Dr. James D. Anderson, the renowned author of The Education of Blacks in the South 1860-1935, and Professor Emeritus of Education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, joins the Building the Black Educator Pipeline Podcast to discuss the history of Black education in this country.
Dr. Anderson's scholarship focuses broadly on the history of U.S. education, with a subfield in the history of African American education. In this episode, he describes what inspired him to get into this field of research and shares his own life journey. He details the history of Black people working to build their own system of education and the obstacles they faced along the way.
Host Shayna Terrell and Dr. Anderson discuss the competing educational philosophies Black folks in the south held, and how we see some of the same debates in modern discourse. They discuss the politics that went along with fighting for improved education for Black students and compare the current state of education with the past.
Finally, Dr. Anderson shares what he believes is leading to the attacks on African-American studies, as well as the increase in book bans, and censorship of certain curriculums throughout the country.
