Going Against the Grain Part 3 pages 140-157

"She hungered for knowledge, took advantage of the learning opportunities available to her, and was inspired by the materiel circumstances of her life to sacrifice herself and her people”. (Royster 140)

Gaining literacy in the black community was seen as a crusade against slavery. It was a fight to prove to the skeptics that African Americans deserved their freedom. Writers in the black community were seen as leaders. African Americans were becoming literate through many traditional and nontraditional means during this time. Even though slaves in the south were academically illiterate, they were usually skilled in a particular field. Some African Americans ended up being educated for their slave holders’ benefit. Freed slaves would escape to communities with other free slaves who were literate. Southern men started seeing the benefits of having literate blacks around.

Others were educated because they were related to white people because of the intimate violence that occurred during slavery. An example of this was Charlotte Forten, a biracial woman, who took the educational opportunities presented to her and ran with them. She accomplished many firsts during her lifetime including being the first black woman to attend Higginson Grammar school, to teach at Epes Grammar school, and to participate in a federal tax supported effort to educate blacks. Forten being raised in a white community considered the black people as deserving freedom and educational opportunities but still not equal to white people. She connected with them as less fortunate members of her own race that she had to help. Being biracial she wasn’t viewed as an equal to her co-workers but her main concern was on the community development.

Three key events lead to the formalization of schooling for African Americans. The first event was when President Abraham Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation freeing all slaves in states that didn’t belong to the union. The second event was the victory of the Union troops over the Confederates forcing the surrounding plantation owners to evacuate leaving behind everything including their slaves which later became known as “contraband”. This led to the government taking control of the Port Royal Island and its inhabitants. The government decided to then do an experiment on the black people who lived on the island to see if they were capable of being educated, thus becoming the first federal funding educational opportunity for African Americans.

A missionary school movement began, in which missionaries were dispersed all over the country schooling the illiterate. After the Civil war the Atlanta University for African Americans was opened. Sabbath day schools were opened to service the black community. Privileged African Americans preferred to educate their children in private schools instead of dealing with the racism in public schools. The Morril Act gave grants to new schools and universities being opened specifically for African Americans.

An example of this is our very own Spelman College that was dedicated to fill the need for educated black women. Clara Howard was a member of the first graduating class at Spelman and along with other alumnae became a missionary dedicated to educating the less fortunate.