The Education of Black Philadelphia: The Social and Educational History of a Minority Community, 1900-1950 by Vincent P. Franklin Review by: Clayborne Carson The Journal of Negro History, Vol. 66, No. 3 (Autumn, 1981), pp. 262-264 Published by: Association for the Study of African American Life and History, Inc. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2716927 . Accessed: 26/09/2014 18:42

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This content downloaded from 171.64.248.221 on Fri, 26 Sep 2014 18:42:27 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 262 JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY

Israel's Black Hebrews:Black AmericansIn Search of Identity. By Morris Lounds, Jr. (Washington,D.C.: UniversityPress of America, Incorporated,1981, IX 221 pp. $9.75; $18.25) Israel'sBlack Hebrews: Black Americans In SearchOf Identityis a comparativecase study of the developmentof groupidentity among a segmentof blackAmericans who are affiliated with a religioussect known as the Hebrew-Israelites.The authorstates that this is the first systematicstudy of the black Hebrews.Moreover, his primarypurpose is to find out how the Hebrew Israelites continue to exist and to maintain their cohesiveness despite their disappointmentat the failureof theirmillenium to materializein 1977.The authoralso seeksto determinewhat kinds of conciliationscan be reachedbetween the black Hebrewsand the Israelis. The introductiongives a synopticaccount of what the publicationentails and the research methodsused in collectingdata. It also givesa descriptionof the originand the developmentof the blackJews, the BlackMuslims, and the blackHebrews. Moreover, it givesa portraitof the foundersof eachof thesegroups. The authordeals with the periodfollowing 1977 known as the post-millenialera. The authoruses five sectionsto explainhis study. Sectionsone and two deal with the origin, idealogy,and the formationof group identity respectively.In sections three and four, the author discusses the difference between the Hebrew-Israelites,the Black Muslims,the black Jews of Harlem, and the perceptionof HebrewIsraelites and Israelistoward each other successively.Finally, the last portionof the book gives a summaryand conclusionof the study. Much of the informationdiscussed in this work has been elaboratedupon in some form, particularlyby those who adhere to such beliefs. Nevertheless,there are some interesting thoughtsreemphasized. There is also new information,especially that whichemanated from the interviews.For example, on page52, an explanationis givenby the blackHebrews as to how theirhistory was changedafter being stolen and how a racisthistory began. Another interesting topic in the book is found betweenpages 137-140. This section contrasts Black Muslims, black Jews,and blackHebrew Israelites. And they all claimto be God's chosenpeople. In addition, on page 154, they differ concerningtheir belief to remainor to leavethe United States. Finally,perhaps the most interestingof all the examplescited is found in chapterfour which deals with a seriesof interviews.Between pages 167 and 171, when questionedabout their condition in Israel, one HebrewIsraelite responded by comparingtheir lives in the United Stateswith theirexperience in Israel.Hence, he painteda verydismal future for those blacks who remained in the United States. He concluded that they would eventuallydestroy themselves. This studyis well editedand has sufficientdocumentation. Having done some readingand researchin this area, the study was enjoyablefor the reviewerto read. The work is also an invaluableone in thatit maybe utilizedin a numberof waysespecially by thoseinterested in the religiousgroups discussed in the book. MississippiValley State University BufordSatcher

The Education of Black Philadelphia: The Social and Educational History of a Minority Community, 1900-1950. By Vincent P. Franklin. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1979. xxi, 298 pp., $19.95).

Acknowledging his indebtedness to Lawrence A. Cremin's pioneering studies in American educational history, Vincent P. Franklin has produced a work that clearly shows the historical breadth and depth of the best recent scholarship in the field of educational history. Franklin's study of public and community educational activities in Philadelphia's black community

