Negro Digest - Freedom Archives

That something is gravely wrong with the conventional approach to
the education of black children no longer is arguable. Much of the problem,
of course, is general : there is something gravely wrong with American
education, period . However, as always in a society which-being
racist by nature-assigns opportunities and rewards according to race
and color, those people suffer most who are regarded least, and those people
in the American society are black people . It is a hopeful sign that some
of the brightest young people who have chosen education as their profession
are deeply concerned about the deficiencies of existing educational
institutions, particularly as these institutions relate to black students
and the communities from which the students come . These educators
are no longer willing-as so many of their predecessors wereto
sit back comfortably and garner laurels and enjoy status while the
talent and potential of the masses of black children are criminally wasted .
The idea of a Black University-an institution designed to serve the real
and total needs of the black community-has taken root, and there is
every reason to believe that the idea will grow and eventually take concrete
shape .
The special issue of NEGRO DIGEST devoted to a consideration of the
concept of the Black University developed through discussions with
Gerald McWorter, a recent Ph.D . graduate of the University of Chicago
now an assistant professor of Sociology at Fisk University in Nashville .
In his outline letter to the other contributors to this special issue of
NEGRO DIGEST, Mr . McWorter said that the articles dealing with facets
of the proposed Black University would concern themselves with "a
vision, the articulation of an `ought' . . . for the future . . ." He made
it clear that the concept of the Black University, as envisioned by himself
and the editors, was concerned with the entire spectrum of social, economic,
psychological and cultural imperatives which characterize, influence
and control the black community .
In a further clarification by the editors, the Black University concept
was described as also being "concerned with the art of black people,
and with the development and articulation of a black esthetic . It is concerned
with the conscious strengthening of those institutions which make
the black community viable, and it is dedicated to the liberation of black
students (and black people generally) from the inhibiting and crippling
presumptions which have been imposed upon black life and culture from
outside the black community ."
NEGRO DIGEST Morch 1968