After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.
–Revelation 7:9, NRSV
Yet another untold story in the legacy of BTW was his role in Hampton’s effort to educate Native Americans. Imagine, as a true missionary endeavor, a task where the logic of the Incarnation is followed, not from the top-down Puritanism that First Nations people were formed in on the reservations, but living and learning side by side with Negros, a group of people whose back the United States were also built off of. Booker T. Washington was in charge of a residence hall, and he was the only black who watched over 75 Native American youths (97). One story Washington tells is of when one of the youths became sick, Booker had to travel to Washington D.C. with him, and on a steamboat, the Indian youth received service but Booker did not because of the racial caste system at that time (102). `
The apocalyptic imagination of BTW, which was oriented towards others and the Other, caused him to question segregation, especially when one look’s at John of Patmos’ vision of reconciliation and fellowship between persons from all nations and tribes.
Related articles
- Un-Learning Booker T. Washington: A Repentance (politicaljesus.com)
- Booker T. Washington: Homeless College Student & Matthew 8:20 (politicaljesus.com)
- Booker T. Washington, Revelation 2:17, and Naming (politicaljesus.com)
- Booker T. Washington on the Civil War (politicaljesus.com)
