The origins of the education of blacks, especially in the South, are traced, in order to comprehend the current educational situation. Two questions are investigated: first, whether the conclusion of the Civil War marks the beginning of a new educational era for the nineteenth century blacks; and second, whether there have in fact been real educational gains that go beyond normal expectations. The historical review in the first section indicates that it is not until the early twentieth century that the chains of the industrial education concept even began to be removed; and that any serious attempt to equalize expenditures for schools in the South does not occur until the 1954 court decision. A second section examines the demographic aspects of education. It focuses first on illiteracy, then on school enrollment, and finally an educational attainment. In the comparison of black-white education, however measured, a basic difficulty in making statistical comparisons arises: that of percentage increases. It is much easier for the oppressed groups to exhibit significant percentage gains than it is for the advantaged groups. Quantitative, if not qualitative, progress in Negro education has occurred at least in recent years despite a system that did everything in its power to block it until recently. (Author/AM)