The crisply dressed first graders who moved hesitantly that day through the halls of the Booker T. Washington Elementary School – built expressly for “colored children” – would be the first in their families to find relief from some of the most egregious humiliations that had come with being black in our town.
A popular restaurant nearby that used to turn away black patrons had begrudgingly begun to seat them. The movie theaters (including the one where black townspeople had watched “Gone With the Wind” from “colored” seats in the balcony) no longer separated patrons by race The skating rink was the lone Jim Crow holdout: Black skaters could attend only if it was “ebony” night.
Segregated schools for black students were often decrepit, poorly staffed and crushingly overcrowded. But I recall no such infirmities at Booker T., as we called it. It was sparkly clean, quiet as a library and firmly under the control of steely, well-educated African-American women who were sticklers for grammar, could freeze your misbehaving heart with a glare and had the unnerving habit of engaging our parents in conversation on the street.
Today, many of the women who taught at Booker T. would instead have become lawyers, bankers or executives. But back then, discrimination that would ease with the passage of time had ruled out those careers and made teaching the default choice for the capable Negro women who then poured their aspirations into us.
The significance of what they gave us is being driven home in a growing body of research showing that black children – particularly those from impoverished families – benefit from having black teachers.
Important studies show, for example, that children who encounter African-American teachers are more likely to be recognized as bright enough for gifted and talented programs, more likely to be viewed as capable of success and more likely to graduate from high school and aim for college.
These studies suggest that black teachers are powerful role models, particularly for black boys; that they are more likely than white teachers to recognize competence in their black students; and that subjective judgments by teachers play a vital role in determining success at school. All the more reason for public schools across the country to do more to recruit and retain teachers of color.
The forces that are driving African-American teachers out of the classroom are taking a toll not just on black children but on the educational system as a whole. The country will never overcome this problem unless it begins to treat it with urgency.
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