Going Against the Grain: Schools of Their Own

In reading Going Against the Grain, the sections entitled The Opening doors of Opportunity and Schools of their own really motivated me. I found it inspiring that African Americans could come together and create schools so that their children will be able to learn their history. “In this way, the African American community itself was largely responsible for laying the fertile foundation for universal literacy in the African American communities” (Going Against the Grain, 153). African Americans set the standard for themselves. This is very powerful because it proves that we as a people can succeed. We can educate, empower, and motivate other African Americans. Blacks did not want their children in white schools because the education would be biased. Instead schools were specifically founded with Blacks in mind. I believe that though going to a Historically Black College or University is wonderful, it is a disappointment that African Americans have to go to HBCU’s just to learn their history. Black history should be told at every university. Just like it is required to learn white history, it should also be required to learn black history. It bothers me that I know more about white history than I do about my own history. This is a prime example of why black history needs to be taught in every school. Why should a black individual have to go to an HBCU to learn about their history and culture? I think that it is just as important, if not more, for white’s to also learn about black history. The condensed black history lesions that public schools teach today are not an adequate representation of who we are as a people. Society needs to be educated; furthermore, our history should not be kept within our race; instead, we need to speak up and educate others outside of our ethnic group.