Later
in my life I found that my mother had given me the name of
"Booker Taliaferro" soon after I was born, but in some way that
part of my name seemed to disappear and for a long while was
forgotten, but as soon as I found out about it I revived it, and
made my full name "Booker Taliaferro Washington." I think there
are not many men in our country who have had the privilege of
naming themselves in the way that I have.
More than once I have tried to picture myself in the position of
a boy or man with an honoured and distinguished ancestry which I
could trace back through a period of hundreds of years, and who
had not only inherited a name, but fortune and a proud family
homestead; and yet I have sometimes had the feeling that if I had
inherited these, and had been a member of a more popular race, I
should have been inclined to yield to the temptation of depending
upon my ancestry and my colour to do that for me which I should
do for myself. Years ago I resolved that because I had no
ancestry myself I would leave a record of which my children would
be proud, and which might encourage them to still higher effort.
The world should not pass judgment upon the Negro, and especially
the Negro youth, too quickly or too harshly. The Negro boy has
obstacles, discouragements, and temptations to battle with that
are little know to those not situated as he is.
Pages:
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66