The History of African American Education in America - Research Paper Example

The History of African American Education in America Executive Summary The oldest school in the US is the Boston Latin School established in 1635. By the late eighteenth century ten grammar schools taught students in the Southern America. The salves brought from Africa were looking for better lives and so public schools for African Americans came into existence. Harvard College, Yale College, William and Mary College, Princeton University, Brown University, Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers University and Dartmouth College were established in the eighteenth or the nineteenth century. The people who were interested in educating the African Americans without much self-interest were primarily the Missionaries who taught African slaves English so that they could learn about Christianity. Later onwards when government passed measures prohibiting the education of African slaves there were masters who remained teaching their slaves in order to acquire economic efficiency. The history of African American education can be divided into two eras. On era was from early 1800s till 1957 and the next era was from 1957 onwards. Both eras were considerably different from each other. During pre-1957 era, while the white people obtained education from institutions meant for Whites only the black people realized in the early eighteenth century that there was a need for African American schools and Colleges otherwise the Africans would remain uneducated and slaves of the Whites. Booker T. Washington was an American educator born to mulatto slave and a white man. This school became the center of knowledge for African Americans. Carver tried to improve the Southern economy where African Americans were the most oppressed. In 1922, the first course regarding African civilization was taught at the American University called Howard University. Later, in 1944, the United Negro College Fund was established by Frederick Douglass Patterson to assist in supporting African American colleges and African American students. The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that separation of African Americans and White Americans in Public Schools was against the constitution. Finally, in 1957 President Eisenhower took the final step by sending federal soldiers to make sure that the Central High School located in Little Rock, Ark became the first school to teach both African Americans and White Americans. HBCUs are still offering outstanding higher educational chances for African Americans in various fields. African Americans did not find it easy to learn with White students after 1957. Initially, since the African Americans were slaves of the White Americans despite the fact that government had made all-White schools into integrated schools the White Americans still discriminated against the African American students. Since, African Americans had once worked as slaves they were perceived to be dumber than White Americans by the teachers and so the teachers preferred to give more attention to the supposedly intelligent White students who demanded less attention. Such stereotyping also resulted in White students avoiding to sit with or become friendly with African American students. As a result, African American students had to spend more time finding the right friends to socialize with or impressing their white teachers. The interesting thing to note is that still African American students have to “act White” (Ogbu, 2004). In the past African American and white students together established the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). In 1962 James Meredith became the first African American student to get admission in the University of Mississippi. Furthermore, in 1968 an African American Studies department was constructed in San Francisco State University in order to help African Americans do better at studies by eliminating unnecessary peer pressure. The unnecessary peer pressure exerted unintentionally by White Americans due to a lack of understanding of African Americans is what these courses helped in eliminating. The amount was meant to be used for preparing teaching staff for teaching courses regarding African Americans. As far as African American teachers are concerned, their number is gradually rising. The U.S Department of Education stated 5.4% of faculty members of all universities and colleges comprised of African Americans. There are many benefits of mixed-race schooling. It promotes understanding of other races among the younger generation and hence helps in creating social acceptance for African Americans in the minds of White Americans. Students learn to tolerate differences and addressing issues regarding such differences becomes possible for students who go to schools with both African American and White American students. The aforementioned advantages prove how important it is to have African Americans and White Americans studying in the same schools. A progressive academic ethnic environment can help in and result in vital, assured academic consequences for African American students. Teacher learning conferences and other programs are being organized for both White Americans and African Americans. However, the number of these programs in predominantly African Americans or predominantly White American universities and colleges is decreasing[Pro86]. This has resulted in a decrease in the number of African Americans teachers. According to the 1986 Carnegie report on primary education in the Unites States, the percentage of African American families with school-going children had become greater than the percentage of White American families with school going children[Car83]. African American teachers understanding of the African culture of their students can result in brilliant experiences for the African American student[abc09].Talented African Americans teachers have been and still are few in number and this is a serious problem for the African-American student studying in the U.S[Sab93]. Introduction What the education system in the US was like in the twentieth century and before. American schools were first opened in the areas occupied by the colonists during the 17th century. The oldest school in the US is the Boston Latin School established in 1635. Earlier, colonists attempted educating students by utilizing the basic methods prescribed by the society at large and the