Eugene D. Genovese on Louis Harlan’s

A STRONG MAN’S TRAGEDY-AND OURS

Booker T. Washington was a bad man. He compromised with those strong enough to kill him and trample his people. He countenanced racial segregation in a period when he had no choice. He built a political machine that functioned like a political machine instead of a knitting circle. He rewarded his friends and ruthlessly punished his enemies and, what is worse, got away with it. His whole life in fact consisted of a perverse recitation of liberal no-nos. This litany has been familiar in recent years, so we ought not to be surprised at its reappearance even in Louis R. Harlan’s new and superior biography.

EG

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Eugene Genovese

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A STRONG MAN’S TRAGEDY-AND OURS

Booker T. Washington was a bad man. He compromised with those strong enough to kill him and trample his people. He countenanced racial segregation in a period when he had no choice. He built a political machine that functioned like a political machine instead of a knitting circle. He rewarded his friends and ruthlessly punished his enemies and, what is worse, got away with it. His whole life in fact consisted of a perverse recitation of liberal no-nos. This litany has been familiar in recent years, so we ought not to be surprised at its reappearance even in Louis R. Harlan’s new and superior biography.