Written by Harmony Lehman
Enlightenment is a state of knowledge in which someone’s perspective changes from uneducated to one of a higher understanding. It has been historically defined in many different contexts, but they all share the core idea of the knowledge gained making the person better for it. This idea of enlightenment as merit is used in both Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and Booker T. Washington’s Up From Slavery, but in very different ways. While Jacob’s definition of enlightenment lifts Black people up, Washington’s definition squanders the empowerment and equality that Black people fought for.
In Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet’s enlightenment stems from the realization that she is not, and should not be considered to be, property. Harriet, despite the pain and trauma it dredges up, tells the story of her life in Life of a Slave Girl. She is made to feel less than human through the abuse she suffers, especially from Dr. Flint, who makes her feel ashamed even when recounting the story of the pain he inflicted upon her and how she responded to it. However, this past trauma does not stop Harriet from the realization she comes to after escaping from the slave owner’s clutches and finding refuge in the North. She realizes--through her education and life experiences--that she is not property. She aims this acquired knowledge at those living in the North in a plea for empathy, not just for herself, but for the people still suffering in slavery. Harriet’s perspective contradicted the common view of the time that slaves were more property than people and empowered African Americans in the simplest way: it recognized their humanity.
In contrast to Harriet’s Life of a Slave Girl, Washington’s Up From Slavery represents this idea of enlightenment to assert superiority of some people over others. Washington goes to great lengths to get his education, and with it, he is steadily offered more and more opportunities from White people. He views himself, with this new insight into writing and reading as well as politics, as enlightened. However, instead of seeing himself as an exemplary case of African American achievement, Washington argues that this knowledge he fought for was guaranteed because of how hard he fought. He claims that only some people have merit, and those few deserve to, and will, succeed. But what, then, of those who don’t have his perceived notion of merit? According to Washington, these people don’t deserve to have certain rights that are shared by the rest of Americans. This conclusion, while not only astoundingly inaccurate (see the Tulsa Massacre, pictured below, where a successful Black village is ravaged), also assumes much and little of African Americans at the same time. It assumes that Black people should be acknowledged for their skills by White people, which is demeaning in of itself; why should Black people need the acknowledgement of their White counterparts? But it further assumes that all of the people who are not successful (which, in large part in the late 1800s, were African Americans), are not successful because they do not hold enough merit. This viewpoint only serves to demoralize African Americans.
The way we use knowledge matters. It can be used to empower or to oppress. By examining these two cases of the effects of gained enlightenment, we can see how to responsibly go about using this knowledge. We could claim ourselves simply better, and disregard those struggling. Or, we could instead use that knowledge to empathize better with those we might otherwise not completely relate to. The choice here, I believe, is a simple one. Why choose to undermine instead of understand?
I really like how your blog covered a more brighter side of enlightenment with Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of A Slave Girl and the more darker side with Washington's "Up From Slavery." Because you did that it allowed yourself to write and formulate a comparison of the two books wether that was intentional or not. The message at the end also really helped me understand your own worldview of how knowledge should be used and I myself also agree with your idea of how it should be used especially when considering how beneficial to society both of these slave novels were.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate your thoughts on Booker. T Washington's views. He was definitely viewed more positively and seen as much more progressive in the time, but now looking back we can see how harmful his views were on African American progress. I agree with your idea that Washington weaponized his education to put down many others who deserved the same opportunities he got. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI've been looking forward to getting to your post! I was really hoping that I'd come across a blog that mentioned the real impacts of racism upon Washington's idealistic view of a meritocratic capitalistic society in America; the lynchings, the mass destructions of successful Black communities by White people, and of course, the very existence of the KKK, so I'm quite glad that you highlighted this disparity in Washington's argument so clearly. I always adore your writing, this blog is no exception. Great job, Harm!
ReplyDeleteHi Harmony, I appreciate your insight on Washington's perspective and agree with you. It seems that the more I read about him, the more I realize how much harm he may have unintentionally caused with the ideas he spread. Even though it probably came from good intentions, Washington made a lot of presumptions and generalizations about people that can be detrimental. As you demonstrated in the case of Harriet Jacobs, everyone has their own unique experiences, and preconceptions about the capabilities of others can be misleading and unfairly categorizing. Great post!
ReplyDeleteHi Harmony! I really enjoyed your analysis of how the different authors viewed education -- I feel like most of us (myself included) focused on their perspective on slavery, which makes sense given it's the main subject of both works, but I appreciated that you went for something else and were able to identify differences and similarities outside of the obvious! I'm curious to learn more about the differences between the forms of education the two authors received -- I know that Washington studied in a night school, whereas (if I recall correctly) Jacobs learned to read and write from her mistress during her enslavement and continued to educate herself in New York. I wonder if those differences contributed at all to their general outlook on life, on society, on slavery, and on enlightenment.
ReplyDeleteHi Harmony! This was a really interesting take on the two autobiographies, and I loved your analysis on BTW's meritocracy ideology. His belief that hard work inevietably wields success can also be flipped to mean those who aren't successful simply didn't try hard enough, which disregards the systemic oppression black people faced. BTW seems to speak retrospectively from a place of success, while Jacobs acknowledges the struggle that remains in her community and personal life but also the strength in recognition. Their experiences shaped how they view human worth, and you expressed this concept really well in your blog!
ReplyDeleteHi Harmony, these blog titles are getting really creative! I really liked how you approached these two texts through a unique focus on enlightenment. Most people would choose a more general description of their perspective, but you framed it in a really interesting way. I particularly liked how you explain BTW's views as meritocratic at the source, and the advantages and limitations of thinking that way.
ReplyDeleteHi Harmony! This blog was very insightful and I agree with your well thought-out points on how Booker T. Washington's opinions were generalizations that did not relate to the majority of the population of black people and they were biased and meritocratic. While I do believe he should not have settled for continued discrimination, do you think that that could've maybe been a strategic choice for the time? Also do you think his contrasting experiences as a salve (compared to Jacobs) and his overall upbringing played a role in these opinions and generalizations? Overall really great job and I am looking forward to the next blog!!
ReplyDeleteI love your focus on Enlightenment throughout your post. While I've thought about BTW's and Harriets opinions, I had not connected them both to the idea of enlightenment. I like your analysis of enlightenment in Harriet's book being her working past the ideals and dehumanization of African Americans that the system is built on, and gaining righteousness in her beliefs. And how while Harriet uses it to uplight African Americans, BTW weaponizes it to support a capitalist hierarchy of worthiness. I also appreciate how you went even further and provided the Tulsa Massacre as a clear example the limitations in his idea of meritocracy. I wonder how much of BTW's work is purely strategic, and how much he actually believes considering how much evidence there is disproving his argument.
ReplyDeleteHi Harmony! Your blog post on the impact of enlightenment in Jacobs’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and Washington’s Up From Slavery was very enlightening. I appreciate that you explore the nuances of knowledge and how it can either affirm (Jacobs asserting that she isn’t a piece of property) or diminish (Washington’s meritocracy) humanity. Thank you for sharing a source on the Tusla Massacre; it was a very insightful read. Awesome work!
ReplyDeleteHi Harmony! It's super interesting how you approach this theme of "enlightenment" in two very different ways for Jacobs and Washington: Jacobs' is a realization of her own humanity, while Washington's is a traditional educational enlightenment"of a more "elite" nature. I hadn't really thought about how Jacobs' development is one that any slave is capable of accomplishing, while Washington's is inherently somewhat selective. I wonder to what extent Washington deemed his fellow African-Americans "worthy" of enlightenment. Awesome blog!
ReplyDelete