Portland Observer Section I I
Thursday, February 17, 1977 Page 3
The Struggle for Equality of Educational Opportunity
Naacy L. Araes, Acting Dean
School of Education
Howard University
Black people have struggled
for quality education during their
more than 900 years in America,
first as slaves, than as segre
gated persons, and now.
From where did Black people
get their burning desire for edu
cation? Actually, it is no accident
that Blacks today see hope for
Survival and development in
education. Africans were among
the earliest builders of great
civilisations. From as far back as
pre-history in Thebes, there was
much temple building. Many of
these temples were what we
today call colleges. It was to
African Thebes that scholars
from foreign lands came to study.
I t was from African Thebes that
religious ideas and architectural
designs spread abroad. The an
cient religion of Thebes gave
birth to science, art. engineering,
architecture, economics, and
politics. I t gave birth also to his
tory. writing, music, medicine,
dance, philosophy, and astrology.
Also in Africa, in a town called
Memphis, during the predynastic
period of about 4500 B.C.. stone
was first used in building, hiero
glyphic writing was invented,
the great Pyramids were built,
and stone quarrying perfected.
Likewise, learning flourished
among the Blacks ot West Africa.
One of the principal centers of
learning was Timbuktu, the
Sudanese metropolis. A t the
head of the educational system at
Timbuktu was the world famous
University of Sankore, the
center
of
intellectual
life.
Students from all West Africa
and scholars from Asian and
European countries traveled to
the University of Sankore be
cause it contained large and
valuable collections of nqanu-
scripts in several languages.
I t is no wonder then, that laws
were passed making it a crime to
teach slaves to read, since whites
were dealing with a people who
traditionally had a passion for
learning. If slaves had been able
to read, they would have read
the Constitution which embraces
the tenets of freedom and liberty
and seen the inconsistencies in
the nation's behavior. They
would have recognised it as a
contradiction in practice. Blacks
would have read newspaper ac
counts of insurrections and seen
the advertisements for the
numerous escaped slaves and
more of them would have revolt
ed than did. They would have
read the slave narratives and
David Walker’s Appeal te the
Colored People at the World.
published in pamphlet form in
1629. This fine piece of literature,
written by a Black man, called
for Black men to revolt and
murder their owners. I t fright
ened whites so much that they
pushed for new laws to restrict
Blacks in ever increasing ways.
So, by and large, slaves were
kept illiterate as a mechanism of
control. But some slaves learned
to read anyway, as education
went underground. In some
cases, slaveowners taught their
most favored slaves. As an out
growth of this relationship
between slaves and slaveholders,
many household slaves were
taught to be carpenters, artisans,
blacksmiths,
weavers,
seam
stresses, construction workers,
and machinists. In fact. Blacks
used all of the opportunities to
become literate in their new
world that the indulgence and
permissiveness of some slave
holders afforded. One hundred
years later, the Presbyterians
gave formal training to Blacks in
an effort to develop religious
leadership among those
in
Charleston, South Carolina, in
1740 and in Virginia in 1755. One.
John Chavis, a Black of North
Carolina, was sent to Princeton
University and later became a
teacher of white children in the
South.
Other religious groups also
established schools for slaves.
Nevertheless, educating slaves
was by no means a universal
practice under the slave system.
Generally, education was a
privilege sometimes gained by
household servants or by free
Blacks.
This education of slaves was to
betray the intentions of those
who engaged in it, for education
was to become a means of Blacks
liberating themselves. As an
outgrowth of this practice of
educating some slaves, a middle
class was established within the
Black population as more and
more slaves became educated
and subsequently manumitted.
Consequently, many ex-slaves
were able to establish their own
business enterprises using the
skills learned. By the beginning
of the 19th Century, this skilled
group became the proponents of
freedom for their people.
Many Black participated in the
establishment of schools for
Black children. In the North.
Blacks themselves established a
school in Boston in 1800 and em
ployed two Harvard University
men as instructors. The school
continued until Boston opened an
elementary school for Blacks in
1820. Miss Deaveaux, a Black
educator, opened a private school
in 1838 in secret and eluded
slaveholders for more than a
quarter of a century. Mrs. Mary
D. Price established a school in
New Orleans in 1858. Another
pioneer Black teacher was Mrs.
Mary Peake, who set up a school
in 1861. Hers was the first Black
school of the South to have the
legal authority and protection of
Union guns. Later, Miss L. Hum
phrey established an evening
school in 1BOZ and developed
many Black teachers for the
emergency schools set up for the
freedmen.
Educated Blacks spoke against
slavery in their speeches and
published works. They provided
leadership in insurrection after
insurrection. A few in this cato-
gory were Denmark Vesey,
David Walker. William Wells
Brown, and Frederick Douglass.
During the Civil W ar and Re
construction, masses of Blacks
began moving from the planta
tions into the cities. Thus, the
Em ancipation Proclam ation,
which became final on January
1st, 1863, simply caused more
bondsmen to seek the protection
of the invading Union forces.
This concentration of refugees
within Union lines precipitated
immediate official action since it
hampered military operations.
Therefore,
General
W.
T.
Sherman and other generals
made public appeals for organ
ized emergency help for the re
cently freed slaves. The appeals
emphasized providing for physi
cal wants and the establishment
of a system of instruction to en
able Blacks to support and
govern themselves.
Benevolent societies
were
established in some cities in the
North and Midwest in 1862 to
provide clothing, food, money,
religious leaders and teachers for
the freedmen. These benevolent
societies and church organiza
tions established a freedmen’s
school system.
As an outgrowth of this activ
ity, Congress created an agency
in March, 1866, called the Bureau
of Refugees, Freedmen, and
Abandoned Lands to centralize
the responsibility of caring for
Lire ffêèuürêû. This âgnSCy,
which became known as the
Freedmen's Bureau, was located
within the W ar Department and
the President appointed General
Oliver 0 . Howard as its first
commissioner. This effort gave
official backing to the establish
ment of a complete school system
to- ö t o y m a n d to tk o n ation
CALDWELLS
COLONIAL MORTUARY
N. E. 14th 4 Sandy Blvd
CALL 212-4111
for the freedmen.
The freedmen themselves con
tributed $672,989 in taxes and
tuition through the Freedmen’s
Bureau and donated approxi
mately $500,000 through their
church
organizations.
Also,
despite their poverty, 1867
records show that freedmen of
Louisiana, Tennessee, and V ir
ginia had entirely supported 46
schools, had contributed to the
support of 42 others, and had
purchased 33 buildings through
their own resources.
Funds from the benevolent
societies, religious groups and
from Blacks with some money
grew larger and helped to sup
port the institutionalization of
the
freedmen's
educational
system. First, common schools
were established, then high
schools came into being as the
school movement gained momen
tum, so that by 1868 the school
system was virtually completed.
By 1869, the regular school at
tendance in the freedmen's
schools had reached over one
hundred thousand Black children
at great sacrifice to their families
who could have used their labor
on the farms to help produce food
for their families. This kind of
sacrifice was quite common
among destitute Blacks who be
lieved that education was their
only hope for survival.
H IG H E R E D U C A TIO N
As the school system stabil
ized, so too, did the methods and
programs of instruction. Indivi
dualized instruction according to
the needs of each pupil evolved
into groupings around reading
levels. The curriculum was a
classical one which emphasized