African American Historic Educational Status

The educational status and progress of African Americans has significantly evolved since the start of the twentieth century. However, education continues to be extremely important to African Americans in terms of promoting access to opportunities and removing barriers to success. According to William H. Gray (2004), the president of the United Negro College Fund, "It is vital that African Americans progress in higher education continues and increases in order to achieve representation that is at least equal to our representation in society" (4). Legislation during the twentieth century has gone a long way in achieving greater representation of African Americans in higher education but progress is still needed. African Americans continue to make considerable strides in education, with record high numbers of African Americans graduating from high school, being admitted to college, and earning higher education degrees. However, the struggle for progress continues as African Americans are still portrayed as educationally dysfunctional, low-scoring on standardized tests, and resistant to educational achievement because it is viewed as "acting White" (Gray 2004, 1).

During the last century, significant numbers of African Americans have overcome considerable barriers to academic success. One of the reasons for such progress is new legislation, changed admissions policies, and other factors that have removed some of the traditional barriers to academi

Related Essays

African American History .... tests, and resistant to educational achievement because it .... of academic excellence in the African-American community. .... Historic Decisions of the Supreme Court. .... (1852 7 )

African American History .... Historic Decisions of the Supreme Court. .... and upward mobility, as late as 1960 American public schools .... the Civil Rights Act of the 1960s, African Americans are .... (1672 7 )

African American History .... Historic Decisions of the Supreme Court. .... and upward mobility, as late as 1960 American public schools .... the Civil Rights Act of the 1960s, African Americans are .... (1675 7 )

African-Americans and Political Participation .... rights movement culminated with historic victories as .... persistent gaps in the educational attainment, employment .... we have seen that African American women lag .... (1676 7 )

Hispanic Population & Demographic Census Info .... as compared to White and African American clients. .... ethical standards of the American Psychological Association .... care settings have eroded historic assessment and .... (9153 37 )

te the racial prejudices cannot be overcome by legislation, and affirmed the separate but equal statute as legitimately proceeding from a constitutional interpretation of the 13th and 14th Amendments. Nearly six decades later, in Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court declared segregation of public schools unconstitutional. Expert testimony from African Americans like Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, and George Washington Carver influenced the Court's decision. The judges agreed with such expert testimony when they wrote, "Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children�A sense of inferiority affects the motivation of a child to learn" (Cozzens 1998, 1). In a direct blow to the precedent set in Plessy v. Ferguson, the High Court ruled, "We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of �separate but equal' has no place" (Cozzens 1998, 2). Many of the decisions of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Earl Warren were aimed at increasing equality, especially racial and criminal justice equality. Thought the decision in Brown v. Board of Education required the desegregation of schools across America, actual desegregation of schools w

Category: Psychology - A