BLACK PARENTS: VANGUARDS OF BLACK STUDENT ADVOCACY
Contrary to the stereotypes, education continues to be a value of the highest priority in the Black community; dating back to the underground schools in the Antebellum South where Black people, at the risk of losing limbs and life, taught themselves reading and writing.
After the Civil War, education attainment was a primary goal for Black people: from 1870-1885, their attendance rates were equal to, if not greater than, Whites. Booker T. Washington observed that “in every part of the South, during the Reconstruction period, schools, both day and night, were filled to overflowing with people of all ages and conditions.” By 1900, the illiteracy rate among African-Americans under the age of 40 was virtually non-existent.
There are some who claim Black people themselves are the reason why Black students underachieve academically. However systemic racism is to blame. Black children are too often overdisciplined, undereducated with fewer resources and attend schools in dangerous conditions. In addition, Black CONTINUE READING: Black Parents: Vanguards of Black Student Advocacy - Philly's 7th Ward