Black Studies in College

 Braxton Jackson

Dr. Harris

ENGL2016-44378

28 November 2023

FINAL: Black Studies in College

Black studies is the study of how African Americans have contributed to the advancement of society as a whole. Since the times of slavery, African Americans have created numerous forms of music, art, and literature that have greatly influenced society today.  Because of the limitless enhancements that black people have contributed to society, black studies should be a required part of the curriculum of students. 

Throughout American history, African Americans have been the backbone of many historical events and eras. They helped build the Capitol of the United States. They have endured nearly 250 years of slavery. They have led many progressive social justice movements throughout US history. They have enriched American culture with their works of literature, art, music, culture, and political presence. They have contributed heavily in nearly every war, from the Continental Army during the American Revolution to preserving the Union during the Civil War up until the War on Terror of the 21st century. The need for an indepth analysis of black studies can be best explained by Colita Fairfax in her article entitled The Need to Be: Since 1619 Trauma and Anti-Blackness. She argues that the issues that justify a dive into black studies is because “the onslaught of institutional racism, cultural oppression, anti-Black violence and trauma have impacted cultural solvency, are seldom addressed” (56). In order to reconcile the collective trauma that is faced primarily in the black community, a deeper analysis of African American’s history—the good and the not-so-good parts—in the United States must be studied.

After the Civil War, much of the true history of America was whitewashed in order to adapt to the Lost Cause narrative of history, which is a form of history that adapts to the narrative that the Confederate states are the true victims of the Civil War. In The Textbooks of the Lost Cause, contributed by Fred Arthur Bailey, he writes that southern historians “established lists of approved and disapproved books, and produced literature more congenial to their perception of an unbiased history” (508). This revisionist form of history has downplayed the true nature of the horrors of slavery in order to maintain the white supremacist view that the North is the oppressor and that slavery in itself is not as demeaning as the North makes it to be.

Since much of the nation's history was less inclusive of blacks, and due to segregation of education being legal throughout the country, many black leaders began looking for solutions to help educate the young black children. In the Journal of Black Studies, Lawrence Crouchett writes “black leaders as early as 1896 expressed the hope that "black children be taught something about their African past and the role their people played in the development of this country" (191). 

Since its addition to the university system, black studies has grown to be a fairly popular genre of education. In my own personal experience, I was unaware that there were any courses that opted to teach African American studies, let alone a literature course. In an essay entitled Black Studies in the 21st Century, Mark Christian, a black studies professor, praises the long way that black studies has come. He writes that “the child [black studies] has grown up and can now ho its own among the BA, MA, and PhD liberal arts offerings” while alluding to the fact that there are “only a few institutions that offer a MA and PhD degrees” (701). 

Because of the whitewashing of history and the lack of Black culture in classrooms, the opportunity for college students to learn more about Black history will allow for a more diverse and inclusive society. While black studies has gone far since its incorporation to college campuses, there is more that could be done to enhance its experience. In a journal for The Black Scholar, Manning Marable writes, “Black Studies must do more to address, in a critical and comparative fashion, the various theoretical paradigms and schools of interpretation within the African American experience” (30). Whether it is political science (African Americans in politics), English (African American literature), or art (the beauty of the Harlem Renaissance), black studies ought to be required in some form of all college students along their degree path. Black history is indeed American history. 

Works Cited

Bailey, Fred Arthur. “The Textbooks of the ‘Lost Cause’: Censorship and the Creation of Southern State Histories.” The Georgia Historical Quarterly, vol. 75, no. 3, 1991, pp. 507–33. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40582363. Accessed 29 Nov. 2023.

Crouchett, Lawrence. “Early Black Studies Movements.” Journal of Black Studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 1971, pp. 189–200. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2783926. Accessed 29 Nov. 2023.

Christian, Mark. “Black Studies in the 21st Century: Longevity Has Its Place.” Journal of Black Studies, vol. 36, no. 5, 2006, pp. 698–719. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40026680. Accessed 29 Nov. 2023.

Marable, Manning. “BLUEPRINT FOR BLACK STUDIES AND MULTICULTURALISM.” The Black Scholar, vol. 22, no. 3, 1992, pp. 30–35. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41067783. Accessed 29 Nov. 2023.

Fairfax, Colita Nichols. “The Need To Be: Since 1619, Trauma and Anti-Blackness.” Phylon (1960-), vol. 57, no. 1, 2020, pp. 56–75. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26924987. Accessed 29 Nov. 2023.