The whole machinery of slavery was so constructed as to cause labour, as a rule, to be looked upon as a badge of degradation, of inferiority.
Booker T. Washington: “The whole machinery of slavery was so constructed as to cause labour, as a rule, to be looked upon as a badge of…”
Editor's note · Context
From his autobiography, describing how the institution of slavery inherently devalued manual labor and associated it with a lower social status.
Share
More from Booker T. Washington
I can scarcely imagine any torture, except, perhaps, the pulling of a tooth, that is equal to that caused by putting on a new flax shirt for the first time.
Having once got its tentacles fastened on to the economic and social life of the Republic, it was no easy matter for the country to relieve itself of the institution.
I think that the presentation of facts, on a high, dignified plane, is all the begging that most rich people care for.
Ever since I have been old enough to think for myself, I have entertained the idea that, notwithstanding the cruel wrongs inflicted upon us, the black man got nearly as much out of slavery as the white man did.