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The Battle for the Black Mind

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How has the struggle to control the education of African Americans from the Civil War to Brown v. Board of Education shaped racial inequalities and defined access to American democracy? Discover the pivotal roles of philanthropies, religious groups, and black educators in “The Battle for the Black Mind” by Dr. Karida Brown.

Image courtesy of interviewee. November 15, 2024

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This video discusses the historical context and ongoing struggles of Black education in America, particularly following the Emancipation Proclamation. After the Civil War, newly freed Black individuals prioritized reconnecting with family, establishing Black institutions (especially churches), and pursuing education as vital tools for liberation.

The author highlights the significant interests of both the Black community and wealthy elite in shaping Black education, which became a means of controlling the moral fabric of society. A segregated and unequal school system was established, particularly in the South, where Black schools were often underfunded and focused on an industrial education model tailored for domestic and agricultural work, limiting opportunities in an evolving economy.

Religious institutions played a crucial role, funding and establishing schools, including historically Black colleges and universities. This video emphasizes the tension between different approaches to education and civil rights, citing figures like Booker T. Washington, who advocated for an accommodationist strategy, and W.E.B. Du Bois, who pushed for immediate civil rights and empowerment.

The discourse on Black education is relevant today, with current issues like race-conscious admissions and book bans reflecting ongoing battles for equity in education. The author points to the significant increases in applications to HBCUs and homeschooling in response to systemic inequities, showcasing how Black communities are actively taking control of their education and demanding better opportunities for their children.

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Here are five key points from the video:

1. **Historical Convideo of Black Education**: The video emphasizes the historical convideo of slavery in America, where Black people were legally and socially prohibited from learning to read and write. Upon their emancipation, there was a strong desire among newly freed Black individuals to pursue education as a crucial tool for liberation and connection to family.

2. **Separate and Unequal School Systems**: Following emancipation, the American South implemented laws that enforced racial segregation in education. Black schools received funding from wealthy elites, but these funds often came with strings attached, leading to an "adapted industrial education" curriculum that limited the opportunities for Black students compared to their white counterparts.

3. **Resistance and Agency in Black Education**: Despite systemic inequalities, Black individuals and communities resisted through various means, such as creating their own institutions and demanding equitable education. This resistance included protests against limited curricula and the establishment of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), which aimed to provide a comprehensive and affirming education.

4. **Diverse Strategies for Achieving Racial Equality**: The video discusses varying approaches among Black leaders regarding how to achieve racial equality. Figures like Booker T. Washington advocated for an accommodationist strategy focusing on industrial education, while others like W.E.B. Du Bois called for immediate civil rights and social equality, demonstrating the diversity of thought within Black political movements.

5. **Contemporary Educational Struggles**: The challenges faced by Black Americans in pursuing equitable education have not diminished. The video references recent legal decisions and public policy debates that continue to impact Black education today, highlighting ongoing issues such as book bans, the controversy over African American studies in schools, and the rising interest in HBCUs and homeschooling within the Black community as a response to systemic inequities.

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Here are some key quotes extracted from the video:

1. "It's important to remember the convideo of the American Institution of Slavery."
2. "Upon the Emancipation Proclamation, the first thing that newly freed black people did was... establish black institutions, especially churches."
3. "The drive to acquire and attain an education... were all seen as tools of liberation during slavery."
4. "Schools create citizens, they create subjects."
5. "Every southern state had a law on the book prohibiting black and white children from attending school together."
6. "Black schools were being pressed to offer an adapted curricula... teaching African Americans how to work."
7. "They insisted on creating autonomous, independent black education systems where they created curricula that followed their own visions of freedom."
8. "Black political thought is heterogeneous."
9. "Some viewed an accommodationist strategy... while others took a scorch earth approach and said, 'I want my freedom right now.'"
10. "We're still battling with these issues today."
11. "We are taking measures into our own hands to ensure that..."

These quotes encapsulate the main themes of the video, which include the historical convideo of black education, the struggle for equality, the varied political strategies within the black community, and the ongoing fight for educational equity.

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It's important to remember the context of, the

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American Institution of Slavery.

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During that time, black people in America, in America

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were prohibited, legally

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and socially from even learning how to read and write.

