I saw young coloured men who were not earning more than four dollars a week spend two dollars or more for a buggy on Sunday to ride up and down Pennsylvania Avenue in, in order that they might try to convince the world that they were worth thousands.
Observing the economic habits of young Black men in Washington D.C., Washington critiques their tendency to prioritize outward show over financial prudence.
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More from Booker T. Washington
This country demands that every race shall measure itself by the American standard.
How shall we make the mansion on yon Beacon Street feel and see the need of the spirits in the lowliest cabin in Alabama cotton-fields or Louisiana sugar-bottoms?
The more I come into contact with wealthy people, the more I believe that they are growing in the direction of looking upon their money simply as an instrument which God has placed in their hand for doing good with.
We try to keep constantly in mind the fact that the worth of the school is to be judged by its graduates.