Ethnic Schools

Abstract

This article covers three primary topics within the broad heading of ethnically focused supplemental education. The first is a general overviewof the topic of supplemental ethnic schools. The second is a specific case history of one such program, the Mount Zion Ethnic School. The third is a discussion, informed by that case history, of howandwhy such programsmay be beneficial elements of a holistic system of education that combines formal schooling with informal and nonformal educational efforts, especially those grounded in and generated by diverse and marginalized communities. The value of such programs is only partially reflected in measurable academic products of their programs, as it also includes the symbolic power of fostering a sense of agency, empowerment, and possibility within a community and in how that community is viewed by others.

Teaching Black Students to Fly

“…They participate, for example, in field trips to visit significant places in Black history and culture. In the United States, students take trips to: The National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Martin Luther King Jr.'s home in Atlanta, and the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta (Nelson-Brown, 2005). I suggest that with the recent opening in 2016, of the Smithsonian, National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. that this site is poised to become important for the community and mainstream educators.…”

“…This focus is in direct contrast to the omission and erasure of Black peoples' histories, experiences and contributions to society (regionally, nationally and internationally) from the K-12 school curriculum in countries in the Global North. In the supplementary education program, students learn, for example, about fundamental aspects of Black history such as the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, resistance to enslavement and colonization, the Black struggles for civil rights, early civilizations in different African countries, among other topics (Andrews, 2013;Nelson-Brown, 2005). Additionally, they learn about Black inventors, leaders, scholars, and sportspeople.…”