Juneteenth: Advancing a Culture of Education

Juneteenth commemorates the celebration of when enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas learned of their emancipation. While this day marks a defining and generation-altering moment of history, it also marks a pivotal moment in the lives of my ancestors, who saw the transformational power of education.

In my upcoming book The College Devaluation Crisis, I talk about the value of education in the United States, but also its impact on my own family’s ancestry.

I am a fourth-generation descendant of enslaved people—workers who toiled in the fields of Wingard Plantation in Wingard, Alabama. For my family, the very “saving” of America rested on getting an education, and they weren’t the only ones. Generations of African Americans since have valued learning and the pursuit of knowledge remains part of our culture and history.

Education Pre-Juneteenth

During the American Revolution, it is estimated only 5% of black servants were literate. Aside from being unable to access resources to effectively educate their communities, the vast majority of the enslaved were discouraged or forbidden from educating themselves. Attempts to discourage or instill fear of seeking an education resulted in the opposite. Many enslaved people desired the opportunity denied to them.

During enslavement, African Americans observed white communities and the power that literacy and knowledge could bestow. For example, in his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Frederick Douglass famously mentioned how he overheard his former enslaver Thomas Auld say teaching Frederick to read would “forever unfit him to be a slave.” That became a motivating factor for Douglass to learn to read and write. Education gained a prominent place in the African American experience. Generations and families passed on whatever learning they could to next generations; it became a community effort.

In the North, there was greater acceptance of educating African Americans, and thus greater educational access to some African Americans; nevertheless, significant hurdles remained. Despite white communities such as Quakers playing an important role in elevating literacy rates among enslaved people, the percentage never exceeded 8%.?

African Americans who did become educated were seen and acted as leaders for their communities. They used their voices to revolt, break the silence of those unable to communicate for lack of training or fear, and establish their humanity. This movement fueled support for abolitionism and older African American generations saw hope for a different future. While years of violent opposition would come, families refused to be blinded to the importance of education.

Juneteenth marked the beginning of a new era in the United States. The “agitating question” of African enslavement was answered by the finality of the Union’s win against the Confederacy in the Civil War. When General Gordon Granger entered Galveston, Texas to deliver the news of the Emancipation Proclamation to enslaved people in the region, it marked a moment for great celebration. African Americans were signaled they would soon have the opportunity to create a better future for themselves and their families.

Education Post-Juneteenth

During the post-Civil War generation, larger numbers of African Americans sought out formal education. The values their ancestors passed down remained strongly intact. Between 1870 and 1885, attendance rates were equal to their neighboring white communities. By 1900, the illiteracy rate for African Americans under the age of 40, which at one point was 95%, was now nearly non-existent.

African American communities pooled their limited resources to find a teacher, acquire a most-likely abandoned building, and create a school. Those in attendance were not just modern-day school-aged children. The school was attended by adults and elders actively seeking out an education.

There was a surge in the founding of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) across the country during this era and the decades to follow. While many closed their doors due to a lack of financial support, those that survived played an invaluable role in educating black communities. By the latter half of the 19th century, there were over 3,000 schools in the South laying a foundation for public education – taught and attended by African Americans.

American novelist Toni Morrison used to tell her students, “When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else.” This sense of community is exemplified when looking at the initiatives African Americans undertook to educate their community as a whole.

Up until 1964, public education for blacks and whites unfortunately continued to be accompanied by legally sanctioned segregation. African Americans were hopeful they would soon have the opportunities to learn in a desegregated environment. An iconic moment in the struggle for educating people of color came in 1960 in the form of Ruby Bridges. The legal standing for segregated schools ended following the landmark Supreme Court case Brown vs. Board of Education. Despite this, southern states continued to resist integration. In 1960, a year after Ruby was prevented from attending a white school in Louisiana, she was escorted into the school behind armed guards in order to receive her rightful entry to a place of education. A six-year-old girl taking her first steps into the all-white William Frantz Elementary School was the capstone of a decades-long struggle to adequately educate African American children. Her example, fueled by generations who deeply understood the need for schooling, further illustrated the educational opportunities available to African American children. These opportunities were seen as the pathway to a better life – one her ancestors could only dream of but fell short of achieving. Ruby Bridges is now 67 years old and will forever be remembered as a heroic child who helped desegregate schools.

Four years later in 1964, The Civil Rights Act included provisions that made it illegal to discriminate against students and college applicants on the basis of race or gender. It was a nationwide change ensuring public schools and public colleges and universities renowned for research, professional training, and liberal arts would forever after offer Black Americans and other underrepresented groups entry to their educational systems.

While it’s important we look back at moments such as Ruby Bridges and the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it’s even more important we look forward to the future of education.

The Future of Education for African Americans

In The College Devaluation Crisis, I explore the plight in which the college degree now finds itself. A symbol and validation of higher education, the college degree has seemingly lost value among employers. This goes against what I and generations previous have preached. While there are solutions to this problem, it’s crucial we don’t lose sight of the core values that have been passed down in African American culture since the 1700s.

My parents saw education as a way that African American families — all families — could rise up out of slavery, or poverty, or a systemic lack of access to benefits. They embody what the struggle for an education is about, and how it can uplift a family and community.?Thanks to my family’s efforts and the efforts of many others before me, I hold a position of leadership at one of the world’s top research universities.?

To me, education remains an enabler of success and the basis of an individual’s ability to rise to his or her rightful place in society and to a personally fulfilling life. This is a value passed down through my family, the same as has been passed down to millions of other African Americans.

This Juneteenth, remember the culture our ancestors built and the values they instilled; the very “saving” of America rests on getting an education.