This anecdote was conspicuously absent from Up from Slavery, as it could be construed as an accusation against the southern whites he wished to placate. In Story, for instance, Washington recounts an incident in which he witnessed his uncle being whipped with a cowhide. There are notable differences between the two texts and what they chose to include or omit. In contrast to Up from Slavery, the audience was primarily rural blacks, with distribution limited to a subscription market covering rural parts of the south. While many have criticized Washington's accommodationist views, an earlier autobiography, The Story of My Life, tells a slightly different story. Advisors who wanted him to be the spokesman for the black race also influenced him.
Perhaps to better appeal to white readers and potential donors, Washington employed a white ghostwriter, Max Thrasher, who also served as his public relations agent. He counsels blacks to be patient and to avoid agitating for civil rights or social equality, but rather to prove their worth through hard work. Wishing not to offend white southerners, Washington minimizes his critique of slavery and racial injustice, instead seeking to assuage the guilt of former slaveholders.
A quintessential rags-to-riches story, the book celebrates hard work, self-improvement, and adopting white values. Originally published in Outlook magazine in serial form, it was translated into 18 languages and is one of the earliest African American texts never to have gone out of print. Washington, one of the most prominent black leaders of the post-civil War era. Up from Slavery is the autobiography of Booker T.
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