Taking aim at higher education: a selection of books that explore the progress, struggles and aspirations

Black Issues Book Review, Sept-Oct, 2004 by Pearl Stewart

Advancing Democracy: African Americans and the Struggle for Access and Equity in Higher Education in Texas by Amilcar Shabazz, University of North Carolina Press, January 2004 $19.95, ISBN 0-807-85505-7

In the Introduction, Shabazz, a professor at the University of Alabama, explains how the impetus for writing the book came during his freshman orientation at the University of Texas, where "never once was I told that people whom the state designated as Negro or black like me had only recently been allowed to attend UT."

From the 1880s to the ultimate desegregation of all the state's colleges and universities, Advancing Democracy demonstrates how the Texas experience was a beacon for desegregation movements in other states.

Defending Diversity: Affirmative Action at the University of Michigan by Patricia Gurin, Jeffrey S. Lehman and Earl Lewis University of Michigan Press, April 2004 $24.95, ISBN 0-472-11307-0

Two Michigan faculty members, Gurin and Lewis, and Cornell University President Lehman demonstrate why diversity is an essential goal in higher education and why affirmative action is needed to achieve that goal. Using a variety of research data and court records, the authors build a formidable argument, placing emphasis on the benefits of interactions among students of different races in classrooms and dorm rooms.

Faculty Diversity: Problems and Solutions by JoAnn Moody Routledge Falmer, January 2004 $24.95, ISBN 0-415-94867-3

The author, a diversity consultant and former college administrator, writes that as institutions of higher education are enrolling more minority students, they are failing to diversify their faculties. Moody contends that--despite assumptions to the contrary--there are enough job candidates with doctorates. Significantly, Faculty Diversity contains an extensive list of "best practices" for recruiting and retaining minority faculty.

Is Separate Unequal? Black Colleges and the Challenge to Desegregation by Albert L. Samuels University Press of Kansas, February 2004 $34.95, ISBN 0-700-61301-3

An assistant professor of political science at Southern University, Samuels suggests that Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) should not base their appeals for preservation on past discriminatory treatment, but instead on the contributions black graduates are making to the overall society, especially in information technology. Samuels contends "it is the overemphasis on historical injustices ... that in the long term represents a losing strategy."

Through Ebony Eyes: What Teachers Need to Know But Are Afraid to Ask About African American Students by Gail Thompson Jossey-Bass, May 2004 $ 24.95, ISBN 0-787-97061-1

If African American children aren't dumb or lazy, why are they underachieving? Nearly 50 years since the Supreme Court ordered public schools to desegregate, there is an inarguable achievement gap between white and black students. Additionally, a large percentage of teachers are unwilling and/or underprepared to truly work with black students.

Thompson brings 14 years of teaching experience and certain candidness to tackle the theories interdisciplinary scholars have posited to explain the achievement gap. The "structural inequality" theory argues that schools were designed to perpetuate class differences; the "low teacher expectations" theory suggests that students often interact with teachers who do not expect student success; and the "acting white" theory says that some black students believe they have to reject their home culture to succeed academically. Though Ebony Eyes makes meaningful leaps forward with regard to education and race.

This carefully constructed and language accessible text could and should find an appropriate home with any individual working to prepare and provide a culturally responsive, respectful and rigorous, but equitable education for students of color.

Dr. Askhari Johnson Hodari is an African American Studies professor in Birmingham, Alabama.

Journey to the Ph.D.: How to Navigate the Process As African Americans Edited by Anna L. Green and LeKita V. Scott, Stylus, September 2003 $18.95, ISBN 1-579-22079-7

A collection of intensely personal accounts by black scholars who have surmounted the obstacles of stress, frustration and racial stereotyping, Journey is a useful resource--therapy of sorts--for African American students en route to the Ph.D. In addition to fine narratives, the book offers mini-case studies and positive practices to replace the dysfunctional ones.

Stand and Prosper: Private Black Colleges and Their Students by Henry N. Drewry and Humphrey Doermann Princeton University Press, December 2003 $19.95, ISBN 0-691-11632-6

To educators argue that private black colleges are critical in the continued prosperity of African Americans, especially in light of anti-affirmative action court decisions. The book is also a homage to the activists who demanded equal education for blacks despite the determination of racists to prevent it. From the time Edward Jones and John Russworm graduated front Amherst in 1826 until the end of the Civil War, only 28 black Americans received degrees. During that time, it was estimated that the black population had grown to 4.4 million. But the reversal was swift and gave testament to the irrepressible will of black families and civil rights activists. In 1870, blacks had an illiteracy rate of 79 percent, but by 1940 the rate had shrunk to 11 percent.