Booker T. Washington: The Character and Contributions of a Christian Man During a Race Revolution By Emily Rose Doran, Assistant Editor

   Though history is filled with underdog stories, perhaps the greatest is that of Booker T. Washington. Born as a slave, he was immediately placed into the most unfortunate of life positions. Yet, despite his circumstances, he managed to become an important figure in the battle of racial

equality, actively working toward the betterment of his race by providing education and work

opportunities, as well as teaching basic skills necessary to thrive in the world. Nevertheless, his

achievements and contributions to society would not have been possible had he not possessed certain character qualities.

     First, Washington affected the world through his work ethic, which stemmed, naturally, from a proper understanding of labor. As a Christian man, he was aware of the distinction between work and toil, as written in Genesis 2:15 and Genesis 3:17, which say, respectively, “Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it,” and, “Then to Adam He said, 'Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, “You shall not eat of it”:

            'Cursed is the ground for your sake;

            In toil you shall eat of it

            All the days of your life.'”

Work, then, existed before the Fall and was pleasant, while toil, which occurred as a result of the Fall, was burdensome. The problem which Washington faced, as he strove tirelessly toward equipping former slaves with a healthy perspective of work, was the ignorance regarding the distinction between these two. Newly-freed blacks, who had spent their lives toiling under the tyrannical rules of abusive masters, assumed that work did not exist; there was only toil. As a result, a common goal was to obtain an education, in order that such toil might be escaped. Nevertheless, through his work at the Tuskegee Institute and through his public speeches, Washington managed to implant within the minds of many a new understanding of work. He summed up these experiences by saying, “I learned what education was expected to do for an individual. Before going there I had a good deal of the then rather prevalent idea among our people that to secure an education meant to have a good, easy time, free from all necessity for manual labor. At Hampton I not only learned that it was not a disgrace to labor, but learned to love labor, not alone for its financial value, but for labor’s own sake and for the independence and self-reliance which the ability to do something which the world wants done brings. At that institution I got my first taste of what it meant to live a life of unselfishness, my first knowledge of the fact that the happiest individuals are those who do the most to make others useful and happy.”

  

     Uniquely tied to Washington's work ethic was his selflessness, through which he also served his fellow man. He attested to this himself by saying, “The happiest people are those who do the most for others. The most miserable are those who do the least,” and, “The longer I live and the more experience I have of the world, the more I am convinced that, after all, the one thing that is most worth living for- and dying for, if need be- is the opportunity of making someone else more happy.”   As a Christian man, his selflessness was well in-keeping with his faith. After all, the core of Christianity, the Gospel, is the story of Jesus Christ's life, death, and resurrection, which were executed because of a universal need for a Savior. Christ selflessly took upon Himself the penalty for sin, freeing His elect. On a lesser scale, Washington exhibited acts of true selflessness as he dedicated his life to the raising of an entire race from the bonds of slavery. 

    Finally, Washington affected the world through his wisdom. During a time of heated opinions

regarding racial equality, Washington was one of the few people who understood that race was

irrelevant with concern to merit. He said, “Character, not circumstance, makes the person,” and, “No greater injury can be done to any youth than to let him feel that because he belongs to this or that race he will be advanced in life regardless of his own merits or efforts,” and, “The individual who can do something that the world wants done will, in the end, make his way regardless of his race.”  Such wisdom, discussed at length in Proverbs, was no doubt connected to his Christian faith.  Proverbs 4:5-7 says,

            “Get wisdom!  Get understanding!

            Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth.

            Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you;

            Love her, and she will keep you.

            Wisdom is the principal thing;

            Therefore get wisdom.

            And in all your getting, get understanding.”

     Booker T. Washington, though born a slave, managed to rise above his circumstances and

become an active member of society. Through his work ethic, selflessness, and wisdom, he contributed to the education of his race, as well as to the knowledge of the general public regarding race equality. Most importantly, however, his Christian faith was made evident throughout all of his life, as it is written in Matthew 5:14-16, “'You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill

cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.'