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Beaten, whipped, branded and sometimes killed, this was the life of a slave if they possessed what is known now to be one of the most common and mandatory passages of life, an education. No matter your status, freedman or slave, your color represented the level of education you were allowed to possess. Emancipated for generation by whites that were threatened by the possibility of an educated black soon became a reality. To find an educated African-American today is not only common, but a norm throughout society. What changes have been made in our educational system since the days of a common slave? 11, this number may prove to be lucky for most people, but for the first 11 indentured/slaved males that were brought to this country for purpose …show more content…
This was made very clear as funding was not as readily accessible for colored education as it was for white and even native american education.These institutions were in most cases, academically inferior to white institutions (kenyon.edu). Due to this lack of funding the African-American community decided to take it upon themselves to self educate using there churches as a front for sustained education for their children called “Sabbath schools” were these churches would meet on Sundays after church in order to further their children …show more content…
A system that not only demoralized, but emphasized oppression over all people of color but also emphasized the superiority that whites had over blacks. The separation in inequality spread through all communities, all towns and even educational installations. This was made apparently clear as the supreme court legitimized the Jim Crow laws and the Jim Crow Way of life during the 1896 case of Plessy v. Ferguson (Pilgrum), but through persistence and unwavering dedication and countless sacrifices this to end as the birth of equality was born and the victory that changed history and life as we know it for racial
Throughout American History, many minorities have fallen victim to cruel discrimination and inequality, African Americans were one of such minorities that greatly suffered from the white majority’s upper hand. After the end of the Civil War and the Reconstruction period following it, many people, especially the Southern population, were extremely against African Americans obtaining equal rights in the American society. Due to this, these opponents did everything in their power to limit and even fully strip African Americans of their rights. The Supreme Court case of Plessy v Ferguson in 1896 is an excellent example of the obstacles put forth by the white population against their black counterparts in their long and arduous fight for civil liberty and equality. Even though the court upheld the discriminatory Louisiana law with an 8-1 decision, John Marshall Harlan’s dissent in the case played a significant role in the history of the United States for it predicted all the injustice African Americans would be forced to undergo for many more years, mainly due to this landmark decision.
Even though the African-Americans were “free”, no one took responsibility for educating 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.
During the four decades following reconstruction, the position of the Negro in America steadily deteriorated. The hopes and aspirations of the freedmen for full citizenship rights were shattered after the federal government betrayed the Negro and restored white supremacist control to the South. Blacks were left at the mercy of ex-slaveholders and former Confederates, as the United States government adopted a laissez-faire policy regarding the “Negro problem” in the South. The era of Jim Crow brought to the American Negro disfranchisement, social, educational, and occupational discrimination, mass mob violence, murder, and lynching. Under a sort of peonage, black people were deprived of their civil and human rights and reduced to a status of quasi-slavery or “second-class” citizenship. Strict legal segregation of public facilities in the southern states was strengthened in 1896 by the Supreme Court’s decision in the Plessy vs. Ferguson case. Racists, northern and southern, proclaimed that the Negro was subhuman, barbaric, immoral, and innately inferior, physically and intellectually, to whites—totally incapable of functioning as an equal in white civilization.
During the pre-Civil War America, the enslaved African American’s were not recommended to be taught any form of education such as reading or writing. Many of the white people believed that if the slaves were to learn how to read and write that they would then start to think for themselves and create plans of a rebellion. There was sure to be a rebellion if they were to be taught any form of education. To make sure that the African American slaves did not try to become educated they had harsh punishments for anyone that tried to learn how to read and to write. Education during the pre-African-American Civil Rights Movement was a lot different from how it was during pre-Civil War America. The African American’s had schools that they could attend, but they were separated from the white people. There schools were not located in spots as pleasant as the schools that the white people attended. The African American’s did not have the same quantity and quality supplies as the white schools. Examples of how the African American’s did not receive the same type of tools to help with their education was shown in A Lesson Before Dying. The African American’s had books that had pages missing and that were falling apart, limited amount of chalk, pencils, paper, and other learning utensils while the schools that the white people attended had more than enough supplies and new books
The Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896) ‘equal but separate’ decision robbed it of its meaning and confirmed this wasn’t the case as the court indicated this ruling did not violate black citizenship and did not imply superior and inferior treatment ,but it indeed did as it openly permitted racial discrimination in a landmark decision of a 8-1 majority ruling, it being said was controversial, as white schools and facilities received near to more than double funding than black facilities negatively contradicted the movement previous efforts on equality and maintaining that oppression on
The Jim Crow era was a racial status system used primarily in the south between the years of 1877 and the mid 1960’s. Jim Crow was a series of anti-black rules and conditions that were never right. The social conditions and legal discrimination of the Jim Crow era denied African Americans democratic rights and freedoms frequently. There were numerous ways in which African Americans were denied social and political equality under Jim Crow. Along with that, lynching occurred quite frequently, thousands being done over the era.
