Up from Slavery

As I read through this story I cannot help but wonder how can one individual have so much good after all that he has been through. Booker T. Washington grew up as a slave and yet he had no bitterness towards he's owners. He wanted to prove himself to the world and was willing to do whatever it took to reach his goals.
When Washington describes the cabin that he and he's family lived in I cannot help but feel sad for them. It was a tiny space that was also used as a kitchen for the plantation. As I read through the passage I think more and more about the times that we live in now. We have so much to be great full for and yet people are still not satisfied. We always want more and more and more. When read about this little boy that had to wear a shirt who hurt him, and who ate food only when it was available.
Seems so not fair to me that people had to go through this. The slaves were treated poorly. They were not considered people. Yes, there were owners who were better then others but most of the time they did not care for anyone but themselves.
One passage that stood out to me a lot was on page 667. When Washington compares a schoolhouse to a paradise. “I had no schooling whatever while I was a slave, though I remember on several occasions I went as far a the school house door with one of my young mistresses to carry her book. The picture of several dozen boys and girls in a schoolroom engaged in study made a deep impression upon me, and I had the feeling that to get into a schoolhouse and study in this way would be about the same as getting into paradise.” He longed to study… just to go to school something so simple but yet so precious to a child. Breaks my heart to see this sad little boy in front of a school door and not being able to go in just because of his skin color.
While reading the second part of this story I was fascinated to find out that the owners made up names of their slaves either “John or Susan”. It just doesn’t make sense to me. They didn’t have the decency to call them by their real name. To celebrate their freedom they left to change their names and get last names. It was so exciting for the slaves to become free and yet some of them didn’t know how to deal with it.
Just so much I could say but it won’t change the past. I ‘m just happy and thankful that we live in the time and age that we do live in.