Negro Education and the Progressive Movement

Inequality and Redistribution: Evidence from U.S. Counties and States, 1890–1930

“…And although blacks and the very poor often had less access to public education than other groups (Donohue, Heckman, and Todd, 2002), education was still widely viewed as a public good with significant redistributive content. In fact, many southerners, for example, argued that education was too redistributive (Wish, 1964), while more generally, Progressive era reformers emphasized the role of public education in redistributing wealth (Hofstadter, 1960). 9 Many states and counties also limited education funding from direct taxation.…”

From Statehood to School Desegregation: Racial Disparities in the Public Education of Mississippi, 1817–1969

“…Given the discriminatory tenor of the report and hurried nature of the study, O'Shea and the study committee likely did not build this recommendation around a conversation with Black Mississippians but rather an ongoing national debate of "whether black people would be educated to challenge or accommodate the oppressive southern political economy" (Anderson, 1988, p. 77). Nationally, Booker T. Washington, a former slave and founder of Tuskegee University in Alabama, had advocated for agricultural education and domestic service training for Black people (Wish, 1964). In comparison, W. E. B.…”

“…In comparison, W. E. B. Du Bois, a Black scholar born after slavery, called for the education of all Black youth with only 10% of them continuing to higher education to become leaders of Black people (Wish, 1964). On the other hand, White Northern philanthropists of industrialization and White Southern moderates aligned to advocate for manual labor and industrial vocational training for Black people's education to advance the Southern economy for the nation (Watkins, 2001).…”