Through out history education has been a topic of many concerns. Historically Black Colleges and Universities were established to try and provide freed slaves education they were not able to obtain. For African Americans in the 20th century attending school was a burden. The children had to withstand long walks to get to their designated schools, being denied classes that the white students had in their schools, outdated books and hand me down classroom materials. African Americans all across the United States fought for their kids rights to get a good education, education provided to white only schools. There was a period of time schools were able to legally deny a student acceptance into their institutions based solely on the color of their skin. Many African Americans tried and majority of them got denied. Students at all levels were being denied, from Pre-K all the way up to college. After many attempts to integrate schools parents of the children being denied education just like the white kids, they realized it would be easier to just build their own schools.
Next is John Henrik Clark, who refers to African America Studies as Africana Studies because he believes that Black tells you how you look, not who you are. He goes on to state that he calls African American Studies “a dilemma at the crossroads of history” (Clark 32). This is because European people knew history well enough to distort it and use it, as well as political weapons such as the gun and bible, to control the world. This is the reason why a look at African culture will show what Africana Studies are about or should be about. Africana Studies should embrace the Africans all around the world, in places like Africa, North and South America, the Caribbean Islands even those in Asia and the Pacific Islands. Clarke states that Africa is
1981: business and management were the most popular of all black bachelor’s degree recipients. 13,325 blacks earned a bachelor’s degree in business and management (40% earned in historically black colleges).
...forbade black education. Besides that, very little of the white population went to schools anyway. Establishing school systems in these areas was a tricky job. Despite problems in the South and West with education, America had grown into a more learned nation. Over 80% of the population (excluding the slavery population) were literate, compared with a much lower literacy rate prior to the 1800’s. Americans had once again worked hard in order to enhance their societies’ standards.
Toward the end of the Progressive Era American social inequality had stripped African Americans of their rights on a local and national level. In the 1896 Supreme Court case of Plessey vs. Ferguson, the Supreme Court sided with a Louisiana state law declaring segregation constitutional as long as facilities remain separate but equal. Segregation increased as legal discriminatory laws became enacted by each state but segregated facilities for whites were far superior to those provided for blacks; especially prevalent in the South were discriminatory laws known as Jim Crow laws which surged after the ruling. Such laws allowed for segregation in places such as restaurants, hospitals, parks, recreational areas, bathrooms, schools, transportation, housing, hotels, etc. Measures were taken to disenfranchise African Americans by using intimidation, violence, putting poll taxes, and literacy tests. This nearly eliminated the black vote and its political interests as 90% of the nine million blacks in America lived in the South and 1/3 were illiterate as shown in Ray Stannard Baker’s Following the Color Line (Bailey 667). For example, in Louisiana 130,334 black voters registered in 1896 but that number drastically decreased to a mere 1,342 in 1904—a 99 percent decline (Newman ). Other laws prevented black...
The laws known as “Jim Crow” were laws presented to basically establish racial apartheid in the United States. These laws were more than in effect for “for three centuries of a century beginning in the 1800s” according to a Jim Crow Law article on PBS. Many try to say these laws didn’t have that big of an effect on African American lives but in affected almost everything in their daily life from segregation of things: such as schools, parks, restrooms, libraries, bus seatings, and also restaurants. The government got away with this because of the legal theory “separate but equal” but none of the blacks establishments were to the same standards of the whites. Signs that read “Whites Only” and “Colored” were seen at places all arounds cities.
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.
Even though the Brown v. Board of Education was 62 years ago, African Americans are still fighting to have an equal education opportunity. “But many schools are as segregated today as they were before the ruling, and black children throughout the United States are performing at the bottom of the American educational system” (Jackson 1). Nevertheless, it took decades of hard work and struggle by numerous African Americans for a better education system. Education is the key to success, it gives people the knowledge that they need to strive and become more intelligent thinkers, which leads to more opportunities for them in the job industry. Ever since the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned discrimination of any kind, African Americans have every right to have this equal educational opportunity like everyone else. But yet, they were stopped in their tracks by disapproving Americans, who confined the succession of African Americans in the education system. Now that we are in the 21st century, there’s still negligence on black’s education. The black community do not have equal education opportunities because of the lack of funding, poverty experienced by the children in the neighborhoods and society’s views of the black community.
As we begin our term for African-American studies course, I will like to incorporate encouraging interaction between the students, their peers and the instructors. I will create an introduction session, making students feel welcome and comfortable. During this introductory session I will ask students to write short descriptive stories about themselves because this is one of the easiest method of getting students to open up about their lives. We as individuals can relate to each other more easily and quickly if we have something in common. Stated by Bender, T. (2012), Jack A. Cummings said “it is also advantageous to the students as they too become familiar with each other quickly, and it eases their comfort level in participating in discussions