church. Parents taught their children arithmetic and literature. Eventually the system changed with the inclusion of more responsibilities on parents. Parents were no more left with the time to help their children in studying and so the concept of schools came into existence. Setting up of new schools was needed in New England Colonies. Massachusetts Bay Colony made formal education a necessity in the year 1642. Interestingly, these schools were for males only and newer facilities were constructed for females. In the 1700s schools for both boys and girls studying together were established and students belonging to various age groups were taught by a single person. Not all schools were free and parents had to pay the tuition fees. Schools such as Hopkins School, Boston Latin School, Deerfield Academy and Phillips Andover Academy were established in the late eighteenth century. These schools taught students well enough to get admission into Ivy League Universities in the early 1800s. Generally speaking schools in New England were far better and effective in eliminating illiteracy compared to those in the South. During the Colonial era the farmers in the South realized how miserable their lives had become and so sent their children to England in order to receive education. Some parents taught their children at home or hired tutors while others relied on private schools. By the late eighteenth century ten grammar schools taught students in the Southern America. The salves brought from Africa were looking for better lives and so public schools for African Americans came into existence. However, white policy makers continually underfunded such public schools in order to ensure that Blacks remained illiterate and hence continued to be the slave of Whites (Woodson, 2004). High schools became available to whites (and some blacks) in the cities after 1900, but few rural Southerners of either race went beyond the 8th grade until after 1945. However, blacks were not the only people discriminated against even girls and women faced discrimination. Parents could not send girls to schools and so there was tax-supported schooling which started in 1767 in the part of the US previously called New England. This was optional and there were towns which resisted the idea of sending girls to schools. Secondly, there were families living in certain towns who despite being rich had problems paying increased taxes to help the poor because they said why they should be responsible for the upbringing of people who did not contribute anything to the economy. Soon, a solution was found for this problem in another town. As a part of the solution all those households had to pay taxes which had children or did not have them. The funds generated were used to construct a grammar school I order to help young boys get ready for college education. Furthermore, the discrimination against the girls was not just limited to them not being able to go to schools there was also discrimination regarding who gets to read and who learns to write. Boys were taught to do both read and write since they were seen as future breadwinners who would step into the practical world and handle various issues. These issues could require them to give opinions in writing or counter argue them in writing. On the other hand, girls were only taught to read specifically religious books. This explains why women could only read but not write in colonial era. Instead of signing their names women used the capitalized letter “X” (Monaghan, 1988). As far as the textbooks are concerned they were brought in from England. Webster’s Speller became the foundation for books to follow in the early eighteenth century. It broke down complex problems into less complex parts so that students were not overwhelmed by the complexity of knowledge and they did not get exhausted by processing too much information at any one time. Harvard College, Yale College, William and Mary College, Princeton University, Brown University, Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers University and Dartmouth College were established in the eighteenth or nineteenth century. In these Universities practical sessions were non-existent however subjects like arithmetic, geometry, logic, ethics and ancient history were taught in great depth. Tuition fees were low and scholarships were not many. The teachers in the early nineteenth century were usually not highly educated. Coaching students who were young and naïve was not seen as a respectable job by people who had received brilliant education. Checking and testing the skills of any teacher was left up to the school’s management which wanted to use the limited amount of taxes in the best way possible (Hurbst, 1996). How the African Americans were brought to the US and why they were treated badly? Since Africans were not allowed to educate themselves by the White people it does make one question why were they in present day America in the first place. Approximately 600,000 slaves from Africa were forced into the U.S. Most of the slaves were sent to work in Sugar producing regions like the Caribbean or Brazil. Since U.S was having extensive resources, less infectious diseases and much less strenuous work the slaves increased in number. As time passed, these slaves increased from 600000 to 4 million. The first black slaves arrived in Virginia in the year 1619 (Savage, 1997). These slaves had been rescued from a ship headed to Spain. Some of these slaves continued to be slaves while some got independence and owned land (Tyler, 1897). Most of these slaves later became indentured servants. Under this people were allowed to leave working for one employer whenever they liked. People brought into the US were ready to be indentured servants because they wanted to learn new farming techniques, growing crops from the beginning and ultimately become learned enough to start their own businesses as permanent residents of the country. Such servants were released after some time and allowed to use the land given to them by their old employers. However, as time passed it was observed by the Whites that once the Blacks had received training and they had become really capable of growing crops they left working for the employer. Hence, the eventual legal transformation of indentured servants into slaves happened. As a result, the Africans brought into the US many years ago were compelled to work for the same employer for the rest of their lives. Treatment of