BLACK-HISTORY AND CULTURAL EMPOWERMENT - A CASE-STUDY

This article considers the prospect of teaching black history as a form of black cultural empowerment. It lays out arguments in favor of such a view and then visualizes, with the help of Gramsci's theories of hegemony, an alternative view. A case study of one school system suggests that empowerment aspects of black history must compete against professional, organizational, and citizenship aspects of classroom practice. The article closes with speculative remarks about the likely degree of empowerment black history provides.