The Purpose And Influence Of The Tuskegee Institute

Tuskegee Institute is a private institution that was historically meant for the black race. It

was established in 1833 Alabama, United States by a reformer and an educator Booker t

Washington. The institution was designated in an attempt to empower the African Americans

who were facing some level of racism. They were being marginalized and to make them grow in

an equal or close to the other races, Tuskegee was founded to empower them.

As an African American, Washington felt the need to establish an institution that

would help his race. His race was being exposed to torture, animosity and they were not being

exposed to equal opportunities. He therefore ensured that the institution would teach the people

of his race agriculture and understanding in industrial works. In this way, they would be able to

empower themselves and grow without being dependent on oppressors or even feel oppressed

and lesser.

This reformer ensured that all the blacks that attended the campus were taught

how to be influential leaders and through philosophies and ideas that were very helpful. He kept

on encouraging Africans to tolerate discrimination from other races but at the same time work

harder to increase chances of their prosperity. This made more influence sense because the

African in America had no say. Besides, they could not just fight a losing battle.

This institute is one of its kind that has created a lot of influence in history. The

influence of Tuskegee was not only felt in the United States but also in the African continent.

Having been established in a 5000 acres, it was able to accommodate 2455 undergraduate

students in every semester based academic calendar. This was a significant number that was

greatly influenced by ideas like racial solidarity and self-help in development of agriculture and

industrial culture.
 The extension of this influenced reached African continent because it was about

Africans. The blacks got both direct and indirect inspiration because it promoted socialism and

African nationalism. With the help of people like DEB Dubois who embraced Washingtons

philosophy, it became the breeding grounds for Pan-Africanism which greatly impacted on the

struggle for freedom and self-rule in African countries that were then colonized by various

European settlers.

References

Smith, Gabriel. "A Hollow Inheritance: The Legacies of the Tuskegee Civic

Association and the Crusade for Civic Democracy in Alabama." (2016).

Chappell, Christopher, and Andra Johnson. "Influence of pH and Bulk Density on

Carbon Dioxide Efflux in Three Urban Wetland Types." Professional Agricultural Workers

Journal 3.1 (2015): 5.