African slaves in the United States Generally, slaves were humiliated, beaten using whips, mutilated, executed and raped. Such punishment was given if the salves disobeyed while at times slaves were abused by their masters in order to re-assert dominance (Haley, 2007). Along with this the African slaves were not given the opportunity to read and write in order to prevent them from developing aspirations which could have resulted in them escaping from the US or opposing actions of the White Colonists (Galenson, 1986). Most slave received information from the innocent children of farmers while working with them on the farms. Plants and herbs were used for helping slaves regain health if they fell ill. Furthermore, in some states religious gatherings for slaves were illegal and the reason for this was that owners were afraid that such gatherings would help slaves improve relations ultimately resulting in a rebellion. Pre-1957 history of African Americans in education The history of the education of African Americans is divided into two periods. The first period starts from the beginning of slavery and ends at the peak of the rebellious movement in 1835. Most of the Americans said that it was prudent to educate African Americans. After this came the second period when the industrialization modified slavery from a male-controlled to an economic custom, and when sensible African Americans motivated by adversaries, tried to organize submissive rebellions that things began to change. When this was happening majority of the southern white Americans concluded that cultivating the brains of African Americans without stimulating over considerable self−assertion was impossible[Asa91]. Supporters of African American Education The early supporters of the educating African Americans belonged to three different classes listed below: 1. Masters who wanted economic efficiency of their workforce to rise; 2. Kind persons who desired to aid the underprivileged 3. Enthusiastic preachers of Christianity who thought that the every human deserved to be treated like of humans regardless of race. Missionaries taught African slaves English so that they could learn about Christianity. The affluent class had slaves and wanted to give them an opportunity for knowledge acquisition. Later onwards when government passed measures prohibiting the education of African slaves there were masters who remained teaching their slaves in order to acquire economic efficiency. On the contrary, kind persons were not able to defy the aforementioned law because they never owned any slaves. Spanish and French churches discouraged the killing of Red Indians while teaching general knowledge related things to the African slaves in Europe. These were Catholic churches which the White Americans were against. The White Americans felt ashamed to see this and so decided to find a way to educate African Americans and prevent them from forming a common enemy by partnering with the immigrants from Europe. The White Americans realized that it was incorrect to avoid educating the African slaves just because of the fear that they would start a rebellion. Educational Institutions made for African Americans While the white people obtained education from institutions meant for Whites only the black people realized in the early eighteenth century that there was a need for African American schools and Colleges otherwise the Africans would remain uneducated and slaves of the Whites. In 1881 at Alabama, Mr. Booker T. Washington established the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute. Booker T. Washington was an American educator born to mulatto slave and a white man. He had worked in coal mines and salt furnaces while attending school part time. His principal’s friend paid his tuition and there was a time when he had to work as a janitor. All these hardships made him realize what it was like to be a slave and so he founded Tuskegee Institute for African Americans (Infoplease, 2012). This school became the center of knowledge for African Americans[Clo12]. The school laid emphasis on acquiring practical knowledge and applying it whenever possible. As a result many blacks got the chance to learn what the whites already knew. In 1896, George Washington Carver (American agricultural chemist who had graduated from Iowa State College and became a free man despite being born as a slave) became a part of Tuskegee Institute as “director of the department of agricultural research” (Infoplease, 2012). The post was retained by Carver during his remaining life. His achievements helped him win international acclaim. Carver tried to improve the Southern economy where African Americans were the most oppressed. Carver taught how to improve soil and diversify crops. Carver found many uses for sweet potatoes, peanuts and the soybean and therefore copied the aforementioned crops’ culture (Infoplease, 2012). Carver saw nothing as waste and as a result he discovered many products from cotton waste. Carver gave away his savings gathered throughout his life to construct a place for the purpose of research at Tuskegee. In 1922, the first course regarding African civilization was taught at the American University called Howard University. William Leo Hansberry taught this course and enjoyed teaching it a lot. This was the progressive era of education in which new schools were being constructed in even small cities and by 1940 fifty percent of young adults had attained a high school diploma (Hurbst, 1996). Later, in 1944, the United Negro College Fund was established by Frederick Douglass Patterson to assist in supporting African American colleges and African American students. Ten years later came the best news so far in the history of African American education. The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that separation of African Americans and White Americans in Public Schools was against the constitution. This was decided in the breakthrough case Brown Versus Board of Education of Topeka (Rymes, Larson, & Gutierrez, 1995). In this case Linda Brown was refused admission to a local school in Topeka since she was African American. When this grievance along with several other grievances reached the Supreme Court under the Chief Justice Mr. Warren, the court disallowed the doctrine of Plessy Ferguson which was called “separate but equal”. Finally, in 1957 President Eisenhower took the final step by sending federal soldiers to make sure that the Central High School located in Little Rock, Ark became the first school to teach both African Americans and White Americans. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and their contributions Most of HBCUS were founded in the nineteenth century for recently released slaves and for guiding teachers. HBCUs are still offering outstanding higher educational chances for African Americans in various fields. Despite HBCUs denoting only 4% of the entire U.S. universities and colleges, they admit around 16% of the population comprising of African Americans in four years long programs, and approximately 30% of African Americans graduate from HBCUs with bachelor’s degrees, specifically in fields such as mathematics, computer sciences and business. During the time period 1995-1999 approximately 33% of African American Ph.D. receivers stated getting an undergraduate qualification from HBCU[Thu06]. The aforementioned facts regarding the achievements of HBCUs become more brilliant to consider since most of their students are still coming from low-income homes. Out of these low-income homes 98% are qualified for federal need-based assistance[Gas08]. Moreover, HBCUs manage with few resources since they have a lower tuition fee. This fee is mostly half of what the fee is in White universities and colleges (Gasman, 2009). Problems faced by African American students and their parents. Initially, since the African Americans were slaves of the White Americans despite the fact that government had made all-White schools into integrated schools the White Americans still discriminated against the African American students[Shu94].The reason behind this was stereotyping. Since, African Americans had once worked as slaves they were perceived to be dumber than White Americans by the teachers and so the teachers preferred to give more attention to the supposedly intelligent White students who demanded less attention. Such stereotyping also resulted in White students avoiding to sit with or become friendly with African American students. As a result, African American students had to spend more time finding the right friends to socialize with or impressing their white teachers. “Black students face the same burden of ‘‘acting White’’ that Black Americans have faced throughout their history and still face in contemporary United States” (Ogbu, 2004). To cope up with this African American parents had to supervise their children just like the White Americans and focus on having the family cooperating with each other[Spr94]. Many White students were naturally smarter since they had received more education and they had spent time doing both entertaining and informative activities while their African American counterparts took orders from their fathers. As a result of being smart and liked in the society the White students became closer to their friends and showed that they were willing to let their grades suffer to help their friends. Black students noticed all of this and eventually developed strategies to act “white”. For instance they completed their homework and let friends copy it after paraphrasing. They pretended to be class clowns while they studied secretly in their homes and they pretended to have “bullies” helping them (these “bullies” were those people who copied assignments from Black students). All of this pretending was done to “act whiter” i.e. to appear as a friendly person who cared about his or her friends and gave little consideration to falling grades if friends needed help. The interesting thing to note is that still African American students have to “act White” (Ogbu, 2004). Post-1957 history of African American education Educational milestones in the post-1957 history of African American education In the past African American and white students together established the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). The aim of SNCC was to achieve equal economic and political goals for African Americans. This Corporation was held responsible for operating against racial discrimination and isolation. In 1962 James Meredith became the first African American student to get admission in the University of Mississippi. However, on the day James entered inside the university, he was accompanied by U.S. Army officers. Then in 1963 two more African American Students named James Hood and Vivian Malone got admission in the University of Alabama. However, the Governor George Wallace tried to literally become an obstruction in the way of these two students. Furthermore, in 1968 an African American Studies department was constructed in San Francisco State University in order to help African Americans do better at studies by eliminating unnecessary peer pressure. The unnecessary peer pressure exerted unintentionally by White Americans due to a lack of understanding of African Americans is what these courses helped in eliminating. Just before 1970 $1 million was donated by the Ford Foundation Yale, Howard and Morgan State universities. The amount was meant to be used for preparing teaching staff for teaching courses regarding African Americans. In 2007, The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education conducted a survey in America’s top-most ranked research universities in order to find the number of African American teachers in the faculties of these universities. The highest percentage of African American faculty among the hundred universities and colleges surveyed was the Mount Holyoke College. The number of African American teachers is gradually rising. The U.S Department of Education stated 5.4% of faculty members of all universities and colleges comprised of African Americans. In 2008, the percentage of eighteen to twenty four year old Blacks admitted into higher education programs had increased from 21.2% to 32.6%. Why have diverse student bodies comprising of both White Americans and African Americans? As the twenty first century arrived things became much better for African American Education. The White Americans realized that African Americans were mentally sound people who could be great athletes, doctors, engineers and businessmen. Gone were the days when African Americans were always associated with crimes like robbery and selling marijuana. In 2003, the University of Michigan’s Law School's “affirmative action” rule was upheld by the Supreme Court in Grutter v. Bollinger. According to the policy, race could be one of multiple points taken into account by universities while