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So, upon the Emancipation Proclamation,

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which culminated at the end of the Civil War,

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the first thing that newly freed black people did

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was number one, race to try to connect with their families.

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Black families have been separated.

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Number two, they established ins black institutions,

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especially churches.

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And number three, they chased

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after education, like it was freedom itself.

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Uh, the drive to acquire

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and attain an education, reading, writing, the ability to,

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decipher maps.

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Uh, those were all seen as tools of liberation,

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during slavery.

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And thereafter, education was something

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that was always a part of the long black freedom struggle.

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But black people weren't the only people

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who had a vested interest,

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who had high stakes in black education.

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Um, as we know, schools are, they set the tone

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for the moral conscious of a nation.

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Schools create citizens, they create subjects.

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America's wealthy elite too had a deep interest

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in black education in controlling what that system would be.

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Um, so they had heavy hands

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and heavy dollars in,

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building out the institutional infrastructure

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of the separate and unequal school system that was emerging

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mainly in the American South.

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Every southern state had a law on the book prohibiting black

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and white children from attending school together.

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So we have a system that is separate,

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but when I say unequal, I'm not just speaking about that

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physical separation.

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Black schools, by

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and large, were, being, forced to,

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pressed upon to offer an adapted curricula.

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Okay? So this, this is directly tied to

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that philanthropic money, for, private

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school institutions to receive funding

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from these northern philanthropies.

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Part of the strings attached to that money was

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that they would offer this particular curricula,

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this adapted industrial education curricula

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that focused on teaching African Americans.

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This is gonna be ridiculous, how to work

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as though Black Americans hadn't been working for free

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for 250 years.

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Now, what did this cur, what did,

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when I say teaching African Americans to work,

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what do I mean by that?

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Um, this industrial education curricula focused on farming

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and domestic service work.

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Does that sound familiar?

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So, and they were, you know, strident with,

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making sure that these were not just institutional

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interventions where there they were funding one or two

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or 10 schools of their choosing.

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No, they were trying to work with, local

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and state governments

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to completely take over the school system to ensure

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that this would wholesale be the type

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of curricula available to black kids.

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While white children were offered a liberal education model

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in an industrializing society, where those, you know,

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those jobs in farming

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and domestic service were not going to set black people up,

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to be able to compete in a changing economy.

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Religious institutions played a huge role, especially in,

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from 1865, the end of the Civil War,

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through the early 19 hundreds in not only

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funding black schools working hand in hand,

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largely alongside the Freedman's Bureau

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during reconstruction, also,

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funding schools independently.

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So you had many denominational K through 12 institutions,

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and also colleges that we know as

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historically black colleges

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and universities today, like Payne Institute in Augusta,

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Georgia, Morehouse College here in Atlanta,

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and many, many others,

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Morris Brown College here in Atlanta,

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religious institutions have always played a huge role in,

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supporting the educational ecosystem.

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But it wasn't just with money.

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Many, northern missionaries, right after the Civil War,

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before the dust even settled, up uprooted themselves

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and moved south, and were teachers in many

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of our first black schools, in the South.

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So they, with their body, their dollars

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and their soul really did, a lot

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to support that ecosystem.

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And they had varying views on

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what black education should be as well.

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So, there was a lot of, again, i I say in this book,

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the Battle for the Black Mind that,

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they say a mind is a terrible thing to waste.

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Well, to some, the black mind was a matter

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of national security,

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and black education was treated as such.

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Wherever you have a, a system of subjugation

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arising against the people

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or a system of oppression, what do people do?

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They organize and they fight back.

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And that is what you see, in the case

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of black Americans, in the us

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but also globally pushing back against these systems

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and creating organizations to,

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amplify and leverage, their own power

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and to move from a place of power.

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So you had, everywhere from students

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on campuses that were, you know,

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offered this industrial education curricula,

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protesting against their own faculty

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and administration at their schools,

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demanding an equal education.

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Sometimes they would even be fighting against black

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educators who were their elders, their leaders,

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but they knew, that they deserved an equitable

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and equal education.

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You also had many, many teachers, black teachers

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who were also school founders.

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And in this book I show you that they were in fact,

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educational entrepreneurs who risked it all by

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resisting taking that money

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with strings attached from these philanthropies,

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and instead insisted on creating autonomous,

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independent black education, systems

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where they created curricula

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that followed their own visions of freedom, dreams.

