Slavery to Liberation- The African American Experience, 2019a

system of industrial education and a path to second-class citizenship crafted by
Northern industrial philanthropists, some Black educators, and most Southern school
officials. The decisions made at Capon Springs gave Whites control over the direction,
structure, and content of Black elementary, secondary, normal, and college education
until the 1940s. With the formation of the NAACP, however, Blacks strategically used
the legal system to dismantle school segregation, and in its wake, segregation in all
facets of society.
Discussion Questions
1. African Americans were conflicted about integrated schools. What are the
benefits and what are the disadvantages of school integration?
2. The debate for “negro education” centered around the curriculum. What are the
benefits of a liberal-classical curriculum versus a vocational-technical (industrial)
curriculum?
3. Booker T. Washington remains a controversial figure. By advocating for industrial
training for the Black masses, was he an accommodationist to White interests or
a realist?
4. In 2010, Mark Zuckerberg, of Facebook, donated $100 million to the failing
Newark, New Jersey, school system. It didn’t go well. Was he following in the
paths of the educational philanthropists of the Progressive Era?
5. Was it a wise decision for the NAACP lawyers to use psychological methods to
argue that racial segregation was inherently harmful?
Writing Prompt
Brown v. the Topeka Board of Education is considered a precedent for other cases in
which students have been prevented from participating fully in the public school
system. Can you identify at least two of them and explain why Brown acted as a
precedent? View episode 3 of Only a Teacher. CMS schoolteachers lament the end of
busing as a solution to equity in public schools. What are the pros and cons of busing
as a strategy and why did it work well in Charlotte?