Negro Digest - Freedom Archives

fl Position Paper
CENTER FOR BLACK EDUCATION
" . . The fundamental task
before us is that of building
a nation which will be responsive
to the needs and
interests of African peoples
. . ."
~,~y; ITH the rape and penetration
of the African
continent by the Europeans,
resulting in the
destruction of African
independence, the ability of
African people to determine, establish,
and control an education that
functioned in their behalf was
destroyed . A dependent relationship
between African people and
European people has since then
been maintained in three areas
1) they control our minds and
instill white consciousness
2 ) they control the ability to
provide goods and services
(agriculture, health, industry,
etc. )
3 ) they control the mechanisms
of force and violence (from
the local cops to NATO)
One of the results of this dependency
has been the growth of
44
BY THE CENTER STAFF
the assumption that the only valid
and legitimate standards of wellbeing
are those of white supremacy,
white power, and white nationalism
. White consciousness is
always equated as human consciousness
. Education is the primary
instrument used to instill
consciousness . The educational
process that we are forced to undergo
demands a commitment to
white standards and values . It insists
that we become white of mind
if not white of skin, and that our
commitment be to the assumptions,
practices and priorities of white
supremacy and white nationalism .
This assumption is usually expressed
in such phrases as "the
struggle for equality ." Other examples
include, "equal" employment,
"equal" housing, "equal"
pay, "equal" toilets, etc . This, of
course, avoids the question of
equal to what . This catechism of
"equality" only addresses itself to
the ever-changing specific manifestations
of our oppression . It avoids
the question of independence,
maintaining that "America is my
home"-contrary to all historical
evidence .
Morch 1970 NEGRO DIGEST