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And these were some of the many ways

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that black people resisted

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by starting their own institutions,

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by clearly voicing their, discontent

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and outrage with this separate and unequal system.

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Um, they did that legally.

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They voted, by, by using the court system, they voted

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with their feet by leaving these institutions

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that they knew, met them nothing but harm.

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They voiced their opinions in the public media,

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and they held their politicians accountable.

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Even in a case where,

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under the system of Gen Jim Crow, the government abandoned

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this portion of their population.

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They still demanded their rights.

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Black political thought is heterogeneous,

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as is for any group.

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So black people during that time

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who were fighting this fight,

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often had varying freedom dreams.

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So we knew the place that we wanted to get equality

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as American citizens.

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There. Sh it should not matter, my race

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or identity, if I am an American CI citizen,

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I deserve these rights.

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Right? However,

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that was often the only point of agreement.

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There were so many varying ideas about

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what is the right way to get there?

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How do we strategize?

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What are the compromises and

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or sacrifices that black Americans should be making, to

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get to this shared freedom dream of equality.

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Um, some, some viewed, a, an accommodationist strategy,

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which I talk a lot about in the book

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figures like Booker t Washington, one of the most

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during his time, the, the most internationally recognized

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and influential African American of his time.

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Okay? He doubled down on an accommodationist approach

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where he said,

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we should embrace this industrial education model,

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make it work for us by quietly keeping our heads down

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and doing these second class jobs,

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but accumulate wealth quietly while we're doing it,

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and then let our money talk,

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when we're in a position of power.

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But until then, he was very clear.

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He did not think that black people should be

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at the same time fighting for civil rights, fighting

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for enfranchisement.

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Um, instead he embraced fully this,

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this accommodationist approach.

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Others took a scorch earth approach

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and said, I want my freedom right now.

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I want my full rights now.

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Um, this isn't going to be a gradual process,

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and I'm not going to implement a strategy

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that compromises anything.

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So you had, and that, position we would, say

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WEB Du Bois embodies that mindset,

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but there were many varying political ideas

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about, you know, getting to that shared destination

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of freedom and equality in

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between those two kind of pillars.

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In black political thought.

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When writing this book, it was clear to me

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that while I'm covering a historical series of events,

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a historical epoch in American educational history,

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I'm talking about the present.

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We are still battling with these issues today.

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And I'll just, use the legal

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dimension for an example.

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Just last year in 2023, the United States Supreme Court

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forwarded a decision banning race-conscious admissions,

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in colleges and universities.

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Okay? Uh, we know

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that these Supreme Court decisions don't just sit in the

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sphere that they're speaking to.

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They reverberate throughout society.

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And we already see this backlash against anything

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that's labeled DEI.

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Okay? We see

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books being banned in the United States of America that is

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so antithetical to democracy.

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But by and large, what kind of books are being banned?

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Books by black authors, books that cover issues

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around race, sexuality, or gender identification.

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Okay? So, we're in a context where we're seeing

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a battle over education once again,

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in many, many areas.

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I'll name one more. Uh, the ap college board

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that puts out all of our advanced placement, courses in,

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American high schools.

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There's now a controversy over whether the new African

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American studies AP course should receive credit.

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Some school boards are fighting against that about

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high school kids learning from the

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Black American experience.

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That's ridiculous. But we're seeing these battles today.

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And how are, you said racialized groups, so black folks

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and people of color, how are they pushing

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against in so many ways?

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Number one, we have a deep bench,

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a rich reservoir of HBCUs,

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and what we see, especially in response

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to this 2023 Supreme Court case,

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HBCU applications are through the roof.

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So you see black Americans voting with their feet saying

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that, we're going to, reinvest,

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in our own institutions,

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and really select on not only a, a world class education,

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but an education that is culturally affirming

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and safe for, my black child

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or, you know, a a black young adults.

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You're also seeing a rise in, historic,

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increases in homeschooling amongst African Americans,

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where parents are wisely choosing to pull their kids out

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of the school system that's available

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to them if they do not feel like it's going to

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serve the needs of their children

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and offer them an affirming education.

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We are creating models where black families are taking

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that education into their own hands and using their agency.

