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Ward, Jesmyn. Salvage the Bones. New York: Bloomsburg, 2011. Print.

Washington, Booker T. Up From Slavery. 1901. New York: Norton, 1996. Print.

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Working a Lever: Booker T. Washington’s Autobiographies as Tools for Social Change

Robert H. Brinkmeyer, Jr. Institute for Southern Studies University of South Carolina

In his introduction to a reprinting of Up From Slavery, Louis Harlan observes that Booker T. Washington “saw his role as a sort of axis between the races, the only man who could negotiate with each group and keep the peace by holding extremists on both sides in check” (xiv). The striking image of the axis conjures up several different images. One is of an imaginary line dividing blacks and whites in the South, with Washington standing at the center, keeping the line secure so that the two races remain in close proximity but entirely separate. In this I’m reminded of Lillian Smith’s characterization of segregation as the mapping of southern townscapes with lines that were sometimes visible, as with the words “white” and “colored” that stood above public drinking fountains and restrooms, and sometimes invisible, as with the unwritten but strictly enforced laws that established parameters for black conduct and movement. As a keeper of the dividing line, Booker T. Washington stands as the appeaser who successfully works the system for personal and professional gain, while never challenging the grinding oppression of black people. Another meaning of axis, that of an agreement or a pact (as in the Axis powers of World War II), conjures up an image of Washington as an alliance builder between whites and blacks, seeking to construct a more racially tolerant South after the upheavals of the Civil War and Reconstruction. In this image, Washington stands as the skillful statesman bringing together opposing sides for discussion, compromise, and action. Neither image is an entirely satisfactory representation of Washington.