The Importance Of African American Education

(Setting the scene) In 1881 a man named Booker T. Washington started a school in Alabama called Tuskegee Institute. His thoughts were very controversial because he said that black people should stop trying to get integrated into white lives and live in their own society. He was once a slave so that changed his perspective to see that blacks were not treated the same. He felt with many others black would have to same rights as whites, but they should also be dependent on themselves. Much later his school became the first school to train black people for war. They were known as the Tuskegee Airmen.

W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington were two very influential leaders in the black community during the late 19th century, early 20th century. However, they both had different views on improvement of social and economic standing for blacks. Booker T. Washington, an ex-slave, put into practice his educational ideas at Tuskegee, which opened in 1881. Washington stressed patience, manual training, and hard work. He believed that blacks should go to school, learn skills, and work their way up the ladder. Washington also urged blacks to accept racial discrimination for the time being, and once they worked their way up, they would gain the respect of whites and be fully accepted as citizens. W.E.B. Du Bois on the other hand, wanted a more

Throughout history, African American weren’t considered the smartest race on earth. With slavery and being for bided to ever touch or learn to read a book, African American became the race that envy having an education. Education became a prime factor in the African American culture. Having an education to an African is having the one-way ticket out of the terrible streets. They believe that if they don’t know nothing they won’t get nothing. In other word, if they aren’t educated their life would remain the same. Way back to slavery, African American would be beaten if they were to open a book and dare to read it instead of cleaning it.

The aspect of African-American Studies is key to the lives of African-Americans and those involved with the welfare of the race. African-American Studies is the systematic and critical study of the multidimensional aspects of Black thought and practice in their current and historical unfolding (Karenga, 21). African-American Studies exposes students to the experiences of African-American people and others of African descent. It allows the promotion and sharing of the African-American culture. However, the concept of African-American Studies, like many other studies that focus on a specific group, gender, and/or creed, poses problems. Therefore, African-American Studies must overcome the obstacles in order to

E. B. Du Bois agreed that self-improvement was a good idea, but that it should not happen at the expense of giving up immediate full citizenship rights. W. E. B. Du Bois was born in Massachusetts in 1868. He attended racially integrated elementary and high schools and went off to Fiske College in Tennessee at age 16 on a scholarship. Du Bois completed his formal education at Harvard with a Ph.D. in history. Du Bois briefly taught at a college in Ohio before he became the director of a major study on the social conditions of blacks in Philadelphia. He concluded from his research that white discrimination was what kept African Americans from good-paying jobs. In 1897, two years after Booker T. Washington's "Atlanta Address," Du Bois wrote, "We want to be Americans, full-fledged Americans, with all the rights of American citizens." He envisioned the creation of an elite group of educated black leaders, "The Talented Tenth," who would lead African Americans in securing equal rights and higher economic standards. Dubois attacked Washington's acceptance of racial segregation, arguing that this only encouraged whites to deny African-Americans the right to vote and to undermine black pride and progress. Du Bois also criticized Washington's Tuskegee approach as an attempt "to educate black boys and girls simply as servants and underlings."Lynchings and riots against blacks led to the formation in 1909 of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), an

After conducting the interviews and analyzing the data I have to come to the conclusion that it takes every stakeholder, parents, teachers, and administrators, to be involved for African American students to be successful. We can no longer point the blame at one party. Teachers can not blame parents and parents can not blame teachers, we all have to work together. There has to be an open line of communication between home and school. We have to all remember it is about the student, the child, and we have to do whatever is necessary to ensure they are successful.

Booker T. Washington, a former slave and the founder of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, believed that African Americans needed to accept segregation and discrimination for the time being and concentrate on elevating themselves through hard work and material prosperity. The eventual acquisition of wealth and culture by African Americans would gradually win for them the respect and acceptance of the white community. This

Today's education is often viewed as failing in its goal of educating students, especially those students characterized as minorities, including African American, Hispanic, and Appalachian students (Quiroz, 1999). Among the minority groups mentioned, African American males are affected most adversely. Research has shown that when Black male students are compared to other students by gender and race they consistently rank lowest in academic achievement (Ogbu, 2003), have the worst attendance record (Voelkle, 1999), are suspended and expelled the most often (Raffaele Mendez, 2003; Staples, 1982), are most likely to drop out of school, and most often fail to graduate from high school or to earn a GED (Pinkney, 2000; Roderick, 2003).

