Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, for recently freed African Americans, education denied to them under slavery was a critical component of understanding freedom. In the wake of the Civil War, with the widespread awareness that education was essential to the advancement of a free people in this society, African Americans flocked to schools established by the Freedmen's Bureau. The recognition of this relationship between schools, community, and the broader ideal of the American Dream led African American parents and teachers to be among the first Southerners to advocate for universal public education. However, the dual education system that arose, determined by race and based on the fiction of separate but equal, brought about a hand-me- down approach to Black education in the South. This flawed duality resulted in the perpetuation and exacerbation of institutional inequity. In the face of such obstacles, leaders like Booker T. Washington, founder of the Tuskegee Institute, embraced and expanded on the early belief in education as the great hope of a truly democratic society. Washington's vision inspired many, including philanthropist and president of Sears, Roebuck, Julius Rosenwald. The philanthropic and educational partnership between these two men led to the construction of 5,000 Rosenwald schools across 15 Southern States.…”