Mutual Mercy

Few Americans know the details in the story of what was accomplished on a tiny hill in rural Alabama when blacks and whites worked together in establishing America's greatest and most effective system of merit-based education. Against all odds, the Tuskegee Institute became known worldwide for its excellence in more than education. The Institute also excelled in the arts, industrial and religious training, character building, and personal development.

Blacks came of age at the Tuskegee Institute, and if our ancestors had chosen to follow the Tuskegee template as the standard for higher education, there would likely be no need for this book. They may not have realized it at the time, but what was going on at Tuskegee was a story for the ages that would be silent for more than a century but would one day be retold for the good of America and all glory to God. That day has arrived.

Washington, Carver, and Moton were proud they had become American citizens, but they were even more proud of what their ancestors had endured in the crucible of slavery. What their people overcame and continued to overcome created in them a determined spirit that is not to be denied. Reading these stories and learning that the Tuskegee Institute fully displayed the freedoms the founders wrote into law in the Constitution of the United States of America has created in me a greater sense of dignity and respect for my fellow Americans who are black.

The Tuskegee Three raised up their people to believe in themselves with dignity, a strong desire to work and become self-reliant, own property, know Jesus, and live responsibly within the law. They also taught their people that all whites are not their enemy and that all blacks are not their friends. And the same is true today. Washington, Carver, and Moton comprehended the gravity of their calling, their moment in history, and the responsibility to heal and nurture the sensitive relationship between the two races. They were instruments of divine mercy who believed that America is to be united, one nation, and every one of us, regardless of race, religion, profession, or nationality, by the favor of God, would one day live helpfully and harmoniously with mutual mercy.