Education's Struggle: Slavery's Legacy on African Americans

This research paper delves into the intricate relationship between education and the legacy of slavery, particularly its impact on African Americans. It begins by establishing the historical context of slavery, its brutalization of people, and its effect on education. The paper reviews relevant literature, examining the denial of education to slaves in Southern colonies and the subsequent inequalities. It explores the roots of the problem, identifying the negative relationship between slavery and education outcomes and the impact of colonialism. The paper highlights the racial education inequality, the experiences of African American men and women, and the writings of Frederick Douglass. The research methodology is based on secondary sources, using exploratory research to describe the problem. The findings confirm the incompatibility of education and slavery, emphasizing the lasting impact of colonial slavery on income and educational disparities. The paper concludes by underscoring the need to understand how the legacy of slavery continues to affect education and racial equality.

research paper
Education and the Legacy of Slavery

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Education and the Legacy of Slavery
Introduction
To understand the various attributes and the characteristics of the modern education, it is
significant to know the slavery and its legacy. People have suffered much in the past, and it has
highly impacted the education. Slavery is not a new Colloquy, and the researchers have done
adequate researches in the world. Further, slavery brutalized people, a race for all it heeded. It
estranged society relying on the natural attributes of the premises. Moreover, this research paper
will discuss the various reasons which made people endure from the slavery and the lack of
education. The literature and the history will be reviewed in relation to the problem. The
education level which people wished for and the education level which they actually received or
might not have received will be agitated in this research paper. Also, the research paper will
provide insight to the various researchers and the public about the education and the legacy of its
slavery which people endured in the past and also the way in which it was affiliated to the
education. Further, the intriguing result will be highlighted in the contexture of the heritage of
African American and also African American women are amid America’s highly knowledgeable
African American community as compared to the male coequals.

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Literature Review
Education is defined as the Southern colonies which were relied on the system of caste. The
slaves were banned from accessing the education formally. Before the year 1840, the southern
colonies didn't have the patrimony of education for the public. The southerners have baptized
their children on the basis of community’s value. On the other hand, the slaves relied on the
Anglian Church for the education which was given orally and not in the form of writing for the
worry of insurrection. Moreover, the southerners assumed that if the slave was accredited, they
might stage rebellion against the masters. But the southern colonies actually adapted the
legislation which forbidden the slaves’ education. Further, the discrepancies among the poor and
the rich are still at rife in the population of America. Whilst, the education system of America is
available for people, and the affordability creates it unapproachable to various students who
belongs to the background of low socio-economy in comparison to those who belongs to rich
families. Therefore, the children from affluent families can avail private schools and enhanced
opportunities as compared to their counterparts (Bertocchi, G., 2015). The education quality
which the poor people gets is of the disputable quality. The slaves who were caught educating
themselves were suffered from the psychological and the physical consequences. During the time
of civil war, ordain of the institution of the slavery was indistinct. Further, at the time of change
from slavery to the freedom, various African Americans tried to satisfy their material
requirements along with the intellectual itching.

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The Roots of Education
The researchers have identified the negative relationship between the slavery and the outcomes
of the education. The root of the problem relies on the institute of colonialism of the slave labor
which had been extended in the Latin America and the US until the nineteenth century. In
various countries, the historical slavery has impacted the people’ education level, and the
inequality in income persevered there. Further, the government has implemented various
policies, and they aimed to eradicate the inequality of education and racialism in the schools, but
no solution was identified. The researchers have identified the conceptualization of slavery as the
ownership of a person to the other, the laceration of the families from one another, brutalizing
the people, squeezing the will of the people. Further, it has been observed that the knowledge
and the education bring misery and pain to all of us. But the ignorance and the bliss are not at all
acceptable at any cost (Greenberg, J., 2010).
Moreover, it has been observed from the various researches that the slavery was described as the
profession, and the blacks were the ones who used to get employed in it. But, slowly and
gradually the education level began to ascent through the blacks and further they started
receiving the formal education through the Church of England. Further, the slaves were being
invited to the various churches in order to learn how to write and read. As a result, the condition
of the blacks was improved to some extent as compared to the previous situation.
Slavery and Racial Education Inequality
According to the researchers, the blacks were still struggling in order to survive even after
getting educated. This demonstrated that the slaves had difficulty in receiving the advantages of
education as compare to the other people and further they identified it as incompatible in order to

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be educated because of the adverse conditions of the slavery. Moreover, the slavery has adverse
effects across the globe. The researcher stated that the education and slavery are not compatible
at all as the lives of the people are in the form of inability in order get any type of education.
Further, the researcher stated that when the blacks endured from the slavery, the education was
relied on the three basic principles: the reinforcement of the education from the Quakers and the
way in order to get freedom through education, ideal’s education of the Christianity and the
Bible (McMillan, S.T). The researchers wanted to create awareness about the various advantages
of the education which the people might get and the way through which the education didn't
allow them to escape their pain and miseries.
It can be clearly observed that issue of education and slavery had an adverse impact on the
history and it is still persisting in various societies. People are still facing discrimination on the
basis of racialism. The blacks are not getting adequate education and jobs in order to fulfil their
basic needs as compared to the Whites. Blacks are facing inequality not only on the basis of
education, but they are facing discrimination and the inequality on the basis of every aspect. The
African Americans are the ones who suffer the most in every aspect.
Frederick Douglass, a case study
Douglas wrote his autobiography, “The narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglas” (Douglass, F.,
2000), in which he clearly argues that the education and slavery are not compatible at all. He
simply related the topic with his own personal life. Further, he clearly mentioned in the
autobiography that the education and slavery are incompatible with one another. In his life,
Douglas only wanted to achieve education, but he did not have any scope in order to get the
education. Further, he felt that he was cursed as he had a desire in order to be an educated person

