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Foreca st:
District Of Columbia’s Barbara Sizemore On
BUCK HIGHER EDUCATION
Barbara Sizemore determine analysis of progress for blacks in white
America, during Albert E. Manely Convocation series
Editor’s note: The following is an interview with Barbara Sizemore,
the former Brat black woman superintendent of schools for
Washington, D. C. Ms. Sizemore has spent 26 successful years in the
Chicago school system and is a noted advocate of the conviction that
schools for black children should be run by black people. She is
presently completing studies for the Ph.D. at the University of
California. The interviewer is Debbi Newton, editor of the Spelman
“Spotlight.”
Newton: WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SEGREGATED BLACK
HIGHER EDUCATION IN AMERICA?
Sizemore: Most black educated people who are in jobs today were
educated in black institutions. I think the estimate for that percentage
is something like 80 percent. My question is where are these people
going to be educated once the black institutions no longer exist?
Someone told me last week that almost forty percent of the medical
class at Howard University is white. Where are our black doctors going
to be trained if all these spaces are filled up? George Washington
University is bringing Germans over here to educate them at George
Washington University. Where will black America be educated if the
black institutions are integrating away? That’s my point.
Newton: WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF BLACK HIGHER EDUCATION
IN AMERICA?
Sizemore: At the present rate of integration, in 10 years, it won’t exist.
Newton: WHAT ROLE DO STUDENTS, FACULTY, AND AD
MINISTRATORS HAVE IN THE FUTUlfe DEVELOPMENT OF
BLACK HIGHER EDUCATION IN AMERICA?
Sizemore: First of all, I don’t think black students, faculty members,
and administrators know what to attack. Secondly, I think their goals
are the same goals of white middle class America’s. What they fail to
realize, however, is that what they achieve is what white America
wants them to achieve.
Newton: WOULD YOU SAY THE HUMANITIES AS AN ACADEMIC
DISCIPLINE, HAS A ROLE IN THE FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF
BLACK HIGHER EDUCATION? TO WHAT EXTENT?
Sizemore: Well, first of all I would have to ask you a question. What do
you mean when you speak of the humanities? What are the humanities
at Spelman College?
Newton; THE HUMANITIES AT SPELMAN ARE PHILOSOPHY
COURSES, ENGLISH COURSED, RELIGION COURSES,
FOREIGN LANGUUUGES, AND THE ARTS - BOTH FINE AND
DRAMATIC.
Sizemore: I think that black people are badly in need of an ideology.
Religion is the most powerful organizing dynamic that man knows.
The second is nationalism. We don’t know of any other dynamic that
mobilizes a number of people over, a long period of time any more
powerful than those two. Therefore, the minute that you say that you
are not going to use those two dynamics, you have lost the most
powerful that you-have. And if you don’t use them somebody is. So if
you don’t use them to organize and mobilize black people then
somebody else will do it for you. So therefore, I think one of the most
important concerns of black people should be religion. There is no
question about it. And when you look at the Nation of Islam, if you
have any doubts about it, you are losing. You see, the Nation mobilizes
black people around religious ideology. Religion and nationalism
survive, so I think it’s very important. Now if you ask me are we doing
it right, no.
Newton: ARE BLACK STUDIES VITAL TO EDUCATION ON
PREDOMINATELY BLACK COLLEGE CAMPUSES?
Sizemore: No question. Education should be multi-disciplinary and
culturally disciplinary. Under black studies should come black per
spective anthropology, psycholopv history, political science, and
economics, because you have a mono-ungual an( j mono-cultural
curriculum everywhere here in America. Here in 1976 there are a
whole generation of Americans who are 26 years old, born in 1950.
They went through the fifties and the sixties. These people are 26
years old now and they are still teaching Christopher Columbus
discovered America. It’s unbelievable. When I walk into a classroom
and the teacher was bom in 1952 and he’s teaching that Columbus
discovered America, I know that black studies is a must.
Newton: HOW DO BLACK EDUCATORS AND BLACK STUDENTS
DE-MYTHOLOGIZE THE NEGATIVISM ASSOCIATED WITH
BLACK HIGHER EDUCATION?
Sizemore: Well, knowledge in and of itself does not solve problems.
So, just to tell you that they must know is not enough. Just to tell you
what the black human bridge has accomplished for the society is not
enough. But you’ve got to know it. My God! How else are you going
to teach Toussaint L’Overture if you don’t even know he existed? So
the first thing is, you’ve got to know that there is a Mali, a Songhai, a
Garvey, a Malcolm. After you know it, after you have this knowledge
about existing black contributions, then you have to create new
knowledge. Toynbee says in his book, “The Study of History,” that it
is the creative minority of the civilization that makes the progress. I
firmly believe that black people are that creative minority in this
country. Because it is the black people who have been pushing this
country toward its highest ideals every since 1615 when we first were
brought over here as slaves. We have been the people who have
pushed this country toward its highest ideals of democracy-that all
men are created equal in the eyes of God. It has been black people who
have initiated the struggle for justice. The great high points in the
history of this country have been points that have been in response to
our struggle for justice. We have made the only contributions in art
that this civilization America has to show. Gospel music, jazz, and
other art forms, have come from our people. There have been
numerous contributions that have been obscured by the society. Our
people have created new art forms, have created new knowledge
toward the progress of this country. The next step is to create new
knowledge, to create new forms.
