
Re: Chapters 1-3: Up From Slavery
His denigrating of book learning is partly situational, since in his observation what the "Negro race" needs after slavery is a way to rise in the estimation of white society by providing the things that society finds most useful. It's farmers, masons, builders, manufacturers, and doctors, but not lawyers and politicians. It's also partly an educational philosophy, learning by doing, that has had other proponents such as John Dewey. Today education seems to be heading more in that direction with the emphasis on students getting out of the classroom to apply and pick up knowledge. I think it's the best way to go.