Book Review - "The White Architects of Black Education: 1865-1945" This review is written by Sheilah Garland-Olaniran   Chicago south side resident, William H. Watkins, has, in this thoughtful, politically insightful book, shown that the philanthropy that defined education for African-America had and continues to have far-reaching consequences for education for all Americans. William H. Watkins, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Education at the University of Illinois-Chicago. His book is available in bookstores. "The 'Negro question' is at the very heart of American history and American educational history. The new and experimental country called America had no idea how to organize its disparate populations or its newfound wealth. The accumulations of nearly 250 years of unpaid wages to slaves, and another 100 years of sharecropping, provided America the financial reserves to industrialize and become a (the) world power. No other country was in that position at that time. "The establishment of Black education was much more than teaching the ABC's to little children of color. It was a political proposition. Black education helped define and forge the race relations that shaped the entire twentieth century and beyond." And so, William H. Watkins, author of "The White Architects of Black Education: 1865-1945," lays out his research of, through biography, the architects of black education. Watkins answers the questions of whether education is political, and whether what is taught and how it is taught is a reflection of the ideology of the ruling class. Indeed, this book looks at the very core of where ideology derives and who has the power to broker ideas. The power brokers of the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries were, as Watkins points out, pragmatic men whose actions would guarantee not only the orderly reorganization of the south, but the unfettered growth of northern industrial capitalism. The architects sought to ensure a compliant obedient workforce "trained" to unskilled labor and willing to wait for full citizenship. Watkins show that the architects of black education, whose philosophical and ideological orientations were steeped in the racist eugenics research of the time, shaped, and continue to shape education in America. Through the implementation of curriculum based largely on the research of the racist eugenicists, the architects reinforced white supremacy and the belief that blacks and whites evolved from different "species." Watkins constructs a historical trail that connects the mis-education of African-America to the mis-education of white America. By developing a curriculum that focuses on racial subservience, gradualism, obedience, patience and support of the developing consumer-based economy, Watkins argues, the architects endeavored to ensure the cooperation of the newly freed African and white immigrant workers. They each needed to be "taught" their "place" in U.S. society. In order to eclipse the political and labor organizing activities of white immigrant workers, the architects needed to corral and marshal the activities of these workers into an unquestioned acceptance of white supremacy and a belief that capitalism would gradually resolve these conflicts. If the newly freed Africans were "infected" with notions of organizing, freedom and equality, the future of the nation would certainly have been imperiled, particularly if black and white workers united. With this analysis, it seems clear that the successful implementation of education for black Americans (and for all who have no power) became the political litmus test for establishing ideological, economic and political hegemony over black and white workers in the emerging U.S. industrial economy of the early twentieth century. Watkins, in this provocative political and historical inquiry demonstrates that black education, indeed, public education, was organized and built upon the ideology of the emerging industrial capitalists of the time. Education was not then and is not now about sharing power or providing equal access to resources and information. Neither was it then nor is it now about teaching the cornerstones of genuine education that are critical thinking, analysis and inquiry. Watkins states in his conclusion, "I have always accepted that Black education, and all, public education, was a product of historically, politically, and socially constructed ideas. I have observed Black education as a "political" act. I have viewed this act as influenced by hemgemonic social relationships, labor market economics, class stratification and racial division." Watkins continues, "I acknowledge that schools, curriculum, culture, and social ideas are all contested terrain. America's division of wealth, property relationships, and race and gendered relationships has rendered social and economic interests mutually exclusive. Those who own and do not work can never be reconciled to those who work and do not own. As such, democracy does confront power. Common people do have ideas, engage in action, and indeed, mightily influence social processes." Watkins' theoretical analysis in this pivotal book should certainly establish him as a leading scholar and expert in the field of education. This groundbreaking research places the discourse of current educational reforms within the realm of the political where it must be. It also brings the reader to conclude what Watkins' concludes: that education is contested terrain. It is contested terrain if we ask ourselves whether the ideology of the powerbrokers truly reflects the interests of the majority. Do their ideology of inferiority; racism, gradualism, powerlessness and distortion of history truly reflect the sort of future that our children can claim? And, if we believe it does not then Watkins' book is surely a call to action. William Watkins is available for lectures and speaking engagements. For further information, please contact Speakers Bureau for a New America at 1-800-691-6888 or visit our web site at http://www.lrna.org/speakers or e-mail speakers@lrna.org. Submitted by Sheilah Garland-Olaniran, currently a labor organizer, and a recent transplant to the Chicago area. Ms. Garland-Olaniran was a former substitute teacher for the Flint, Michigan public schools.