Schools fail to meet the schooling needs of many nonwhite students. Afrocentricity, a new curricular movement that looks through African eyes, focuses on improving schooling experiences for African-Americans. Some proponents view it as an answer to African-American student underachievement and say it enhances self-esteem, achievement levels,…

The cult of ethnicity in general and the Afrocentric campaign in particular do not bode well for U.S. education or for the future of the country. The debate over ethnocentric curricula is traced. Commentaries by R. Walters and D. D'Souza elaborate on issues of multicultural education. (SLD)

Examines aspects of an African-centered pedagogy that should let children understand their identities as people of African heritage. Data are from an ethnographic study of "liberatory" pedagogy that was used by four black women teachers. Three vignettes illustrate liberatory practice as it explicitly addresses issues that are often…

Reports results of a longitudinal study of racial beliefs and consciousness for African-American students who attended Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in the 1980s. Data were collected through questionnaires administered to students in Black Studies courses. Results indicate a shift toward collectivism and a rise in the level of…

Introduces a special section containing three articles and six commentaries, which discuss the form that multicultural education should take and consider whether children are well-served by a unified curriculum for all or ethnocentric curricula for various ethnic groups. Provides several examples of a multicultural approach. (SLD)

Presents an exploratory examination of the causes of social distance characterizing the association between Africans and African Americans. African American's perceptions about Africa and Africans are assessed through anecdotes and impressions, and thoughts and criticisms of Africans about African Americans are considered. A social science…

Outlines some equity problems still existing in the cultural thrust of the public school curriculum and instructional materials, discusses the political context of materials and curriculum selection, and proposes some strategies for resolution of curriculum and instructional materials problems. Equity must become the political will of the American…

The multiculturalism sought by Ronald Takaki is not ethnic separatism, but a serious scholarship that includes all United States peoples and challenges traditional master narratives of U.S. history. Class is a "hidden reality" of U.S. history. Multiculturalism affirms what this country stands for: opportunity, equality, and realization…

It is hypocritical to oppose black immersion schools (BISs) as resegregationist. BISs are a solution to urban school problems proposed in areas where integration has failed. BISs are a reaction to that failure, not a cause of it. To succeed, BISs must address issues of social and economic justice. (SLD)

This document contains 14 papers from an annual symposium on research in adult education for African Americans and Latin Americans. Representative papers include the following: "Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Keeping the Faith and Representing the Race--From the Pulpit to Politics" (Roudell Kirkwood); "Religious Education and…

A collection of essays on "the other" in discourse includes: "The Rhetoric of Othering" (Stephen Harold Riggins); "Political Discourse and Racism: Describing Others in Western Parliaments" (Teun A. van Dijk); "'Das Ausland' and Anti-Semitic Discourse: The Discursive Construction of the Other" (Ruth Wodak);…