Dr. Carter G. Woodson once said, “When you determine what a man shall think you do not have to concern yourself about what he will do. If you make a man feel that he is inferior, you do not have to compel him to accept an inferior status, for he will seek it himself. If you make a man think that he is justly an outcast, you do not have to order him to the back door. He will go without being told; and if there is no back door, his very nature will demand one” (Woodson, 71). Taken from his pivotal work, The Miseducation of the Negro, this quote encompasses a reoccurring theme of socialized inadequacy on an institutional level. Woodson goes on to include potential solutions to the miseducation problem that could be implemented not only in schools, but also throughout the entire community. Years later, Dr. Molefi Kete Asante would incorporate Dr. Woodson’s ideas in his articulation of a functional theory that calls for an intentional shift of the mental paradigm through which African-Americans learned and taught. Afrocentricity, as defined by Asante, is a “consciousness, quality of thought, mode of analysis, and actionable perspective where Africans seek, from agency, to assert subject place within the context of African history” (Asante 16). In essence, all roads converge and diverge with the African continent, with its rich history of pioneering triumphs and profound tribulations; Africa and all of her descendants are the end all, be all of one’s focus. There are five criteria to Afrocentricity: “(1) An interest in psychological location; (2) a commitment to finding the African subject place; (3) the defense of African cultural elements; (4) a commitment to lexical refinement; (5) a commitment to correct the dislocations in the ... ... middle of paper ... ...philosophers studied in Egypt, that Egypt is by all geographical and historical scales an African nation, and that African Moors, were responsible for educational provisions that brought Europe out of its Dark Ages! Young African-Americans need to know these things because all change begins knowledge, which leads to attitude evaluations and frequently behavior modification (Bettinghaus 456). And, while on one hand self discovery is an individual duty, it is the also the responsibility of centered and oriented African-Americans to share the knowledge that they already possess about not only who we are, but the plethora of powerful forces that seek to exterminate the very essence of that identity. Africana peoples must no longer allow or rely on the Western World to educate the youth! In this regard the rationale, role and responsibility of HBCUs are straightforward.
Education is an ideological mechanism African-Americans used to enhance their social standing in the United States soon after liberation. During the period of W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington, the sort of education explored by African- Americans was the focus of intense discussion. Washington was an enthusiastic supporter of industrial/vocational education while DuBois supported both higher and industrial education, but greatly emphasized on the higher education (Ogbu 23). A lot of people in the Black society accepted DuBois’s stand on higher education remained the better proposal because it was thought to uplift the community. They thought that Washington’s approach was inefficient and left the whole race exposed to violation by White Americans.
In his book, The Miseducation of the Negro, Carter G. Woodson addresses many issues that have been and are still prevalent in the African American community. Woodson believed that in the midst of receiving education, blacks lost sight of their original reasons for becoming educated. He believed that many blacks became educated only to assimilate to white culture and attempt to become successful under white standards, instead of investing in their communities and applying their knowledge to help other blacks.
Robert Coles, a psychiatrist, wrote an essay called “Children of Crisis.” He focused on an interview that involved a young boy who was caught in the midst of desegregation in the South. The author’s thesis was as follows; “I think we tend to overlook the fact that Negroes—not only those from the skimpy Negro middle class – have had a widespread interest in education, though to be sure it has necessarily been education of a special kind.” The young boy interviewed, John, explained his troubles he encountered while dealing with desegregation within school. I think Negroes should have the same importance and treated the same as whites are. I do not agree with the other race having to live their life knowing they will be tormented by whites.
Washington, Booker T. "Education Will Solve the Race Problem. A Reply ." North American Review. 0171.525 (1900): 221-233. Web. 6 Dec. 2013.
Imagine this; the year is 1836. You are a 17-year-old student interested in learning more about the world around you; however, such an opportunity won’t come your way because you are black. Due to this fact you have no hope of furthering your education past the reading, writing, and arithmetic their slave masters taught your parents. A mind is a terrible thing to waste. The minds of many African American’s go to waste due to individual ignorance of their people and thus of themselves. Historically Black Colleges and Universities were put into effect to educate the black mind and eliminate the ignorance. The discussion of whether Historically Black Colleges and Universities are still necessary in the 21st century has taken place in recent years. Within the discussion many debate that due to the fact that the world is no longer like it was in the 1800’s, the time period in which Historically Black Colleges and Universities were created, the purpose of them no longer exists. However, the cultural significance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities seems to be overlooked by those who argue their importance and relevance in a time where blacks have the option of attending predominantly white institutions (PWIs). The purpose and grounds on which Historically Black Colleges and Universities were developed are still being served. The need to increase efforts to not only rouse, but support Historically Black Colleges and Universities is necessary now more than ever in order to preserve our past, fulfill the purpose of our present, and ensure our future.
Carter G Woodson once said, “When controlling a man’s thinking you do not have to worry about his actions.” In the classic African American literature, The Mis-Education of the Negro by Carter G. Woodson, highlights the African American experience after emancipation. The book displays the discrimination against the African American society by education, social class, and economic class. The book was written in the perspective of Dr. Woodson in the late 1800s. He was born in 1875 in New Canton, Virginia. Growing up in the South in a poor family; options for his future was limited. As an African American he had to work twice as hard to earn half of the opportunities a white man would receive. Woodson attended some of the most all white prestigious colleges in America. He decided to devote his finances and energies to an association which would help to overcome the inadequacies of the system which promoted mis-education. His goal was to ultimately break the circling cycle of mis-education within the African American society. Throughout the book, Woodson expresses his views and experiences as an African American, ‘Negro’ in the late 1800s. In the book, The Mis-Education of the Negro, the author illustrates how brain-washed the Negro has become come into accepting the role of inferiority assigned by the superior race.