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These are just two examples of the many, many ways in which

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black folks are yes, continuing to,

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demand that the government cash in its promissory note

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and deliver on that promise of equality

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that has never been made good on.

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But until such time, black people today,

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as we've always done, are not waiting around

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for a cavalry to come.

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We are taking measures into our own hands to ensure that,

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That our children also receive a world class education,

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one that is affirming, one that is safe,

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and one that is going to prepare them for the society

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that they're going to have to compete in,

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which is very different than where you

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or I, the, the world that, that we've come in, come into

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as adults.

Education as Liberation: The Fight for Black Rights Post-Emancipation

00:00:00 - It's important to remember the context of, the American Institution of Slavery. During that time, black people in America, in America were prohibited, legally and socially from even learning how to read and write. So, upon the Emancipation Proclamation, which culminated at the end of the Civil War, the first thing that newly freed black people did was number one, race to try to connect with their families.

00:00:34 - Number two, they established ins black institutions, especially churches. And number three, they chased after education, like it was freedom itself. the drive to acquire and attain an education, reading, writing, the ability to, decipher maps. those were all seen as tools of liberation, during slavery. And thereafter, education was something

00:01:08 - But black people weren't the only people who had a vested interest, who had high stakes in black education. as we know, schools are, they set the tone for the moral conscious of a nation. Schools create citizens, they create subjects. America's wealthy elite too had a deep interest

Manipulating Education: The Legacy of Separate and Unequal School Systems

00:01:39 - so they had heavy hands and heavy dollars in, building out the institutional infrastructure of the separate and unequal school system that was emerging mainly in the American South. Every southern state had a law on the book prohibiting black and white children from attending school together. So we have a system that is separate,

00:02:08 - physical separation. Black schools, by and large, were, being, forced to, pressed upon to offer an adapted curricula. Okay? So this, this is directly tied to that philanthropic money, for, private school institutions to receive funding

00:02:37 - Part of the strings attached to that money was that they would offer this particular curricula, this adapted industrial education curricula that focused on teaching African Americans. This is gonna be ridiculous, how to work as though Black Americans hadn't been working for free for 250 years. Now, what did this cur, what did, when I say teaching African Americans to work, what do I mean by that?

Education and Systemic Inequality in Post-Civil War America

00:03:12 - and domestic service work. Does that sound familiar? So, and they were, you know, strident with, making sure that these were not just institutional interventions where there they were funding one or two or 10 schools of their choosing. No, they were trying to work with, local

00:03:38 - to completely take over the school system to ensure that this would wholesale be the type of curricula available to black kids. While white children were offered a liberal education model in an industrializing society, where those, you know, those jobs in farming and domestic service were not going to set black people up, to be able to compete in a changing economy.

00:04:12 - from 1865, the end of the Civil War, through the early 19 hundreds in not only funding black schools working hand in hand, largely alongside the Freedman's Bureau during reconstruction, also, funding schools independently. So you had many denominational K through 12 institutions,

Empowerment Through Education: The Role of HBCUs and Early Educators

00:04:41 - historically black colleges and universities today, like Payne Institute in Augusta, Georgia, Morehouse College here in Atlanta, and many, many others, Morris Brown College here in Atlanta, religious institutions have always played a huge role in, supporting the educational ecosystem. But it wasn't just with money. Many, northern missionaries, right after the Civil War,

00:05:16 - and moved south, and were teachers in many of our first black schools, in the South. So they, with their body, their dollars and their soul really did, a lot to support that ecosystem. And they had varying views on what black education should be as well. So, there was a lot of, again, i I say in this book,

00:05:44 - they say a mind is a terrible thing to waste. Well, to some, the black mind was a matter of national security, and black education was treated as such. Wherever you have a, a system of subjugation arising against the people or a system of oppression, what do people do? They organize and they fight back. And that is what you see, in the case of black Americans, in the us

Empowering Education: Black Resistance and Autonomy

00:06:16 - and creating organizations to, amplify and leverage, their own power and to move from a place of power. So you had, everywhere from students on campuses that were, you know, offered this industrial education curricula, protesting against their own faculty

00:06:45 - demanding an equal education. Sometimes they would even be fighting against black educators who were their elders, their leaders, but they knew, that they deserved an equitable and equal education. You also had many, many teachers, black teachers who were also school founders. And in this book I show you that they were in fact, educational entrepreneurs who risked it all by

00:07:19 - with strings attached from these philanthropies, and instead insisted on creating autonomous, independent black education, systems where they created curricula that followed their own visions of freedom, dreams. And these were some of the many ways that black people resisted by starting their own institutions, by clearly voicing their, discontent and outrage with this separate and unequal system.

