Negro Digest - Freedom Archives

New agencies for Black education
(Association of Afro-American
Educators, New School of
Afro-American Thought, Affro
Arts Theater-School, University
System of the Nation of Islam,
etc . ) are now developing around
the country . These agencies do at
least three things : (1) illuminate
contradictions about the education
provided for Black people ; (2)
prepare people for the struggle ; and
( 3 ) immerse our children in the
saving grace of Blackness . However,
the new Black search is quite
obviously in danger of being subverted
by the above-mentioned
colonial forces .
The positive thrust
not only includes the goals being
sought but also involves the very
process and basic assumptions of
education itself .
And since we have
yet to see who will succumb to or
reject the seductive hustle of white
resources, we must proceed to discuss
its dangers before we begin to
chart our course toward liberation .
(3) Dangers of Neo-Colonial
Racist Pacification
Since we were taken political
prisoners over 350 years ago and
are still in bondage, we can safely
assume that a thorough analysis of`~
the forms and methodology of past
oppression will at least provide the
basis for perceiving future dangers.
In a summary fashion, there are at
least four devices at work for colonial
and neo-colonial institutions,
although they are often applied in
different ways . In the typology of
dangers facing the Black University
concept, there are four types of
dangers listed . Each appears to be
relevant to both the colonial and
neo-colonial institutions .
The term "inflated expectations"
TYPES OF DANGERS FACING THE BLACK UNIVERSITY
CONCEPT
Type of Danger
Colonial
Institution
Neo-colonial
Institution
1. Inflated Yes (as a result of Yes (result of
Expectations high resources as bait) illusory tradition of
Negro scholarship)
2. Reference Black vs . White Black vs . Negro
Group Conflict
3 . Resource High Low
Diffusion
4 . Terminological High Low
Cooptation
NEGRO DIGEST March 1969 1 9