The Future Of The American Negro

In this volume I shall not attempt to give the origin and history of the Negro race either in Africa or in America. My attempt is to deal only with conditions that now exist and bear a relation to the Negro in America and that are likely to exist in the future. In discussing the Negro, it is always to be borne in mind that, unlike all the other inhabitants of America, he came here without his own consent; in fact, was compelled to leave his own country and become a part of another through physical force. It should also be borne in mind, in our efforts to change and improve the present condition of the Negro, that we are dealing with a race which had little necessity to labour in its native country. After being brought to America, the Negroes were forced to labour for about 250 years under circumstances which were calculated not to inspire them with love and respect for labour. This constitutes a part of the reason why I insist that it is necessary to emphasise the matter of industrial education as a means of giving the black man the foundation of a civilisation upon which he will grow and prosper. When I speak of industrial education, however, I wish it always understood that I mean, as did General Armstrong, the founder of the Hampton Institute, for thorough academic and religious training to go side by side with industrial training. Mere training of the hand without the culture of brain and heart would mean little.

Booker T. Washington's classic analysis of the history and future of African-Americans in the United States. Originally published in 1899, Washington discussed the plight of African-Americans, then newly freed former slaves, who found themselves in a white-dominated society. Washington stressed the need for education to improve the lives of African-Americans.

Excerpt from The Future of the American Negro Chapter VI. Page 12 7 The Negro race in politics - Its patri l otic zeal in 1776 - In 1814 - 11: the Civil War In the Spanish War Poli tics attempted too soon after freedom Poor leaders Two parties in the South, the blacks' and the whites' Not neces sarily opposed in interests The Negro should give up no rights - The same tests for the restriction of the franchise should be applied alike to both blacks and whites This is not the case Edu cation and the franchise The whites must help the blacks to pure votes Riot ing and lynching only to be stopped by, mutual confidence. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The author argues that the British colonial project in Africa cannot succeed without educating the native population, thereby inoculating them against revolutionary ideas. He points to African American education in the United States as a worthy example.