Black Education During The Pre-Civil War Era

Black education was not legal until after the start of Reconstruction. Although Blacks, had the right to attend school, they could not get a proper education. This was because of racial discrimination from white society. The colored were thought as the inferior race towards the White Americans, and was perceived incapable of having the same rights. Therefore, African Americans went through many struggles and unfair treatment to receive equality in the educational system.

To begin, there were laws and policies regarding black education. During the pre-Civil War era, only white children were allowed to receive an education. Slaves were prohibited from getting an education that would teach them how to read and write, because it was believed that

Although, the Separate-but-Equal doctrine was enforced, African Americans were still receiving less financial support for education. “Black schools had fewer books, worse buildings, and less well paid teachers” (Beginnings of Black Education). “South Carolina spent 3 times more on white-only schools than black-only schools” (Education and Civil Rights). The state also spent 100 times more the amount transporting white children, than the colored for transportation to the facilities. Therefore, blacks were being limited to schools in their area that were underfunded. Some Whites, violently protested black education by burning the schools, and white teachers who came to educate African Americans were beaten (ncpedia). This was because, the belief that if the colored were to become educated, they would be able to challenge white supremacy (Beginnings of Black Education). Discrimination of blacks, because of the thought that whites were the higher rank in society, prevented African Americans from being able to get a full and equal

“In Alabama, between 1920 and 1940. Black children in Alabama lagged behind their white counterparts in learning to read and write” (Margo, Robert A). The schools were underfunded because of inequality. Thus, caused low performance levels of black children in comparison with the white children. There was also, a small quantity of programs that actually provided blacks with high education. “No black colleges offered courses leading into a Ph.D, engineering, or architecture, and there were only one to two schools that offered medical and law programs. However, there were numerous white colleges that offered these programs” (Education and Civil Rights). The Whites had all the courses and material that would be beneficial for achieving higher in Education, and their school environment was far better off. The Blacks, however were limited in what they could take to get higher in education, and the schools they attended provided them with less resources for learning. During this time, education was a main force for advancement in society. The lack of education, resulted in less paying jobs, which created the stereotype that African Americans were not on the same level of intelligence with the whites. Therefore, the Whites felt as if they were supremacy in the race. Even after, fighting for educational rights over a long period of time. Racist actions still occurs in