M. Christopher Brown II - Böcker

First published in 2002. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

In 1954, the United States Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education Topeka (347 U.S. 483) overturned the prevailing doctrine of separate but equal introduced by Plessy v. Ferguson (163 U.S. 537) fifty-eight years prior. By the time Brown was decided, many states had created dual collegiate structures of public education, most of which operated exclusively for Caucasians in one system and African Americans in the other.Although Brown focused national attention on desegregation in primary and secondary public education, the issue of disestablishing dual systems of public higher education would come to the forefront two years later in Florida ex rel. Hawkins v. Board of Control (350 U.S. 413 [1956]). However, the pressure to dismantle dual systems of public education was not extended to higher education until the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Despite Title VI of this Act, which stated that No person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, or be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance, nineteen states continued to operate dual systems of public higher education. The Quest to Define Collegiate Desegregation explores the evolution of the legal standard for collegiate desegregation after Adams v. Richardson (351 F2d 636 [D.C. Cir. 1972]).

Black colleges are central to the delivery of higher education. Notwithstanding, there is scant treatment of these key institutions in the research literature. There is a need for a comprehensive and cogent understanding of the primary characteristics of the policies and practices endemic to black colleges. This book provides the scholarly basis requisite to organize, give meaning to, and shape the analyses and applications of policy and practice within the black college. The collected chapters respond to the paucity of research literature addressing these institutions. In each chapter, the authors acknowledge the specific characterisics of black colleges that make them unique. Understanding the fundamental characteristics that shape black colleges is critical to gaining a comprehensive understanding of higher education at large. The policy and praxis challenges exhibited at black colleges serve as exemplars to how all colleges perform their respective functions in society. Black colleges serve as testimonies to the transformative power of adversity, and beacons of possibility in and era of retrenchment and ambiguity. These roles call on black colleges to aid and assist in creating an opportunity for educational change.

* Marshalls the arguments for affirmative action* Offers strategies for actionWhy is affirmative action under attack? What were the policy’s original purposes, and have they been achieved? What are the arguments being arrayed against it? And–for all stakeholders concerned about equity and diversity on campus–what’s the way forward, politically, legally, and practically?The authors explore the historical context, the philosophical and legal foundations of affirmative action, present contemporary attitudes to the issue on and off campus, and uncover the tactics and arguments of its opponents. They conclude by offering strategies to counter the erosion of affirmative action, change the basis of the discourse, and coordinate institutional support to foster inclusive college environments and multi-ethnic campus communities.This book analyzes the ideological and legal construction of colorblind legislation that has led to the de facto exclusion of people of color from institutions of higher education. It addresses the role of the courts in affecting affirmative action in higher education as a workplace and place of study. It documents the under-representation of collegians of color and presents research on student opinion on race-based policies at two- and four-year institutions. It details the pervasiveness of the affirmative action debate across educational sectors and the status of race among myriad factors considered in college admissions. Finally, it considers affirmative action as a pipeline issue and in the light of educational policy.

What is the purpose of black colleges? Why do black colleges continue to exist? Are black colleges necessary?Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are at the same time the least studied and the least understood institutions of higher education and the most maligned and the most endangered.This unique study examines the mission of four-year HBCUs from the perspective of the campus president, as a foundation for understanding the relevance and role of these institutions. This is the first research to focus on the role of presidents of black colleges; is based on extensive interviews with fifteen presidents; and takes into particular account the type of campus environments in which they operate.Unlike community colleges, women’s colleges, men’s colleges, and Hispanic-serving colleges, Black colleges are racially identifiable institutions. They also vary significantly in, among other characteristics: size, control (public or private), religious affiliation, gender composition, and available resources. Although united in the historic mission of educating African Americans, each black college or university has its own identity and set of educational objectives. The book examines how presidents define and implement mission in the context of their campuses, view the challenges they face, and confront the factors that promote or hinder implementation of their missions.

The failure of American education to achieve racial diversity has resulted from the inability of educational researchers, policy makers and judicial officials to disentangle the complex definitions that have emerged in a post-segregated society. More specifically, the capricious aim of post-segregated educational settings leads to the confusing and often conflicting interchangeable usage of terms desegregated, integrated and diversity. This ambituity is further confounded by the imprecise definitions of equity, equality and opportunity. The proposed book will examine the role of language post-Brown v. Board of Education and the effects of that language on educational policy and practice. He also examines how the fundamental implications of language within post-Brown court cases, in pre- through post-secondary education, demonstrate the unspecified outcomes for desegregation and integration while concomitantly demand an educational continuum of equitable distribution. The arguments will further interrogate how education policy and practices implicitly contain a scholarly roadmap to forge equal opportunity and access, fifty years after Brown.

The failure of American education to achieve racial diversity has resulted from the inability of educational researchers, policy makers and judicial officials to disentangle the complex definitions that have emerged in a post-segregated society. More specifically, the capricious aim of post-segregated educational settings leads to the confusing and often conflicting interchangeable usage of terms desegregated, integrated and diversity. This ambituity is further confounded by the imprecise definitions of equity, equality and opportunity. The proposed book will examine the role of language post-Brown v. Board of Education and the effects of that language on educational policy and practice. He also examines how the fundamental implications of language within post-Brown court cases, in pre- through post-secondary education, demonstrate the unspecified outcomes for desegregation and integration while concomitantly demand an educational continuum of equitable distribution. The arguments will further interrogate how education policy and practices implicitly contain a scholarly roadmap to forge equal opportunity and access, fifty years after Brown.

African American Males in Education: Researching the Convergence of Race and Identity addresses a number of research gaps. This book emerges at a time when new social dynamics of race and other identities are shaping, but also shaped by, education. Educational settings consistently perpetuate racial and other forms of privilege among students, personnel, and other participants in education. For instance, differential access to social networks still visibly cluster by race, continuing the work of systemic privilege by promoting outcome inequalities in education and society.The issues defining the relationship between African American males and education remain complex. Although there has been substantial discussion about the plight of African American male participants and personnel in education, only modest attempts have been made to center analysis of identity and identity intersections in the discourse. Additionally, more attention to African American male teachers and faculty is needed in light of their unique cultural experiences in educational settings and expectations to mentor and/or socialize other African Americans, particularly males.

African American Males in Education: Researching the Convergence of Race and Identity addresses a number of research gaps. This book emerges at a time when new social dynamics of race and other identities are shaping, but also shaped by, education. Educational settings consistently perpetuate racial and other forms of privilege among students, personnel, and other participants in education. For instance, differential access to social networks still visibly cluster by race, continuing the work of systemic privilege by promoting outcome inequalities in education and society.The issues defining the relationship between African American males and education remain complex. Although there has been substantial discussion about the plight of African American male participants and personnel in education, only modest attempts have been made to center analysis of identity and identity intersections in the discourse. Additionally, more attention to African American male teachers and faculty is needed in light of their unique cultural experiences in educational settings and expectations to mentor and/or socialize other African Americans, particularly males.