Struggles for Equality: Diverse Paths in Black Political Thought

00:07:50 - They voted, by, by using the court system, they voted with their feet by leaving these institutions that they knew, met them nothing but harm. They voiced their opinions in the public media, and they held their politicians accountable. Even in a case where, under the system of Gen Jim Crow, the government abandoned this portion of their population. They still demanded their rights. Black political thought is heterogeneous,

00:08:22 - So black people during that time who were fighting this fight, often had varying freedom dreams. So we knew the place that we wanted to get equality as American citizens. There. Sh it should not matter, my race or identity, if I am an American CI citizen, I deserve these rights. Right? However,

00:08:55 - There were so many varying ideas about what is the right way to get there? How do we strategize? What are the compromises and or sacrifices that black Americans should be making, to get to this shared freedom dream of equality. some, some viewed, a, an accommodationist strategy, which I talk a lot about in the book figures like Booker t Washington, one of the most

Contrasting Approaches to Black Empowerment

00:09:31 - and influential African American of his time. Okay? He doubled down on an accommodationist approach where he said, we should embrace this industrial education model, make it work for us by quietly keeping our heads down and doing these second class jobs, but accumulate wealth quietly while we're doing it, and then let our money talk,

00:09:59 - But until then, he was very clear. He did not think that black people should be at the same time fighting for civil rights, fighting for enfranchisement. instead he embraced fully this, this accommodationist approach. Others took a scorch earth approach and said, I want my freedom right now. I want my full rights now. this isn't going to be a gradual process, and I'm not going to implement a strategy

00:10:32 - So you had, and that, position we would, say WEB Du Bois embodies that mindset, but there were many varying political ideas about, you know, getting to that shared destination of freedom and equality in between those two kind of pillars. In black political thought. When writing this book, it was clear to me that while I'm covering a historical series of events,

Contemporary Battles Over Education and Equity

00:11:09 - I'm talking about the present. We are still battling with these issues today. And I'll just, use the legal dimension for an example. Just last year in 2023, the United States Supreme Court forwarded a decision banning race-conscious admissions, in colleges and universities. Okay? we know

00:11:39 - sphere that they're speaking to. They reverberate throughout society. And we already see this backlash against anything that's labeled DEI. Okay? We see books being banned in the United States of America that is so antithetical to democracy. But by and large, what kind of books are being banned? Books by black authors, books that cover issues

00:12:11 - Okay? So, we're in a context where we're seeing a battle over education once again, in many, many areas. I'll name one more. the ap college board that puts out all of our advanced placement, courses in, American high schools. There's now a controversy over whether the new African American studies AP course should receive credit.

Empowering Black Education: A Modern Movement

00:12:44 - high school kids learning from the Black American experience. That's ridiculous. But we're seeing these battles today. And how are, you said racialized groups, so black folks and people of color, how are they pushing against in so many ways? Number one, we have a deep bench, a rich reservoir of HBCUs, and what we see, especially in response

00:13:15 - HBCU applications are through the roof. So you see black Americans voting with their feet saying that, we're going to, reinvest, in our own institutions, and really select on not only a, a world class education, but an education that is culturally affirming and safe for, my black child or, you know, a a black young adults.

00:13:49 - increases in homeschooling amongst African Americans, where parents are wisely choosing to pull their kids out of the school system that's available to them if they do not feel like it's going to serve the needs of their children and offer them an affirming education. We are creating models where black families are taking that education into their own hands and using their agency.

Empowerment Through Self-Determination and Education

00:14:20 - black folks are yes, continuing to, demand that the government cash in its promissory note and deliver on that promise of equality that has never been made good on. But until such time, black people today, as we've always done, are not waiting around for a cavalry to come. We are taking measures into our own hands to ensure that,

00:15:08 - one that is affirming, one that is safe, and one that is going to prepare them for the society that they're going to have to compete in, which is very different than where you or I, the, the world that, that we've come in, come into as adults.

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