by R. Asmerom
“Black people are the only ones who can teach black children, it’s as simple as that,” said Milwaukee educator Taki Raton to columnist Eugene Kane of the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Sentinel Journal. The recent post by Kane, entitled “African-centered education has a strong backer,” got many comments from readers – those who supported the idea that education for Blacks was superior prior to desegregation and those who believe that educators like Raton are supporting racism. At the core of it all is the debate about how to address the dismal statistics plaguing Black pupils across the country.
Raton ran the Blyden Delany Academy for 10 years before it closed down a few years ago. The private school was well-received by the parents of the students who attended. Raton attributes the success of the program to the African-centered approach, which stresses modeling curricula from a Black perspective rather than a Western perspective, and immersing students in a learning environment staffed by Black instructors. This approach serves to create an inspiring and comfortable atmosphere in which to thrive, according to many Afro-centric educators.
Kane notes that the Milwaukee Public School district actually experimented with Afrocentric education when it attempted to introduce it into the curriculum at several schools in the 1990s. “Some Afrocentric schools prospered, but others were criticized by various members of the community for exclusionary practices – even reverse racism – because of the insistence on maintaining predominantly black staffs,” he said.
The fact that Milwaukee even attempted to integrate culturally relevant education, at one point, is a big deal but as long as school systems continue to ignore the discussion about unique learning styles of different cultures, Afrocentric education will continue to operate at a very limited l level and, therefore, have limited access to demonstrate their impact.
