Sophia Elahi RPC Blog

This week in English class I started reading George Washington Plunkitt’s autobiography (more like a biography that was anonymously published, but that is a different matter).  In the chapters that I have read so far it was very obvious that Plunkitt hated the civil service exam.  He thought it extinguished the patriotism of the people.  In this essay I am going to talk about how Plunkitt thought patriotism attributed to Tammany winning the election.

First, let me clarify what Tammany is.  When I first saw the name Tammany I thought it was a person, but it is actually a name of the political party Plunkitt was a part of.  The proper name of this party is Tammany Democrat.

During the time when the book was written (late 1800s) the civil service exam determined if a person would get into the army or not.  The exam was a lot like the exams we students take nowadays.  There would be math word problems and other academic subjects.  Plunkitt claimed he saw many men with undying loyalty to their country take the exam and fail, leading to the death of their patriotism.

When Plunkitt saw this he would find these young men and put them in any available job he thought they would be suitable for.  Plunkitt had a saying: “be at the fire before the firefighters.”  Judging by what the book said, Plunkitt was always looking out for the people.  He got up close and personal with each and every inhabitant of Manhattan.  He knew the name of every man, woman, and child.  He remembered their interests and likes.  If he knew of a person with a good arm he would invite them to join the town’s baseball team.  If he knew of a person who thought they had a good voice, he would be invited to the Glee Club at City Hall. 

In the book he said that he would give the children candy.  “They learnt that Uncle George coming meant candy.”  He claimed that one little girl “held on to her Father’s whiskers until he promised to vote for Plunkitt.”

The people got the impression that Plunkitt was always looking out for them.  This made people think that the Tammany party would bring prosperity to their country, causing them to vote for the party.

As you can see, Plunkitt knew that the people only wanted what was best for their country.  He knew that if he portrayed the hero looking out for the citizens he would get a good reputation for his party and convince the people that voting Tammany would help their country.  After all, who would not want their country to prosper?

Yesterday I finished reading Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington.  Throughout the book, Washington made his idea on how he wanted the future to look like was very obvious.  In this essay, I am going to talk about what those ideas were.

Like I said in my last essay, Washington wanted blacks to be considered equals to whites without being judged by the rest of the world.  He recognized that it would be at least 50 years before this would be possible though.  Washington believed that working hard and being kind to others would make you successful life (I agree with this belief whole-heartedly), but he also believed that “something will turn up, if you pray and be patient.”  He justified this belief by using his school in Tuskegee as an example.

In the earlier chapters of the book Washington talked about how poor the school was when it was first started.  They did not have enough to money to make dorms for the students, and the lodgings they could provide were less than ideal.  But somehow the school stayed afloat and became successful.  How?  Washington mentioned how the school always seemed to receive enough money for whatever they needed whenever they needed it. 

One day the school had a speaker come to talk.  Since the school did not have an auditorium, the speaker had to present his speech out in the open.  However, while the speaker was presenting a storm passed through and it started to rain hard.  The school did not have a shelter to provide for him and he had to continue to present his speech in the rain.  Washington noted how the speech was still very good despite being performed in the rain.  Afterwards, the speaker told Washington it would be nice to have an auditorium, or at least a building for speakers to present in.  The next day the school received a generous donation from two women for an auditorium.  Coincidence?  I think not.

As you can see, Washington had a very optimistic outlook for the future for black people.  I really enjoyed reading Up From Slavery because of Washington’s character.  He was a God fearing man who believed in hard work and honesty.  He had a positive idea for the future, but stayed realistic and acknowledged that he would probably not live to see equality between the two races.

This week’s essay topic is “was Booker T. Washington’s program for gaining social acceptance for blacks an elitist program?”  I am going to assume that the ‘program’ is referring to Washington’s school in Tuskegee.  To answer this question, no, I do not think that Washington’s program was elitist.

Elitist means a society where a person, or a group of people, are superior to others in the society. 

I think it is safe to say that this was not Washington’s intention.  As a black man who had seen slavery in the early years of his life, I doubt he would want to do that to the whites.  He did not want the blacks to be ‘higher’ than the whites, he only want equality.  

I do not think that at any point in time Washington’s program made it seem like he was trying to make blacks superior to the whites.  He only wanted equality between the two races, not superiority.

For the past two weeks I have been reading Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington.  So far, I am really enjoying the autobiography.  In this essay, I am going to talk about a couple moments from the book that I found memorable.

The Umbrella

Washington was called to Tuskegee, Alabama to be a teacher at a college to train teachers.  When he reached the city he realized that there was no schoolhouse for him to teach in and he was forced to make do with old barns or churches.  In the autobiography he described how bad the condition of the buildings were.  When it would rain, the rain would seep through the cracks in the roof.  He recalls how one of the older students would give up his studies to stand next to Washington with an umbrella over his head so he could continue to teach the others without getting wet.

I found this memorable because it showed how much that student admired and respected Washington. 

Buying the Plantation

After a while, the old barns and churches would not be sufficient for his lessons.  He took out a loan and bought an old plantation, which he turned into a school.  He noted how after the lessons were over the students would work on improving the main house themselves.  This was memorable for me because is showed how much the students actually wanted to learn.

Washington also wanted the students to have some experience in agriculture because at that time students would need those skills.  He wanted the students to help clear the trees from the land so they could start a farm.  However, most students were hesitant.  Many thought that doing that work would tarnish his reputation.  Washington started to clear the trees by himself and over time the other students started to help out.

This was very memorable for me because it shows a lot of things.  Firstly, it shows his how he wanted his students to have real life education and not just book education.  It also shows how he taught his students that work is not bad.

Christmas Traditions

In Chapter Nine, the last chapter I read before this essay, Washington describes the Christmas ‘traditions’ of the people of Tuskegee.  Let me say, it is not pretty.

During the last weeks of the year Washington gave the students a break from school so they could celebrate with family.  But the people of the city used these weeks to get drunk and party.  Weapons were used by everyone (and everyone was drunk).  Parents would spend all of their money on alcohol, prompting their children to run around the town asking for Christmas gifts.  Fights broke out, and overall it was violent and unsafe.  Washington was appalled by how the sacred holiday of Christmas was turned into this.

This was very memorable to me because it is so different from how people celebrate Christmas nowadays.  The fact that this actually happened all those years ago is so hard for me to imagine.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are quite a few memorable moments in the book.  Personally, I find it incredible that Washington was able to change his student’s mentality and attitudes after teaching them, not many teachers can do that nowadays.

Thanks for reading!