selecting candidates for admission. The reason behind this is that doing so results in student body becoming more diverse. Data gathered from a nationwide survey of universities and colleges in the US was utilized to analyze the education related advantages linked with a racially different student populace. Answers from greater than 11,680 students studying in more than 370 four-year programs were evaluated and the results showed that having a racially varied student population has a positive impact on learning outcomes via its impact on diversity-adapted student events and activities[Cha99]. The following are the benefits of having a diverse student body: (1) Promotes understanding of other races among the younger generation and hence helps in creating social acceptance for African Americans in the minds of White Americans[Mar07]. (2) Promotes teaching outcomes that help students function better in a diverse society and maintain better relationships with diverse coworkers during their professional lives[Stu03]. (3) Stereotyping occurs less when people at a younger age observe people belonging to the same race behaving and acting noticeably differently from each other. (4) Learning to tolerate differences and addressing issues regarding such differences becomes possible for students who go to schools with both African American and White American students. (5) On observing underprivileged students from other race students become aware of the luxuries they have in their personal lives and learn to be thankful to their parents for what they give them[Goo08]. Furthermore, the advantage of diversity is founded on the concept that diversity improves egalitarian freedom when lawyers graduating from law schools belong to different races, because lawyers are vital parts of governmental and political systems. The aforementioned advantages prove how important it is to have African Americans and White Americans studying in the same schools. However, one must not forget that racism and stereotyping still exists. A progressive academic ethnic environment can help in and result in vital, assured academic consequences for African American students. On the other hand, an adverse or uncooperative campus climate is linked with average academic achievements and noticeable dropout rates between African American students[All91]. The problem of having few Black teachers Teacher learning conferences and other programs are being organized for both White Americans and African Americans. However, the number of these programs in predominantly African Americans or predominantly White American universities and colleges is decreasing[Pro86]. Secondly, the quality of education imparted by these programs is not high enough for enabling African Americans to achieve the high test scores which are needed for getting teacher certification. This has resulted in a decrease in the number of African Americans teachers. According to the 1986 Carnegie report on primary education in the Unites States, the percentage of African American families with school-going children had become greater than the percentage of White American families with school going children[Car83]. As a result, there was even a greater need for African American teachers who could understand better how African Americans thought and how could they explain things better. African American teachers understanding of the African culture of their students can result in brilliant experiences for the African American student[abc09].Talented African Americans teachers have been and still are few in number and this is a serious problem for the African-American student studying in the U.S[Sab93]. Conclusion During the pre1957 era many universities and colleges were established for the African American people. Although, White Americans who happened to be planters were initially opposed the education of their African slaves fearing that they would start a rebellion they later changed their thinking. They realized how education of Africans could help in gaining economic efficiency. Historically Black Colleges and Universities played a significant role in educating African Americans in various fields belonging to the disciplines of engineering, mathematics and science. These institutions prepared students who later became teachers during the post 1957 era. The best time in the history of African American education was probably the year 1957. During which President Eisenhower insured that all-White schools were converted into mixed-race schools. This was one decision taken by the President but one enormous change for the whole American nation. Deciding so played a noticeable role in helping White Americans understand that African Americans were not inherently stupid or criminals. They could be reliable friends, great students, active athletes and even teachers who lectured them on how to be better in professional lives. After 1957, universities and colleges went through a phase of readjustment never seen before. African Americans became a part of the faculties of the high-ranked universities of the world and proved that American was truly the land where dreams got fulfilled. Today, African Americans are more educated than ever before. The illiteracy rate is falling but sadly the number of African American teachers continues to be much lower than White American teachers. Since African American teachers are able to understand the mentality of African American students therefore the government must conduct more teachers training programs in public educational institutions. Furthermore, checking whether a teacher is capable must not be done via only certification tests. Teachers should be allowed to take demo classes where they come to know the mental capacity of the students who they want to teach. Secondly, potential teachers can be made teaching assistants if they fail to score above the cut-off in certification tests. In this way less time gets wasted and potential teachers can learn from other successful teachers. Works Cited Pro86: , (Dupre, 1986), Car83: , (Carnegie Foundation, 1983), abc09: , (Irvine & Fenwick, 2009), Sab93: , (King, 1993), Asa91: , (Asante, 1991), Clo12: , (Cloud Net, 2012), Thu06: , (Thurgood, Golladay, & Hill, 2006), Gas08: , (Gasman, 2008), Shu94: , (Shujaa, 1994), Spr94: , (Spring, 1994), Cha99: , (Chang, 1999), Mar07: , (Marti, 2007), Stu03: , (Sturm & Guinier, 2003), Goo08: , (Goodman, 2008), All91: , (Allen, Epps, & Haniff, 1991), Read More