I recently read an article about
the Network for the Development of Children of African Descent. The NdCAD is a
Minneapolis-based after-school program designed to teach African-American
children about basic reading skills as well as their African culture. The program also provides parents with the basic teaching tools to
help their children pursue a quality education. Unlike many after-school
programs also designed to help children read, the NdCAD curriculum for both
children and adults revolves around “the culture, history and accomplishments
of Africans and African-Americans, and the significant role they’ve played
throughout history.”
I found this article interesting
because we recently learned in class about how African-Americans taught one
another to read even when it was illegal. In 1860, 90% of the southern black
population was illiterate. However, they taught one another the alphabet a
single letter at a time, spreading their knowledge in defiance of the
stereotype that they were stupid and lazy. According to Booker T. Washington, a
major leader in the post-slavery African-American community, “Nobody was too
old. Nobody was too young.” They were in complete control of their own
education, and it was not only the privilege but also the duty of the African-American
community to help each other and ensure that nobody got left behind. We learned
that by 1866, there were 500+ schools dedicated to the education of blacks in
the United States and by 1870, just ten years after the 90% illiteracy rate,
more than one million dollars had been invested in their education. In my
opinion, the most incredible aspect of this is that this was there own money, donated by an overwhelming
majority in order to further the education of their people. There were no
philanthropies or fundraisers, only a collection of wages directly from the
pockets of the woefully underpaid and overworked. As one parent and NdCAD
participant pointed out, “We are not just descendants of slaves.” She is the
descendant of a hardworking, talented, and wildly motivated group of
individuals who had to fight extremely hard to get to where we are today – a
society in which racial prejudice has lessened, but is still rampant.
According to Tracy Robinson,
another mother who participates in NdCAD with her child, “We are everything
America says we are not. We are standing on the backs of greatness, of
African-American heroes, inventors, doctors, lawyers and scientists.” She is
correct, and none of these significant accomplishments would have possible
without an education. Therefore, programs such as the NdCAD are extremely
important even today. The NdCAD is an inspiring institution: it teaches young
African-American children that not only is the color of their skin nothing to
be ashamed of, but that they have so much to be proud of regarding their
heritage, while concurrently supplying them with the means of procuring a
brighter future.
You can access the article here:
When I read Ex-Slaves and The Rise of Universal Education In the South, I was inspired. It was truly a tremendous feat for African Americans before, during, and after the Civil War to build up from the ground an educational system that would affect the masses. I had no idea that public education in the South began through ex-slaves and their aspirations for a higher education. What was so inspiring was their pure thirst for education. We often complain about the amount of homework we have and how much studying we have to do; getting an education isn’t a punishment, it’s a privilege. The fact that African Americans were restricted from learning was what really fueled their desire for it. Most of these African American school insisted on having no aid from the North to help their schools. They’re Sabbath schools were the epitome of public education and the desire to learn. They were schools held at local churches for those African Americans who worked all day and couldn’t attend school in the day, so they would go at night for free and on their own time. Hundreds of these schools are unaccounted for when analysts from the North took a tally of the amount of African American’s being educated in the South. A quote that I found was very powerful was, “. . . emancipation extruded an ex-slave class . . . that viewed reading and writing as a contradiction of oppression.” (Anderson 17) These ex-slaves were restricted from education, because education is power.
ReplyDeleteThe Education of African Americans in the South, 1860-1935
by James D. Anderson
This is quite interesting. I feel that understanding your ancestors is one of the most important things that one can know. By knowing the truth about who they where and how they acted one can bring a sense of something greater. Even though the understanding that many African Americans here today can trace their roots back to slavery is demoralizing but to learn of everything else they were able to accomplish helps in the moving on process. The fact that their ancestors went up against so much and still survived should bring honor to a dark time.
ReplyDeleteI think that limiting the teaching of African American culture to African American students actually leads to some of the racial problems and ignorance we have in today's society. Obviously, it is vital for people to know about their past and culture, but I think it is also important to teach those whose ancestors were directly involved in forming this history. By only teaching these African American students about the culture, history and accomplishments of their ancestors, it inadvertently creates a division between races and leads to ignorance among them. All across the world, education solves (or would solve) so many problems, and I think that in the case of moving beyond racial discrimination, education would definitely help.
ReplyDeleteAfter only half a semester of African American History, I feel that I have a completely new appreciation for the history and culture of African Americans in America. While I could never even fathom the extremities and brutality that took place, I have become much more enlightened than I had in my high school and middle school history classes, which seemed to categorize slavery into just another chapter of American history. Thus, although I am not African American, I have been educated on some aspects and details of slavery and African American life in the Jim Crow Era and have learned to approach concepts like race, discrimination and American history with a completely new outlook, one that makes me more appreciative and aware of those around me.
Mariam, I completely agree with your comment; I feel the same way. I think that so much prejudice and stereotyping comes from ignorance and a lack of awareness. If more people are exposed to the truths about other cultures, especially minorities, there will be an overwhelming positive effect on attitude and awareness of the world. I feel that this course has been so successful thus far in expanding our awareness about African American history, that has an unappreciated large impact on the entire nation today.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOne of the main points that I find very interesting and significant is the fact that NdCAD makes a point to teach young african americans the history of their ancestors. There are many beneficial repercussions of this type of study. Looking back at the grueling lifestyles that their ancestors came from allows them to realize the courage, intelligence, and diligence that their ancestors had and the blood that runs in their veins traces back to something greater. Young african americans are a part of that courageous fighting group of individuals that came so far. Studying this history and gaining an insight in to the history of the past can fill them with purpose and meaning to carry on a legacy of warriors that worked so hard to allow them to be in the position of freedom that they stand in today.
ReplyDeleteThe Black education movement was, and still is, very impressive. "Plans Date Comed from God" was very eye opening to me. Reverend Henderson took advantage of the opportunity to make a difference and make a change for himself, as well as his culture. He was a slave preacher emancipated in 1865 and abandoned the white First Baptist Church in order to create the Black Baptist Church (Robinson 74). His movement was a catalyst for many others to follow, in terms of worship as well as the desire to gain knowledge and provide education for his culture.
ReplyDeleteBefore Brown v. Board of Education, African Americans taught themselves in an effective but inefficient way. Booker T. Washington talked about how blacks after the civil war taught themselves letter by letter. This was a lost cost way of education, and was not truly reformed until the full integration of our countries schools. My father graduated high school in 1970 in Louisiana, and his senior year of high school was the first year that he ever went to school with African Americans. The fact that our country stopped people from going to school together is heinous. After Brown v. Board, it allowed for education to be taught at a higher level with better funding and better schools. Because of Plessy v. Ferguson, most of the schools in the late 19th and early 20th century were badly funded and did not give the same opportunity for black kids as they did for whites. Brown V. Board was an enormous step in this process of integration and allowed for a new generation of black students to be taught in the proper way.
ReplyDelete