Howard University

• AFRO 122

• Tahlia Lewis Dr. Carr AFRO 122-01 October 12, 2021 Reflection Essay for James Anderson’s “The Education of Blacks in the South.” James Anderson writes a compelling book about southern education for black people. It includes the differing opinions between black people, northern white philanthropists, and southern white educators. After centuries of not being able to get any sort of education, former enslaved people decided to create generations of teachers and formally educated black people. Former slave Booker T. Washington created Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute. There was also Hampton Normal and Industrial Institute created by Samuel Chapman Armstrong. Both of these institutes initially focused on creating black teachers. By creating black teachers, Tuskegee Institute was able to fulfill its mission of creating teachers to teach the black youth in the South. The book states this, “The traditional emphasis on Hampton as a trade or technical school has obscured the fact that it was founded and maintained as a normal school and that its mission was the training of common school teachers for the South's black educational system. The HamptonTuskegee curriculum was not centered on trade or agricultural training.” So what changed the curriculum at Hampton and Tuskegee Institute?This goes against what white philanthropists believed would allow black people into white society. They believed black people should focus their education on industry and agriculture. So they poure