Booker T. Washington in Perspective: Essays of Louis R. Harlan Pp. 152-163, "Booker T. Washington's Discovery of the Jews" [first published in "Region, Race and Reconstruction, " ed. by J.M. Kousser & J.M. McPherson (New York: Oxford University Press, 1982)], discuss Washington's ambivalent attitude to Jews. Throughout his career he saw parallels in the historical experiences of Blacks and Jews, and advocated use of the Jewish model to rising Black businessmen. Contends that in his early speeches, Washington evinced a rhetorical antisemitism which identified Jews with shopowners who exploited others and who charged usurious interest for crop mortgages, but that he dropped his prejudice in order to secure donations from wealthy Jews for his educational institution. Argues that Washington's work contributed to the partnership between Jews and Blacks in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. |
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Booker T. Washington in Perspective: Essays of Louis R. Harlan Raymond W. Smock Limited preview - 2011 |