The struggle for education for the african americans was like a crime. Not only weren't african americans allowed to go to school with the whites but they didn't have many school utilities like the whites did. The whites had many textbooks that were up to date and they had clean rooms and enough seats while schools for the african american were like prisons. They didn't have enough seats or books and sometimes they only had enough teachers to teach since white folk didn't want anything to do with african americans. Before the end of the civil war the education was a real struggle for the african americans. Even though there was effort to make schools for the african americans only a few could go to school since there was no money and they simply

Historically black colleges and universities, otherwise known as HBCUs, have played an integral role in advancing the education of underprivileged black teenagers since their inception after the American Civil War. They have had students extremely well known in their fields today, such as billionaire entertainer Oprah Winfrey, the first African American Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, and civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. Though their graduation rates tend to be around 1 in 3, they have produced a majority of successful African American professionals. For the continued advancement of African Americans, HBCUs are necessary for offering educational opportunities that their students had been historically denied and presently out of financial reach, while promoting strong family values and equality that may be lacking at traditional schools and displaying positive African American role models in their alumni and staff.

The NAACP was founded in 1909 by Moorfield Storey, Mary White Ovington and W. E. B. Du Bois. The purpose of this organization is to provide equal opportunities and rights to those who have experienced discrimination for their race. This organization was formed after a riot in 1908 called the Race Riot in Springfield, Ohio. After this riot the need for an organization such as this was in high demand. For the first few years of this organization the NAACP used most of their resources to eliminate segregation between the whites and the

“I don’t mind if I have to sit on the floor at school. All I want is an education,” said Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani activist for female education. In today's society, many people don’t realize how grateful they should be for the education they receive. Even the slightest education is much more than people were receiving just three centuries ago, and even more than people in countries besides the United States of America. In specifics, women and African Americans were once unable to pursue any form of education in the United States, along with many other ethnicities.

Washington, was a famous black educator in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During the progressive era, the African Americans faced a lot of challenges while seeking reform because of the racial issues at that time. The view of Washington on issues at that time was however accepted by the people as he motivated them to strive for “self-improvement rather than long-range social change” (Brinkely, 502). This agrees with his philosophy of getting and education to make one relevant and improve one’s living standard. Washington established the Tuskegee Institute for education of African Americans. This institution was created to teach industrialization and would empower people to become business owners and be responsible for themselves. In return they could also earn the respect of the majority group which are the

One of the biggest problems Africans Americans faced in America is Segregation, discrimination, racism, prejudice, rebellion, religion, resistance, and protest. These problems have helped shape the Black struggle for justice. Their fight for justice marks a long sequence of events towards their freedom. Provisions of the Constitution affect the operation of government agencies and/or the latitude chief executives and legislatures in the creation and implementation of policies today. The rights and passage of Amendments granted to African Americans in the Constitution serve as a source of “first principles” governing the actions and policies of elected and appointed public servants across the United States. The 15th Amendment Equal Rights: Rights

Racial and educational inequalities were abundant in all aspects of life for African Americans in America during most of the 20th century. Separation became the new motto for all of America even years after the end of slavery. With the contribution of Martin Luther King Jr., Maya Angelou, and Malcolm X, equality for blacks was made possible. It is invariably true that persistence is demonstrated in the works: “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr., “Graduation” by Maya Angelou and “A Homemade Education” by Malcolm X despite the oppositions these writers faced while trying to accomplish goals of racial equality to educational attainment. Persistency is relentlessly revealed by Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X as they face obstacles such as being given limited resources during their incarceration. Also, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X both reveal their persistency as they use their imprisonment as a path to still get their message heard. Lastly, Maya Angelou and Malcolm X both acquire the importance of education while fearlessly presenting their persistency as they face various obstacles such as discouragement.