Up From Slavery

by Booker T. Washington

Up From Slavery: Unreliable Narrator 1 key example

Chapter 4: Helping Others
Explanation and Analysis—Minimizing Racism:

One of the primary critiques wielded against Up from Slavery is that it minimizes the realities of racism. For this reason, Washington has been considered by some to be an unreliable narrator. For example, rather than acknowledging the effects of racist legislation like the Black Codes and Jim Crow laws (that were in place when this book was written in the late 1890s), Washington suggests that the only real challenge Black Americans face is their own lack of interest in or commitment to hard work.