Autoethnobiography Essay

Jessie Dillon September 19, 2013 Foundations of Edu ation

!a"e you e"er #andered ho# different your life #ould be if you #ere born in the 1$00%s as a sla"e& 'he autobiography of (oo)er '* +ashington is about ,ust that* (oo)er #as born into sla"ery in 1$-$ or 1$-9 he #asn%t .uite sure #hen or #here he #as born /+ashington, 19031* 2ould you imagine not )no#ing #hen your birthday #as or #here you #ere born& 3n the follo#ing paragraphs 3 #ill be omparing and ontrasting my life to that of (oo)er +ashington%s* +ith (oo)er and 3 gro#ing up in ompletely different time periods #here Afri an4Ameri ans #ere sla"es ompared to no# #hen they are e5 epted is ,ust one #ay that our li"es differ* (oo)er #as born a sla"e, but #as fortunate enough to ha"e had )inder masters then most other sla"e o#ners /+ashington, 19031* +hen (oo)er #as a boy Afri an4Ameri ans #eren%t allo#ed to go to s hool and from the first time he sa# a lassroom #hi h #as #hen he had to arry one of his mistresses boo)s for her and he sa# from the door students studying he felt that to study li)e these #hite students one #ould be 6getting into paradise7 /+ashington, 19031* 'he first number that (oo)er e"er learned #as the number 1$ this #as the number #hi h #as on his barrel of salt that he pa )ed for the day /+ashington, 19031* !e re alled that for as long as he ould remember he al#ays #anted to be able to read /+ashington, 19031* 8n e he and his family be ame free he #as able to a hie"e that goal e"en though it #asn%t easy* 9oo)ing at my life ompared to that of (oo)er +ashington 3 an see that my life is mu h easier then his life e"er #as* 3n his time Afri an4Ameri ans #ere to the #hites not human, but rather mu h li)e attle* (oo)er #asn%t allo#ed to get an edu ation till he #as around nine years old* 3 myself ha"e been going to s hool sin e 3 #as fi"e years old* +hile reading his autobiography 3 learned something about my life and ho# 3 sometimes omplained, ho#e"er, (oo)er ne"er omplained about his life he too) it in stride and ne"er let an obsta le stand in his #ay* Some of these omplaints of

mine #ere money and loo)ing at the life of (oo)er #ho had no money his family barely had enough money #ith (oo)er, John, and their stepfather #or)ing to put food on the table* :et boo)er ontinually o"er ame these hallenges* !o#e"er, (oo)er and 3 do ha"e some similarities #e both lo"e to read and #e #ant to ma)e our family proud* 3%"e al#ays lo"ed to read e"er sin e 3 learned ho#, (oo)er may not ha"e been able to read, but he #as al#ays fas inated #ith the idea of being able to read /+ashington, 19031* (oo)ers beliefs and "alues are also "ery similar to that of mine* (oo)er belie"ed that the #hite men shouldn%t ,udge the bla ) man the #ay that they #ere prone to do, one of these e5amples #ould be that he found that it #as #rong #hen it #as assumed that #hate"er a #hite hild did he #ould su eed, but people #ere surprised #hen a bla ) hild didn%t fail /+ashington, 19031* 3 also belie"e that one should ne"er ,udge someone by #hat they loo) li)e on the outside it%s #hat is on the inside that ounts* 8ne thing he said that really stu ) out to me #as 63 ha"e learned that su ess is to be measured not so mu h by the position that one has rea hed in life as by the obsta les #hi h he has o"er ome #hile trying to su eed7 /+ashington, 19031* +hen 3 read this it made me reali;e that he #as right it doesn%t matter #hat status you ha"e, but rather #hat you had to do to get there* (oo)er had to struggle his #hole life to rea h his dreams* !e #ent from a sla"e to being the founder of the 'us)egee 3nstitute in Alabama* +here the hildren that #ere enrolled in the s hool built the s hool themsel"es /+ashington, 19031* (oo)er belie"ed in hard #or) mu h as 3 do he also belie"ed that you had to #or) hard to get something* +hen he #ent to the !ampton <ni"ersity he had to #or) as a ,anitor in order to pay for his tuition /+ashington, 19031* !e learned this s)ill #hile he #or)ed in the home of =eneral and >rs* ?uffner /+ashington, 19031* >rs* ?uffner #as "ery parti ular about #hen and ho# things #ere to be done* (oo)er had to learn to s#eep in order to

