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Black Scholarship in America
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Black Scholarship in America

A short history

Good morning friends,

Today we’re going to begin our survey of philosophy and marginalized voices in the halls of American Higher Education. Specifically, we’ll be analyzing the marginalization of Black voices.

As we will see, there are two ways in which this marginalization occurs.

First, it is in the physical exclusion of Black bodies. It wasn’t until well into the Reconstruction years that only a few people of color were allowed in the halls of academia (not to mention women and women of color, but more on that later.)

Second, beyond this physical exclusion, there was also a phenomenon I would call “thought leadership.” It was in the halls of America’s universities that moral arguments were forged to protect institutions like slavery and segregation, that scientists feigned and contrived biological evidence supporting the superiority of white people, where religious protestant theology and philosophy were intermingled to support white supremacist ideology.

These two obstacles were massive, impenetrable barriers for generations.

Here are a few highlights and anecdotes to color in the picture with a little more detail:

Legal Justification and Ordained Exclusion

  • “In 1896, Plessy v. Ferguson upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation in public institutions, so long as these institutions remained equal in quality. However, ensuring equality in learning environments is challenging when racism and the systemic exclusion of racial minorities is pervasive.” (Best)

  • “For example, in 1954, Southern Black schools received only 60% of the per-pupil funding of Southern white schools. Black students lacked access to basic necessities and facilities like running water, electricity, cafeterias, gymnasiums, and libraries.” (Best)

  • “Even after the Brown v. Board of Education decision, racism and racial segregation are still prevalent at many colleges and universities. For example, many students of color attend predominantly white campuses with buildings or schools that are or were named after white men who endorsed beliefs of slavery, genocide, and the inferiority of people of color.” (Best)

  • “Exclusion is also present within college curricula. Programs focused on the history and significance of ethnic and racial minorities remain largely underfunded and under-resourced at predominantly white institutions. This lack of resources sends an implicit message that institutions undervalue the relevance of critical race studies.” (Best)

“Thought Leadership” and Curriculum Bias

  • “Colleges and universities built curricula and performed research that supported the enslavement of Africans. Money from the African slave trade and slavery financed institutions of higher education.” (New)

  • “Many college campuses used or owned enslaved blacks, who erected and maintained the buildings and grounds, and served the faculty, students, and administrators. At many schools, students, faculty, and administrators brought their slaves with them to campus.” (New)

  • University scholars of the time argued that the racial inferiority of people of African descent justified their enslavement, and that enslavement would bring blacks closer to Christian salvation.” (New)

Violent Exclusion

  • “In both North and South, schools limited the enrollment of non-Protestant Christians, such as Catholics, and Jews, among other groups. These practices reinforced racial and religious hierarchies until the late-twentieth century.” (New)

  • “The threat or use of violence was central to maintaining racial and religious segregation in all parts of society.” (New)

Benjamin Tillman, UNC, and Clemson

  • Benjamin Tillman was a post-Civil War politician, racial demagogue, and participant in racial violence who was critical to Clemson University’s founding in the late-nineteenth century.” (New)

  • “Tillman was not the only one. The University of North Carolina trustees are considering a request this week to rename Saunders Hall. The building was named in 1922 for William Saunders, a leader of the North Carolina Ku Klux Klan.” (New)

  • “When Tillman supported the founding of Clemson University in 1889, he had already established himself as in favor of upholding racial segregation by violence. There was no question that the university would be for whites only.” (New)

As we can see, there was a strong bias for both people and ideas that affirmed a worldview of white supremacy in American universities—practices that weren’t truly broken up until the late 1960s.

We still live in their wake—generations of faulty science, exclusion, and violent protection of harmful ideas. Ideas stamped with the approval of institutions, higher education, and social credit.

But I want to end today on two high notes.

First, even amidst this reality, we can observe the emergence of incredible Black scholarship and thought leadership—people who would use the tools of empathy, social organizing, and scholarship to subvert ancient, exclusive institutions of higher learning.

For example, did you know in which discipline Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. received his PhD? Philosophy!

Dr. King, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison—these figures and more carved a voice and a place for themselves in the most inhospitable of environments.

Finally, I want to point you in the direction of an organization that I support, the Qonnection.

I serve as the volunteer director of development for this amazing team. Our mission is to leverage community to subvert systematic inequality in higher education facing African-American Students. This project is mutual, communal, and collaborative.

If you think you might be interested in joining that community, learn more here!

I know this was a lot, but it’s so important that we take note of where our ideas come from, and how to increase our array of exposure as we journey to deeper empathy and compassion for one another.

Until tomorrow my friends,

Matt

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Toni Morrison [Source: https://aas.princeton.edu/people/toni-morrison]

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