Read the following excerpt from an 1899 address by educator Lucy Craft Laney:
"It is a mistaken idea that the education of the Negro woman should be limited to the training of the hands. To keep her in the kitchen or at the wash-tub, without the cultivation of her mental faculties, is to deprive the race of its most potent force for elevation. The educated mother is the first teacher of the child, and the home is the nursery of character. If we are to lift the race out of the shadow of post-emancipation struggles, we must provide our women with an education that fosters intellectual leadership and moral responsibility, enabling them to uplift their families and communities."
Which of the following statements best explains how the educational philosophy expressed in this excerpt responds to the dominant post-emancipation debates on Black education?
- AIt mirrors the arguments of mainstream white feminists by advocating that Black women prioritize individual career advancement in northern industries over domestic duties.
- BIt argues that since domestic racial prejudice is insurmountable, Black women should be trained primarily to establish schools in West Africa and the Caribbean.
- It challenges the exclusive focus on industrial education by asserting that the intellectual development of Black women is essential for community-wide racial uplift and social transformation.Answer
- DIt represents a complete alignment with W.E.B. Du Bois's academic curriculum, arguing that classical education should be reserved exclusively for a male 'Talented Tenth'.