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 reason have become poor and dependent since the war.
In his autobiography, Washington describes the post-Civil War relationship between former slaves and their impoverished former masters.
Share
More from Booker T. Washington
He was simply another unfortunate victim of the institution which the Nation unhappily had engrafted upon it at that time.
I cannot remember having slept in a bed until after our family was declared free by the Emancipation Proclamation.
I think I never saw a community of people so happy over anything as were the coloured people over the prospect of this new building.
When they saw that I was not afraid or ashamed to work, they began to assist with more enthusiasm.