Education and Human Development

Since people of African descent first arrived in America, we have had to contend not only with white oppression but also with our own willingness to undermine each other. This essay offers an alternative reading of the muting of African American scholarship that focuses on the breaking of what Aaron David Gresson, III, calls “the collusive bond.” My analysis suggests that the muting of race-related research can occur on either side of the color line, and that it can be motivated not only by racial antipathy but also by self-interest and opportunism.

Abstract: There are two contemporary urban reform thrusts working in parallel, one being the move toward coordinated children's services through the public schools (full-service schooling), and the other a press toward the economic and social regeneration of poor ...

There are two contemporary urban reform thrusts working in parallel, one being the move toward coordinated children's services through the public schools (full-service schooling), and the other a press toward the economic and social regeneration of poor neighborhoods. The interest in a much-broadened mission for the public school (toward coordinated children's and family services) has captured attention in American communities nationwide, and the approach is being tested with varying combinations of public and private funding. The services provided by any given project can greatly differ, and projects can vary in their exact locations, from school-based, to school-linked, to community-based. However, it is not unusual for coordinated service efforts to include health clinics and health education, family-assistance/support, family counseling, adult education, parenting education, child care, and youth/family recreation. An alternative paradigm that focuses on community development rather than delivery of services is gaining considerable attention. When these approaches are considered, the choice should not be which way to go, but rather how to manage both. Ideas of importance are: (1) added assistance to families and children, while vital, can fail to reach if the full involvement of parents and the community is not a simultaneous goal; (2) the local school should be recognized as a part of the basic industry of the city, with economic and community-development responsibilities that go well beyond mere delivery of services; and (3) powerful neighborhood revitalization strategies should proceed from the realization that in poor neighborhoods physical, economic, and social, individual and collective, adult and child well-being are all interconnected. (Contains 54 references.) (SLD)

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