This is an engaging review, and motivates me to want to check out the book. I was especially interested by the description of the evolution in Dunbar’s attitude toward Booker T. Washington and the Tuskegee Institute. It’s very relevant to the current crisis in education: it was easy to feel unbothered by the disappearance of woodshop, metal working, sewing, and other hands-on classes in the public schools at the start of this century — it even seemed like a progressive idea, to create greater equality by putting everyone onto a track exclusively devoted to the development of logical/quantative and verbal skills. But many people are happier earning their living with their hands, and if they are deprived of opportunities to explore applied arts when they are young, school inevitably fails to meet their needs and they understandably tune out.
Many young adults are now bouncing around from job to job in retail, security, delivery, and other low-paying positions with no opportunity for advancement. They might well be earning handsome salaries as electricians, plumbers, machinists, and so on, if they’d had a shop class that caught their interest and made them feel invested in going to school. The disrespect for skilled trades in this country, despite the fact that they are truly essential to the functioning of our society, is a puzzling and frustrating thing. And it is one of several factors that create long-term disparities for which, despite the rhetoric of many “progressives”, there are no quick and ready fixes.
Growing up in Dayton, Dunbar was one of our few local heroes - alongside the Wrights and fellow inventor Charles Kettering. Glad to see he's still being studied and read.
I was wondering whether or not there would ever be a biography of Dunbar, one of the most singular authors in Black American history, that showed all aspects of his life and career fairly and objectively. It seems this might be it.
Thank you for a fine essay. I read Dunbar long ago when I took a Black Studies / Black Literature course in college. I'm happy to be reconnected with him.
This is an engaging review, and motivates me to want to check out the book. I was especially interested by the description of the evolution in Dunbar’s attitude toward Booker T. Washington and the Tuskegee Institute. It’s very relevant to the current crisis in education: it was easy to feel unbothered by the disappearance of woodshop, metal working, sewing, and other hands-on classes in the public schools at the start of this century — it even seemed like a progressive idea, to create greater equality by putting everyone onto a track exclusively devoted to the development of logical/quantative and verbal skills. But many people are happier earning their living with their hands, and if they are deprived of opportunities to explore applied arts when they are young, school inevitably fails to meet their needs and they understandably tune out.
Many young adults are now bouncing around from job to job in retail, security, delivery, and other low-paying positions with no opportunity for advancement. They might well be earning handsome salaries as electricians, plumbers, machinists, and so on, if they’d had a shop class that caught their interest and made them feel invested in going to school. The disrespect for skilled trades in this country, despite the fact that they are truly essential to the functioning of our society, is a puzzling and frustrating thing. And it is one of several factors that create long-term disparities for which, despite the rhetoric of many “progressives”, there are no quick and ready fixes.
Growing up in Dayton, Dunbar was one of our few local heroes - alongside the Wrights and fellow inventor Charles Kettering. Glad to see he's still being studied and read.
Thank you! I just got this book to learn more about Dunbar. I’ve often come across his name, but was unaware of the extent of his achievements.
I was wondering whether or not there would ever be a biography of Dunbar, one of the most singular authors in Black American history, that showed all aspects of his life and career fairly and objectively. It seems this might be it.
Thank you! I knew nothing of Dunbar, other than the high schools named after him, and will now read his writings.
Ordered the book and looking forward to challenging my ignorance.
Thank you for a fine essay. I read Dunbar long ago when I took a Black Studies / Black Literature course in college. I'm happy to be reconnected with him.