Quote of the Day: Booker T. Washington

In 1911, Booker T. Washington wrote,

Booker T. Washington, Lot 13164-A, no. 10 [P&P] Reproduction Number:  LC-USZ62-119898, Encyclopedia of Alabama

There is another class of colored people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs — partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs.

Over 100 years later, his words still ring true.

“Booker T. Washington nailed it,” writes TakeCharge executive director Sheila Qualls. “Progressives and Black leadership blame any problem in the Black community on racism. Bad grades? Racism. Pulled over by police? Racism. And it works. … If we stop blaming race, people might have to look at the real problem: fatherless homes.”