Black educators must change “white” education

Abstract

I think it is very important for diverse members of the African American community across the country to come together at a conference like this to discuss how to provide quality education for poor and minority children in this country. I think that black education is a critical topic. However, I believe that in order to address that topic seriously we need to focus on something very different. We need to focus on improving white education. Why do I believe that? Well, for nearly fifty years, the standard approach among black educators has been to seek equal access for minority children to the existing range of educational opportunities, that is, to seek access to white education. "Equal access" of course was guaranteed by the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954--which struck down the false premise that "separate but equal" could truly be equal. However, access itself does not guarantee quality education.