Many African Americans began to consider Black Studies and Black education as having a “special assignment” to challenge and call out White mainstream knowledge for its deficiencies and racial corruption.īlack Studies in large part grew out of Pan Africanism, which had its origins as a movement of intellectual protest ill-treatment of Blacks all over the world.
As more Black families were moving into the middle class, young people in many sectors either saw education as oppressive or liberating. This effort corresponded with a call by Black college students for a culturally relevant curriculum, the same theme that occurred some 50 years later when mainstream support for Black Studies grew, particularly when more African American students were admitted into predominantly White institutions.įor the past 50 years, Black Studies has been evolving as a result of the social movement that opposed institutional racism in higher education. Black colleges began to add courses in Black history to their curricula. It had become abundantly clear more than 100 years ago that Black education should conform to the social conditions of Black people. It was during this period that the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HCBUs) began to respond to scholarly activities in history and social science. The group was founded to promote historical research, publish books on Black life and history, promote the study of Black history through clubs and schools and, in a noble effort, to foster harmony between the races by interpreting one history to the other. Woodson had founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH) in marking a brave new era for Black curriculum. DuBois in marking the inauguration of the first scientific study of the conditions of Black people that covered important aspects of life (e.g., health homes, the question of organization, economic development, higher education, voting).īy 1915, Carter G. This early formulation was under the auspices of W.E.B. world imperialism, White supremacy) that for centuries had excluded persons of color.īlack Studies can be traced back as far back as the Atlanta University Conferences held from 1898 to 1914. Black students, specifically, wanted to reinforce the position that African Americans must possess the rights to self-determination, liberation and voice opposition to the dominant ideology of “White capitalism” (e.g.
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It was a novel idea that was met with early opposition from the entrenched White faculty and administration already reeling from the Free Speech movement, opposition to the Vietnam War and a general uprising from young adults of all races, religions and creeds. Black Studies departments were created in a confrontational environment in a forceful rejection of traditional curricula content. Shortly thereafter, Black Studies programs were implemented with inherent reservations from the various campus administrations at UCLA, Cal State Los Angeles, Cal State Long Beach and at Cal State Northridge.īlack students demanded an end to the so-called “liberal-fascist” ideology that was rampant on campus, as well as calling for the immediate preparation of African American youth including secondary school students to have direct participation in the struggles of the Black community and to define themselves as responsible to and for the future successes of that community. The Black Student Union on campus drafted a political statement, “The Justification for African American Studies,” that would become the main document for the development of the academic departments at more than 60 universities by the early 1970s. Young people there forced the establishment of the Division of Ethnic Studies and departments of Black, Asian, Chicano and Native studies, all accomplished despite the discouragement of then university president and future United States Sen. While there are more than 100 Black Studies degree programs nationwide, it can be confirmed that the beginning of this curriculum evolved from a student strike at San Francisco State University in 1968. As influential as this period was in the study and enhancement of the African Diaspora, this movement spawned the academic discipline known as Black Studies on our college and university campuses.
The Black Power movement of the late 1960s helped to redefine African American identity and establish a new racial consciousness. Eddie Glaude, chair of the Center for African American Studies at the New Jersey campus, believes the burgeoning interest in Black Studies may provide ground for a degree programīy Merdies Hayes, Editor, Our Weekly News At Princeton, Black Studies has proven to be a popular and successful program.