In England, we might say that "the Empire has come home." This means that while racism and the processes of racialization are indeed extraordinarily powerful, there will not only be strong similarities between say the United States and England but also significant differences in how these things play out both now and in the past. This is…

Traces the development of Afro-American history since Carter Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History in 1915. Reviews two books, BLACK HISTORY AND THE HISTORICAL PROFESSION (Meier and Elliott, 1986) and THE STATE OF AFRO-AMERICAN HISTORY: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE (Hine, 1986), stating that they illustrate the…

A graduate of Cornell university's class of 1970 reflects on his experiences as a black undergraduate at Cornell from 1966 to 1970, what affirmative action meant to him and his generation of college students, and the self-education black students experienced at Cornell at that time. William Bowen and Derek Bok recently published "The Shape of…

In "The Closing of the American Mind," Allan Bloom responds to educational problems by blaming African-Americans for creating a separate intellectual world. He blames universities for retreating from traditional education which stresses the supremacy of Western ideals. His neo-conservatism dominates current educational policy and must be…

Examines the literature and explores the portrayal of African Americansin creative writings of revolutionary America. The literature of the period reveals the paradox of African-American life in America, where prosperity for some was based on exploitation of others. Works of Benjamin Banneker, Thomas Jefferson, and Phyllis Wheatley are cited. (SLD)

Reviews the ideas of C. G. Woodson (1875-1950) about the inappropriate education received by African Americans. Although Woodson's book, "The Mis-Education of the Negro," was written in 1933, his diagnosis of the state of the African-American community appears to hold up well today. (SLD)