Journal #3: Booker T. Washington

Tara Phillips
English 48B

Quote:
"In my contact with people I find that, as a rule, it is only the little, narrow people who live for themselves, who never read good books, who do not travel, who never open up their souls in a way to permit them to come into contact with other souls--with the great outside world. No man whose vision is bounded by colour can come into contact with what is highest and best in the world" (Norton, 684).

Summary:
In Up From Slavery, Booker T. Washington writes of his meeting with President Grover Cleveland, who he stated he did not believe was "conscious of possessing any colour prejudice," and that Cleveland was a great man. Washington follows his compliments of Cleveland with an elaboration on the subject, stating in short that prejudices are often borne of ignorance and "narrow" minds.

Reaction:
As I grow and change as a person, and watch people around me do the same (or not), I have to agree with Mr. Washington. Education, in the broadest sense of the word, plays a major role in the development of tolerance and understanding of one's society as well as societies outside of oneself. There is often an unmistakable and admirable sense of openness present in an educated individual. This is not to say that all people must attend prestigious colleges and earn degrees of the highest possible kind, or that those who do seek this kind of formal education are always the most kind and tolerable people in the world. Rather one should constantly seek improvement of himself and remain open to diversity at all times. Human beings should seek knowledge at all times. In order to function, the brain needs exercise just like the rest of the body does. The mind needs stimulation, rejuvenation, replenishment, and rest, just as any working mechanism does.
I agree that people who are filled with prejudice are truly lacking in virtue, and it is most likely because they have not ventured out, physically or intellectually. They are "narrow" people... one-dimensional.