Quotation by Booker T. Washington, from his book "Up from Slavery"

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Booker T. Washington was the dominant figure in the African American community in the United States from 1890 to 1915. I see him as a man ahead of his times. I get the feeling that he took pride in his roots and that he was living proof that afro-americans were capable of taking their rightful places in society once they were freed from slavery. In "Up from Slavery" (1901) he wrote: "Think about it: We went into slavery pagans; we came out Christians. We went into slavery pieces of property; we came out American citizens. We went into slavery with chains clanking about our wrists; we came out with the American ballot in our hands...Notwithstanding the cruelty and moral wrong of slavery, we are in a stronger and more hopeful condition, materially, intellectually, morally, and religiously, than is true of an equal number of black people in any other portion of the globe." Do you agree with Washington's point of view?