Essay On African American Education

As an African American woman, my culture largely views scholastic achievement as the premier mechanism for upward mobility. Given our nation's dichotomous history of lauding the academician, but codifying prejudice to maintain subjugation through illiteracy, the black pursuit of education is often touted as the means to advancement. From Fredrick Douglas to Barack Obama, dozens of black notables stress the importance of schooling. For many blacks, each diploma earned, is an avatar embodying the power of ambition and the transformative force of knowledge.

Unfortunately, higher learning-- weighted with heavy black hope, isn't the sole savior it's oft purported to be. According to various public policy organizations, the white-black economic disparity is so great, that neither a college degree, full time employment, fiscal literacy, thriftiness, or entrepreneurialism, eradicate impediments to the ‘American Dream’ for African American. None of it closes the widening racial wealth gap. None

In a climate where the average black female college graduate is worth negative(-) 11,000$, higher education seems like a Pyrrhic victory, especially for the adult student like myself. However, one would be remiss to discount the intangible benefits blacks glean from the collegiate experience, though they may not receive appropriate returns on their investment. It is the chance to better serve their communities through their expertise, as learning is a call to action in our tradition. When wielded by those who seek redress for the systemic failures that encumber the black collective and stymie our growth, knowledge is a formidable tool. It challenges the passionate to both illuminate societal ills, and cast long shadows by stirring the apolitical and encouraging thoughtful civic