Greatest Gains in Black Educational Progress Occurred After Major Wars

 Derrick Darby
Derrick Darby

A new study by John Rury, a professor of education at the University of Kansas, and Derrick Darby, a professor of philosophy at the University of Michigan, finds that the educational prospects for African Americans improved dramatically immediately after three major wars. The research found significant educational progress for African Americans after the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and World War II. But in all three cases, a negative reaction against the educational gains of African Americans took place.

Professor Rury states that “there’s a curious thing about these periods of war. Conflicts in which all of society’s resources have to be mobilized to win, what we refer to as ‘total war,’ call for a heightened invocation of national ideals. There are three examples in American history. In such instances of total war, the idea that African-Americans don’t deserve equal rights begins to break down.”

Professors Darby and Rury conclude that “it remains to be seen if comparable progress in the struggle against racism and exploitation of African-Americans can make equally significant progress in the absence of conflict on the scale of total war.”

The research was presented recently at the conference of the International Standing Committee on the History of Education in London.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Get the JBHE Weekly Bulletin

Receive our weekly email newsletter delivered to your inbox

Latest News

Higher Education Grants or Gifts of Interest to African Americans

Here is this week’s news of grants or gifts to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.

American Students Studying Abroad in Sub-Saharan Africa

In the 2021-22 academic year, there were 4,614 American students who studied at universities in sub-Saharan Africa. This is about one tenth of the number of students from sub-Saharan Africa studying at U.S. universities.

Marcus L. Thompson Named the Thirteenth President of Jackson State University

Dr. Thompson has more than 20 years of leadership experience in early childhood, K-12 education, and higher education. He has been serving as the deputy commissioner and chief administrative officer of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, where for over a decade he has been responsible for overseeing IHL staff.

U.S. Public Schools Remain Separate and Unequal

Approximately 522,400 students, or 1 percent of overall student enrollment, attended public schools where fewer than half of the teachers met all state certification requirements. Of the students attending those schools, 66 percent were Black and Latino students.

Featured Jobs