You are to exercise this influence in the communities where you go; and if you fail to exercise it for the good of other individuals, you have failed to accomplish the purpose for which this institution exists.
Booker T. Washington: “You are to exercise this influence in the communities where you go; and if you fail to exercise it for the good of other…”
Editor's note · Context
He insists that failing to use their influence for good means failing the purpose of their education.
Share
More from Booker T. Washington
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.
As soon as it was learned that he was not an American Negro, all the signs of indignation disappeared.
When persons ask me in these days how, in the midst of what sometimes seem hopelessly discouraging conditions, I can have such faith in the future of my race in this country, I remind them of the wilderness through which and out of which…
As a rule, not only did the members of my race entertain no feelings of bitterness against the whites before and during the war, but there are many instances of Negroes tenderly caring for their former masters and mistresses who for some…