Examkin

Question

Difficulty: HardBlack Education, HBCUs, and Philosophical Debates

In an 1897 address at the founding of the American Negro Academy, Alexander Crummell declared:

'The native capacity of the Negro for the highest intellectual training has been fully demonstrated... We need then, above all things, for our higher development as a race, a class of men who, by their superior culture and scholarly attainments, shall be able to lead and direct the masses.'

Which of the following educational frameworks or philosophies is most directly aligned with the argument presented in this excerpt?

  1. The development of a liberal-arts-educated leadership class to guide social advancement and advocate for civil rights.Answer
  2. B
    The expansion of industrial and vocational training programs designed to achieve immediate economic self-reliance.
  3. C
    The promotion of emigration to West Africa as the only viable method for Black scholars to achieve intellectual freedom.
  4. D
    The restriction of higher intellectual pursuits to theological studies to ensure the primacy of Black religious institutions.

Answer

The development of a liberal-arts-educated leadership class to guide social advancement and advocate for civil rights.
The correct answer is the option that identifies the development of a liberal-arts-educated leadership class. In the excerpt, Alexander Crummell calls for a group of scholars with 'superior culture and scholarly attainments' to 'lead and direct the masses.' This directly corresponds to the liberal arts model of higher education that was designed to train leaders, teachers, and intellectuals to advocate for racial uplift and civil rights.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the provided excerpt from Alexander Crummell's 1897 address.
The text emphasizes the capacity of Black Americans for the 'highest intellectual training' and argues for the necessity of a 'class of men' with 'superior culture and scholarly attainments' to lead the masses.
Understanding the core argument of the excerpt is essential to identifying the aligned educational philosophy.
2
Compare the excerpt's focus with the major educational philosophies of the era.
The call for an educated elite to lead the masses aligns with the liberal arts and leadership cultivation model (later associated with W.E.B. Du Bois's 'Talented Tenth'), while contrasting with Booker T. Washington's focus on universal industrial/vocational education.
Distinguishing between elite intellectual training and mass vocational training allows for the elimination of incorrect choices.
3
Evaluate the options to identify the correct alignment and rule out distractors.
The choice emphasizing a liberal-arts-educated leadership class matches Crummell's description of a scholarly elite guiding the masses. Other options misidentify the focus by presenting vocational models, emigration, or narrow theological training.
Ensuring the selected choice corresponds directly to the text's advocacy for high intellectual culture and leadership.

Key Concept

Debates over Black education, focusing on the tension between liberal arts/leadership cultivation and industrial/vocational education in the late nineteenth century.
Rate this question

Topics

Black Education, HBCUs, and Philosophical Debates

More questions from this topic