This content downloaded from 171.64.248.221 on Fri, 26 Sep 2014 18:42:27 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions BOOK REVIEWS 263 illuminatesthe many facets of the blackexperience in the city from the colonialperiod to the 1970s. His comprehensiveperspective, his deft use of previousscholarly research, and his effortsto revealconnections between educational policies and changingsocial conditions make this an importantcontribution to the literatureof educationalhistory and Afro-American history. Manyperceptive observations are imbeddedin this thoughtfulstudy. Franklin'sdiscussion of th impactof intelligencetesting on black educationduring the early20th Centuryreveals how studiesthat were intendedto measureinnate abilities were actuallyused to providethe veneerof "science" for traditionalanti-black educational policies. In his descriptionof the campaignagainst segregatedpublic schools, Franklinrecognizes the divisions that existed among blacksregarding the issue. Althoughhe generallydownplays the importanceof class divisionswithin the black community,he notes that the group interestsof black teachersled manyof themto opposedesegregation of teachingstaffs duringthe Depressionbecause of their well-foundedbelief that all-blackschools provided better employment opportunities than did integratedschools. Franklin'streatment of the community-wideeducational programs sponsored by black voluntaryorganizations demonstrates the vital role of these programsin contributingto black social advancement.In evaluatingthe role of black political leaders in pursuing racial objectivesin educationalfields, Franklindoes not hesitateto level strong criticismsagains cautiouslocal NAACP officialsand conservativeblack Democratswhose ineffectivenesswas apparentduring the early 1930sor againstblack politiciansof the 1960swho "vied for the supportof the Democraticmachine" and lackedthe leadershipqualities of the "newspaper editors,ministers, and lawyers"(p. 213) of the precedingera. Franklinis also dubiousabout the valueof interracialanti-discrimination efforts during and afterWorld War II, commenting that there was "little evidencethat the campaignsto increaseinterracial understanding and tolerancehad anysignificant impact upon the overallsocial conditions of the majorityof black citizens"(p. 166). Havingconceded the ambitiousscope and incitefulnessof Franklin'swork, however,some concernsremain about the coherenceof his studyand aboutthe futuredirection of workin this field. The initial pages of Franklin'sbook indicatethe superficialitythat may resultwhen a book attemptsto covertoo muchground too quickly.He breathlessly,and I thinkneedlessly, synthesizesprevious studies of Philadelphia'sblack community from the creationof the first Afro-Americanchurches in the late 18thCentury to the emergenceof a blackghetto in the early 20th Century.His penetratingtreatment of the years betweenthe World Wars reachesfar beyondthe publicschool system to examinethe deteriorationof blackeconomic conditions and the impactof New Deal programsin Philadelphiaduring the Depression.His discussionof unemploymentamong black youth duringthe decadesafter 1930includes an examinationof the problemof juvenile delinquency.Though the author clearlyintends to show the inter- relationshipsamong these aspects of black life and changesand continuitiesover time, the connectionsare often implicitrather than well-developed.Thus a sectionthat discussesblack employmentpatterns during the 1920sis followed,without transitional passages, by sectionson housing conditions, crime rates, and then patternsof segregationin the public schools. Relationshipsmay existlinking these phenomena,but they shouldhave been delineated rather than implied. The most convincingand originalpart of Franklin'sbook is his discussionof the black campaignduring the 1930sagainst discriminatory policies in the placementof black school teachers,but evenin thisinstance the analysisis somewhatunclear. Franklin mentions a variety of factors that might have affected the success of the black campaign.These include the depressedeconomic conditions of blacksin generaland blackschool teachers in particular,the desireof both major politicalparties to compete for black votes after 1934, and the limited

This content downloaded from 171.64.248.221 on Fri, 26 Sep 2014 18:42:27 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 264 JOURNAL OF NEGRO HISTORY

victoriesof blackplaintiffs in previousanti-discrimination suits. WhenFranklin proceeds with his discussionof the final yearsof the blackcampaign against segregation, however, only the politicalfactors seem centralto his analysis. WhileFranklin occasionally deals with topics thatare not fullyincorporated into hisanalysis of changesin educationalpolicies, he also leavesout of his discussionother issues that could haveincreased the valueof his study.Thus, althoughhe includesmany references to economic conditions, he does not attempt to systematicallystudy the relationshipbetween academic achievementand economicsuccess. He also does not focus his attentionon the differences withinthe black populaceregarding the importanceof formaleducation as a meanstoward economicadvancement. He does not determinewhether public educationaltered or simply reproducedthe class structureof the black communityor whetherdesegregation has widened class divisions among blacks by providingnew opportunitiesto those who were already relativelysuccessful. To be sure, Franklindoes referto some studiesthat indicatethe relation- shipsbetween academic achievement and occupationalsuccess, but thesefindings from other studieswere not adequatelypursued in his own research. Theseconcerns should not detractfrom Franklin's considerable accomplishment in givingus an exhaustivelyresearched, clearly written, forcefully argued account of the impactof white racismand discriminatorypolicies on blackeducation during the twentiethcentury. Franklin's conclusionthat "publicschooling did not greatlyimprove the overallsocial statusof blacks" and was indeed "more an obstacle to the achievementof the largergoal of black social advancement"(p. 196)suggests the need for furtherstudies that will combinethe insightsof studiesof educationalpolicies such as Franklin'swith those of the recentquantitative studies of careerand intergenerationalsocial mobility. StanfordUniversity ClayborneCarson

Freedom'sFirst Generation:Black Hampton, Virginia,1861-1890. By RobertFrancis Engs. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1979. 236 pp. $15.00).

Robert Eng's study of the Civil War's impact on Hampton, Virginia emphasizes black accomplishment achieved despite misunderstanding, indifference, and hostility. The author does not neglect the failures of post-war America but he takes an important lesson from the conclusions of recent studies of the antebellum period. "The people we now know to have been remarkablyresourceful as slaves," he reasons, "logically should not have been less so once they were emancipated" (p. xvi). Enough happened between 1861 and 1870 to discourage Hampton's blacks from pursuing their version of freedom and by 1870 they accepted the fact that conditions were not and would never be optimum for achieving their goals. However, like Eugene Genovese's slaves, they "sought to make compromises most advantageous to themselves and made Reconstruction the foundation for continued progress rather than merely an era of bitter disappointment" (p. 83). Certainly, Engs admits that Northern intervention in Hampton's affairs helped make possible the conditions in which the freedmen could begin to hope to exercise their rights. Located in Elizabeth City County near Fort Monroe at the tip of the strategic Peninsula, Hampton and its vicinity quickly became a refuge for "contrabands", thanks to the continued presence of Union troops. Also, the American Missionary Association initiated at Hampton its efforts to aid the South's former slaves. With the end of the war, Hampton became an important center of Freedmen's Bureau activity and, in 1868, the home of Samuel Chapman Armstrong's Hampton Institute. Ironically, the war-time Yankee presence that had brought Hampton its early freedom led directly to the black population's distrust of Northern promise and to the freedmen's early

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