It must be noted that for the purpose of avoiding redundancy, the author has chosen to use the terms African-American and black synonymously to reference the culture, which...
The book The Miseducation of the Negro by Carter Godwin Woodson, shows the reader the weakness of European culture that fail to include African American history and culture within schools and society. The system misinforms African American students, failing to prepare them for success and to give them an adequate sense of who they are within the system that they must live in . In the book Woodson states “the so-called modern education, with all its defects, however, does others so much more good than it does the Negro, because it has been worked out in conformity to the needs of those who have enslaved and oppressed weaker peoples”. Woodson statement mean the education system benefits other race expect African American, based on that it benefits mainly whites because they were slave owner and view their race as superior. Woodson provides many strong solutions to the problems which he identifies in the book. Woodson challenges the meaning of the educated Negro. He claims that the educated Negro often remove himself from the black community and
Gabriel, Deborah. Layers of Blackness: Colourism in the African Diaspora. London: Imani Media, 2007. Print.
The definition of African American studies has been a much debated topic for years. Surely, it is a necessary program to be taught in schools to educate students on the black experience through a political, social, and legal understanding. In order to appreciate the purpose and denotation of the curriculum, we must first look at the history of the field itself, the key elements that make up the program and its role in society, as well as what the future holds for the advancement of African American studies. These elements will allow us to recognize and comprehend its status in our society. Regarding these various matters, African American studies is an multidisciplinary field created from the history and development of the African American culture, viewed through an afro-centric mindset.
This devotion was paralleled in his book, Mis-Education of the Negro. Woodson, ultimately, wants to eliminate prejudice. “Stereotypes, omissions, and distortions all contribute to the development of prejudice” says Tatum (2013, pg. 65). He starts off talking about what happened with the period right after the Civil War. Even though the African-Americans were “free”, no one took responsibility to educate them formally. So naturally, they could only do one thing and that was to form their own schools, businesses, and churches. However, the only works and doctrines that were available were written by white people in the eurocentric view. Woodson (1933) claims, “The Negroes have been shoved out of the regular schools through the rear door into the obscurity of the backyard and told to imitate others whom they see from afar, or they have been permitted in some places to come into the public schools to see how others educate themselves”. This made the blacks adopt a sense of learned helplessness. Tatum (2013) stated, "The impact of racism begins early. Even in our preschool years, we are exposed to misinformation about people different from ourselves" (pg. 65). From an early age, professions were picked out for these African-American children. The materials that were used in black schools were different than those in white schools
In Brent Hayes Edwards essay, “ The Use of Diaspora”, the term “African Diaspora” is critically explored for its intellectual history of the word. Edward’s reason for investigating the “intellectual history of the term” rather than a general history is because the term “is taken up at a particular conjecture in black scholarly discourse to do a particular kind of epistemological work” (Edwards 9). At the beginning of his essay Edwards mentions the problem with the term, in terms of how it is loosely it is being used which he brings confusion to many scholars. As an intellectual Edwards understands “the confusing multiplicity” the term has been associated with by the works of other intellectuals who either used the coined or used the term African diaspora. As an articulate scholar, Edwards hopes to “excavate a historicized and politicized sense of diaspora” through his own work in which he focuses “on a black cultural politics in the interwar, particularly in the transnational circuits of exchange between the Harlem Renaissance and pre-Negritude Fran cophone activity in the France and West Africa”(8). Throughout his essay Edwards logically attacks the problem giving an informative insight of the works that other scholars have contributed to the term Edwards traces back to the intellectual history of the African diaspora in an eloquent manner.
For centuries African Americans have fought for equal rights, one of them being an opportunity for the chance to get an equal education. Many people believe that African Americans have an equal or better chance at getting an education than other students. This is not the case when in fact, it is actually harder for these three reasons: African American students tend to come from harsh, poverty stricken atmospheres. Shattered family lifestyles that make it difficult to pursue a higher education because they have not received the proper information. Secondly, just because African Americans are minorities does not mean that they receive a vast amount of government assistance or financial aid to pursue a higher education. Lastly, African American students do not receive the same treatment as other students when they attend predominantly white colleges and universities.
Khapoya, Vincent B. The African Experience: An Introduction. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998. Print.
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES, 2004) reported that Black students continue to trail White students with respect to educational access, achievement and attainment. Research on the effectiveness of teachers of Black students emphasizes that the teachers’ belief about the Black students’ potential greatly impacts their learning. Teachers tend to teach black students from a deficit perspective (King, 1994; Ladson-Billings, 1994; Mitchell, 1998). White teachers often aim at compensating for what they assume is missing from a Black student’s background (Foorman, Francis & Fletcher, 1998). The deficit model of instruction attempts to force students into the existing system of teaching and learning and doesn’t build on strengths of cultural characteristics or preferences in learning (Lewis, Hancock...