Newton: DO YOU HAVE A MESSAGE FOR BLACK STUDENTS
CONCERNING THE SIGNIFICANCE OF AND MODELS FOR SELF-
EDUCATION?
Sizemore: We need to understand the basic construct of this country
which is capitalism. And we need to understand that it is the economic
institutions in this country that are vulnerable. Schools, and prisons,
and churches are rigid institutions that need to be changed no question
about it. But the most rapid change comes about when you mess
around with the economic institutions. If black people really want
progress to occur in a hurry in their struggle for justice, then it is the
economic institutions they must fiddle with. Let me give you an
example. If we really wanted a rapid consideration from the Congress
in response to situation X, let’s just say they started lynching black
people again-which is a real possibility. If we wanted a response to it
right away we’re not going to wait 20 years like we did with the last
Congress. You know, Franklin Delano Roosevelt never dealt with
lynchings. He just kept on letting us be lynched. More lynchings
occurred under Franklin Delano Roosevelt than under any other
president. Let’s say we wanted them to stop now! All you would have
to do to stop them is for 22 million black people to stop buying whiskey
for one month. You could bring that whole whiskey industry to its
knees. And they got a lobby up on the Hill that’s out of sight. They
keep all those congressmen up. You got a lot of congressmen who are
alcoholics. They’re so drunk they can’t even report for roll call. And
the whiskey lobby just keeps them lined up and this is a fact. You got a
gun lobby up there-the National Rifle Association-keeps all those
congressmen with money. This a fact. So if you want a change to occur
rapidly, you want the Congress to respond to let’s say lynchings, then
the first thing you do is to withdraw your dollars from the economic
domain. It was manifested in the Montgomery bus boycott.
But if you do not understand how the economic institutions operate,
then you do not know what alternatives to use. You know, jumping up
and down and shooting people is not how you get a response. I get sick
and tired of people talking about the only way you’re going to get free
in America is to have violence, that’s not true. If 22 million black
people would stop buying whiskey, that whiskey lobby would get that
Congress to respond like quick! We buy 70 percent of all the grape
soda in this country, so if black people would stop buying grape soda,
you could get some concessions from grape soda. Wd buy 40 percent of
all the Pepsi Cola, we don’t even know where we spend our money.
You see those are the institutions that get you responses. That’s what
makes America work. That’s what makes it tick. And those are just
the kinds of things that you have to do. People do it all the time on the
stock market.
Enrollment
For Spelman
By Bettianne Hart
Continued from page 4
Students choose Spelman for a
variety of reasons. The ones
most frequently mentioned are
die academic reputation of the
school, its location, and the
Atlanta University Center
arrangement. Other reasons
mentioned are the appeal of
small classes; opportunities for
greater personal development;
and the desire to attend a
predominantly black college.
This last reason is an interesting
one for inherent in the desire to
attend a “predominantly black”
college is a complex matrix of
expectations. More students
are coming from integrated
situations where there are few
black students and want to be
around more of “their” people.
Other students have been
alienated at predominantly
white institutions. Spelman
recruiters must be careful to
advise students that their ex
perience at Spelman will not be,
entirely “black” and that they
can expect to have some white
instructors also. Applicants
express a desire for personal
attention and assistance and
expect to find it in a black
college. Involved also in the
desire to attend Spelman is the
quest for a unique learning
experience which has inspired
generations of young women to
succeed, excel and motivate
others to do the same. The
majority of excellent students
who come to Spelman in the
future will be in search of this
experience and will verbalize
this need.
This unique experience will not
only be sought by young black
women; increasing numbers of
non-traditional students inquire
about our programs. Other
minority groups, women
veterans and older [white and
black] seeking to redirect their
careers are already beginning to
inquire about admission. The
College will need to make hard
decisions about some existing
policies if the needs of these
groups are to be addressed.
Due to the current emphasis on
career development in high
schools and the nation’s em
ployment situation, applicants
tend to be more career con
scious and are requesting in
formation about a variety of
disciplines. The degree to
which minority students are
encouraged to explore fields of
study not previously open to
them will affect their enrollment
at liberal arts colleges.
At present, the prognosis for
maintaining a strong student
population is good. I am
confident that Spelman will
continue to be a viable source
for well-prepared, talented, and
successful women for years to
come.