abolish all dust and do so in a timely manner* 'his s)ill be ame "ery useful #hen, in order for him to study at the s hool, he #as gi"en a test of his ability to s#eep and #ith the s)ill that he learned from >rs* ?uffner he left not a single spe ) of dirt any#here and be ause of this he #as allo#ed to study at the s hool /+ashington, 19031* A differen e in our li"es is our identity as a member in so iety* 3 ha"e al#ays had a big mouth that managed to get me into trouble on more then one o asion and if 3 had had to go through #hat (oo)er did 3 #ould ha"e hatted the people for it* !o#e"er, (oo)er ne"er hatted the #hite men he loo)ed up to them and dreamed of #hen he #ould be in a lass e.ui"alent to that of a #hite man* 3n the boo) he tal)s about a man #ho o#ed his master money and had promised to pay him ba ), #ell, #hen the Eman ipation @ro lamation #as ena ted and the sla"es free he no longer had to repay that debt, but he felt that he #ould ne"er truly be free till he fulfilled his promise so he payed him ba ) #ith interest /+ashington, 19031* (oo)er des ribes ho# they all truly ared about their masters su h as #hen t#o of his young masters ame home from the #ar #ounded all of the sla"es on his plantation #anted him to get better and they #anted to help him get better /+ashington, 19031* (oo)er ne"er lost this mentality his t#o greatest role models #here #hite men the one that #as his greatest rolemodel, ho#e"er, #ould ha"e been =eneral Samuel 2* Armstrong he #as the head master at the !ampton 3nstitute /+ashington, 19031* (oo)er al#ays felt it an honor to be in his presen e #hi h #as often sin e he #as a ,anitor and had to lean Armstrong%s offi e /+ashington, 19031* !e al#ays said that (oo)er #as his best student /+i)ipedia, 20131 (oo)er began to imitate his tea hing style and ethi al beliefs* (oo)ers family also played a role in his su ess mu h li)e mine has* (oo)er%s biggest supporter #as his mother #ho bought him his first spelling boo) and en ouraged (oo)er to go to s hool and to learn to read /+ashington, 19031* She #as also the one

#ho #as "ery supporti"e of him going off to s hool, but so #as the #hole to#n of >alden /+ashington, 19031* 'he to#n ga"e him #hat e"er they ould money, food #hate"er they ould spare ,ust to get him to that s hool /+ashington, 19031* 3n my life my family has defiantly been a huge support to me they ha"e al#ays belie"ed that 3 ould do #hate"er 3 put my mind to mu h li)e (oo)er%s family his had his ba ) and mine has mine* (oo)er also gi"es all three of his #i"es redit for helping him found the 'us)egee 3nstitute and dedi ates his autobiography to his #ife >argret James +ashington and his brother John +ashington* +hi h #as%t his birth surname or his stepfathers last name* 3t #as his stepfathers first name and #hen he first #ent to s hool they as) him #hat his name #as and he replied that his name #as (oo)er +ashington #hen his last name to begin #ith #as Ferguson /+ashington, 19031* (oo)ers life and ho# he li"ed it really made me ta)e a better loo) at my life and ma)es me reali;e that my life isn%t that bad* (oo)er #as a young boy born into sla"ery in the 1$00%s 3%m a young #hite girl born in 199A* 'he differen e bet#een (oo)er and 3 is not mu h more then the period in #hi h ea h of us #ere born* !e #as born into sla"ery and got a taste of #hat that meant 3 ha"e read about it in the history boo)s, on the 'B, and from old timers telling stories, but 3 ha"e ne"er had to li"e in the shoes of a sla"e* 3 belie"e that (oo)er #as "ery bra"e and determined for he #as strong enough to go for his dreams and to not omplain about his struggles, but to find a #ay around them* 3 feel as if 3 ould learn a thing or t#o from (oo)ers life and instead of finding something #rong #ith e"er situation 3 ould try and find the sil"er lining in the s)y* +hat ha"e 3 learned& 3%"e learned that a young sla"e boy had ,ust as mu h dri"e and lo"e of edu ation as 3 do and he lo"ed it so mu h that he founded a s hool in Alabama* 3 learned that our beliefs though enturies apart are "ery mu h ali)e neither of us mu h are for ,udging people on the olor of their s)in* 3 also finally learned the meaning of the term 6@ass it For#ard7 it doesn%t ,ust mean that if someone

does something ni e for you you do something ni e for someone else that is only part of it the rest of it means that someone tea hes you something and they might not e"en reali;e they%"e made an impa t on you* :ou go and do #hat e"er you an to ma)e the proud of you for (oo)er it #as his family, his to#n, =eneral Armstrong, >rs* ?uffner, and to some e5tent his masters all helped him to rea h his goals and #here his moti"ation to su eed in life* 'he people in my life that 3 #ill be passing it for#ard for is my family, my friends, and most importantly for myself* +ould li"ing in the 1$00%s really hange my out loo) on life& 9ife #ould ha"e been different for me* >aybe 3%d be here or maybe 3 #ouldn%t all 3 )no# is that no matter #hat time period one is in, no matter #hat the hallenge is, you an al#ays rea h your goals if you try hard enough and belie"e in yourself that is #hat (oo)er taught me*

+ashington, (*'* /19031* Up from slavery. /p*11* Ce# :or)D Doubleday E 2ompany, 3n +ashington, (*'* /19031* Up from slavery. /p*-1* Ce# :or)D Doubleday E 2ompany, 3n +ashington, (*'* /19031* Up from slavery. /p*191* Ce# :or)D Doubleday E 2ompany, 3n

+ashington, (*'* /19031* Up from slavery. /p*201* Ce# :or)D Doubleday E 2ompany, 3n +ashington, (*'* /19031* Up from slavery. /p*291* Ce# :or)D Doubleday E 2ompany, 3n +ashington, (*'* /19031* Up from slavery. /pp* 314321* Ce# :or)D Doubleday E 2ompany, 3n +ashington, (*'* /19031* Up from slavery. /p*3$1* Ce# :or)D Doubleday E 2ompany, 3n +ashington, (*'* /19031* Up from slavery. /p*10F1* Ce# :or)D Doubleday E 2ompany, 3n +i)ipedia* /2013, June -1* Samuel c. armstrong. ?etrie"ed from httpDGGen*#i)ipedia*orgG#i)iGSamuelH2*HArmstrong