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which cannot be completed. He felt that even his desire was the curse. His slavery was not
allowing him to achieve education and whenever he thought of becoming an educated person, his
worst conditions reminded him of the desires which he cannot satisfy.
In his book, he clearly demonstrated his feelings as fallen into a pit and was unable to see the
ladder in order to come out from the pit. He fought the battle for the education, and even he was
fighting with those who were not the slaves, but they were getting an education with ease.
Somehow he got educated, but he still continued to feel miserable due to literacy which made
him aware of his situation of hopelessness and further felt the pain for the various other slaves as
well. Furthermore, it can be understood that the education and the slavery are not compatible at
all and if they are made compatible at some point then the outcome is not at all satisfactory.
Education and African American Women
According to the researchers (Mahmood, H., 2013), it has been observed that the African
American women were more competitive and anxious and they were less assertive as compared
to men. Because of this reason, the African American women are more knowledgeable and more
curious about the education as compared to men. The females are ostracized socially and
experience more emotional misery and pain as compared to African American men. Further,
gender adversely impacted the black women for the form of education, and this influenced the
aspirations of the career and the traditional orientations of the sex-role.
During the younger days, the African American women were forced to help other people in the
pursuit of the lucrative careers in the form of financial aspirations. The researchers have also
focused on the single parents like what were the challenges they face being a black woman in

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order to take care of their children. It was observed that it was very difficult for the black women
to take care of their children single-handedly. They themselves were not educated and were
forced to get marry at the young age because of the financial conditions. They were not able to
take care of themselves and were not given adequate education about the health even, and this
forced them to face poverty. They were getting various health issues because they were educated
enough to understand what is happening with them and how to get rid of it like what could be the
best solution for their problem.
Education and African American Men
According to the researchers, it has been observed that the patterns for the African American
men were completely opposite as compared to the pattern of women. Men were not treated fairly
in the campuses, and they were being demotivated all the time and were forced to become the
slaves of the whites. And because of this reason, the blacks are more aggressive and competitive
in nature as compared to whites. They demonstrated less anxiety while getting the education as
compared to whites. The African American men have more resources of socio-economy as
compared to the African American women. Even men were pressurized in order to get marry at
the young age because of their financial conditions. They were not educated enough in order to
plan their family and were not even able to fulfil their basic necessities and further this was
giving rise to various health issues.
The African American men were less educated as compared to black women and they were not
able to take the responsibility of their families and were facing poverty. Further, they were not
able to improve their financial conditions because they were not getting employment because of
the racial inequality and the discrimination. Moreover, they were forced to become the slaves of

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the white people. Blacks were not allowed to attain education at the white universities, and they
treated badly by the whites.
Research Methodology
For our research paper, the complete research is relied on the secondary sources completely. The
secondary sources consisted various research papers, publications, websites and the books which
were having the various information regarding the groups of people who endured from the
adverse form of slavery just like the African Americans. Furthermore, the education level that
they desired to have and what they actually received. All these information was gathered from
the secondary sources. Moreover, the research was relied on the exploratory research as it helped
in describing the problem more precisely. The secondary sources adequately helped in writing
the research paper and the purpose to use the secondary sources was that it would help in
creating awareness that what is actually happening in our society and how people are getting
adversely impacted by these situations.
Findings
The findings of the research paper are relied on the empirical evidence. Further, the research
paper demonstrated that the education and the slavery are incompatible with one another.
Moreover, the inequality was appertaining to the racial education which can be tracked to the
legacy of the slavery of colonialism. The inequality of the income and the education are
impacted because of the colonial slavery. Also, it has been clearly understood that the people
shift from Jim Crow and the slaves in order to seek the education desperately. Further, the

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modern day “too cool for the school” has been entrenched in the legacy of the identity of Blacks
and the slavery. Therefore, this research can be used as the evident in order to show that the
compatibility between the education and the slavery is very poor.

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Conclusion
The research paper demonstrates that like various others, the condition or the situation of African
Americans was very poor on the basis of education and the slavery. They fought in order to get
freedom and attain education and wanted to live a way they wanted to. The research paper
demonstrated the issue of education and the slavery had an adverse effect on our history, and it is
still persevering in various societies. Further, the research paper stated that the slavery was
defined as the pit in which people fell, and they still might be falling in some societies. The
research paper helps in understanding that the inequality on the basis of racialism and the income
is deeply rooted in our history. Further, it has been identified that the major channel from which
the history wields its continuous impact. The channel is being demonstrated by the irregular
access to the education of blacks as compared to the whites. Therefore, there are various policies
that target towards the eradication of the inequalities depending on the racialism and the
education.

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REFERENCES
Bertocchi, G., 2015. Slavery, racial inequality, and education. IZA World of Labor. Vol 301. Pp.
221-228
Douglass, F., 2000. Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave. Random
House Digital, Inc.
Greenberg, J., 2010. Report on Roma education today: From slavery to segregation and beyond.
Columbia Law Review, Vol. 2. pp.919-1001.
Mahmood, H., 2013. Slavery’s Effects on Education: Parallelism in the United States and Benin.
McMillan, S.T., Slavery, Education and Upward Mobility.