. Ever been to a job fair lately?
Would you believe me if I said that Uncle Remus reminded me of the preacher in Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury? Well, the dialect did anyway. Of course the context is different, but the style of speaking is still similar. I love the Southern dialect and accent because I think it's simply mahvelous now. Did anyone try and read these stories out loud? I tried and ended up feeling like Scarlet O'Hara.
Other than the fun factor involved, trying to get through the language was challenging because of obvious reasons. But it was also a good reminder of the fact that language does become a strong part of identity with people. It's a cushion that they can hold on to and fall back on when times are changing from bad to worse. 'Nessa mentioned the "language thing" on her blog and the trouble she had getting through it because she's from the north. The difference in the way the language is presented stands between interpretation and reasoning because of the automatic road block that pops up in the mind.
My favorite line between the three stories, however, is the same one that Ashley mentioned in her post.
"N*ggers is n*ggers now, but de time wuz w'en we 'uz all n*ggers tergedder."
I didn't read racial difference into it as much as racial solidarity. It sounds as though Uncle Remus is talking about a golden age where relationships stood for some worth between people, and when people actually cared for one another without making them feel inferior. There's definitely a touch of the whimsical here.