How Did The Pursuit Of African American Education

After the Civil War, African Americans had the opportunity to legally obtain an education, and it was often a priority for many. They started establishing and advocating for schools, and they were often helped by outside forces; however; education was often left up to the means of the community. Education had the opportunity to promote social and economic mobility for African Americans, but they were often hindered in their education by lack of funding and resources in schools, and the hostility of whites toward the prospect of black education. The newly freed African American communities were often afflicted by extreme levels of poverty, so they were not able to afford the necessary resources needed for a proper education. In an attempt to
These teachers had to attempt to teach students how to read and write, but they did not have any books or supplies to write with or on. Even though these students had schooling, they were still behind the majority of the white population because they did not have the resources to compete with them. Therefore, the education, that was supposed to help them move upward in the social ladder, failed them because of the lack of funding needed to buy the essential tools of learning. On the other hand, African Americans faced many challenges in their pursuit of education that many whites living in poverty did not have to experience. In schools, in the rural north, “there were sometimes as many different textbooks in use in a school as
In order to disrupt this change, whites often used arson as “a frequent and particularly insidious form of assault. Constructed from wood, African American churches and schoolhouses were veritable tinderboxes” (Williams, 2005). Many of the whites in the South, were frightened by the new prospect of education for African Americans, and they often went to great lengths to intimidate them. They burned the schools, and it did hinder African Americans in their pursuit for education. This obstacle caused African Americans to put a hold on their education, and they were not able reach the same level of education as the white children. However, they did not stop their education in the face of adversity, and they often rebuilt those burnt down schools. Furthermore, many African American schoolchildren were physically targeted, and “stoning was the preferred method of attack employed by angry white children who resented the idea of black children attending school” (Williams, 2005). Parents were frightened to send their children to school because they would come back, and they would be physically and emotionally hurt. It is also very likely that many children ended up not going to school due to this fear of being attacked. Therefore, the African American communities did not receive as much education as their white counterparts, and they often feel behind in the