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FREEDOMWAYS

FOURTH QUARTER 1968

unions in the North who crusaded for free public schools. The Establishment conceded reluctantly.
The Establishment saw the need for an educated elite. The elite is needed to preside over, manage and control their vast wealth and resources. Economists, scientists, lawyers and physicians, as well as educators, politicians and government officials are needed to support, promote and defend the Establishment and the present order of things. The Establishment controls and directs the higher institutions of learning through its representatives on the boards of trustees. It controls public education through the local boards of education and educators who justify and extol the virtues of the status quo. For instance, vocational courses were introduced into the high schools in 1917 to fulfill the needs of business and financial interests.
Education is a profitable business. At this moment politicians and government officials are urging businessmen not yet in the education "industry" to make haste (New York Times, 8-13-68). Education is the "growth industry" (ibid.). The outlook is not "lush for quick profit" in an industry with current annual expenditures of $50 billion now-but be not dismayed because by 1975 the expenditures will reach $66 billion. A government official assured businessmen that there was ample room for profitable involvement in the service areas such as "school transportation" or in "administrative areas such as school feeding and maintenance." The Radio Corporation of America, already in the education market is now definitely committed to the opportunities in the "potentially lucrative" education business through its newly organized R.C.A. Institutes, Inc. (New York Times, 8-14-68.)
Education opens the door to the job. The higher the learning, the higher the pay. Education is the key to the job. And as more people acquire higher education, the competition for the job becomes keener. Insecurity, joblessness, hunger and fear haunt the majority of people. Even those with jobs feel insecure and apprehensive about the future where jobs fade away as automation and technology advance.
Add the element of racism to the competition for the job and the Black child is confronted with a formidable foe. Competition for the job is apparent in all professions and all branches of the economy, for that matter. He can meet all the qualifications and still not get the job. Racism is a factor because "the improvement of Negro occupational qualifications depends largely, although not completely, upon the improvement in the quantity and quality of Negro educa-

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Transcription Notes:
Note that page's final word is hyphenated and the following page presumably contains the word's remaining syllable(s). To optimize searchability, potentially the word in the transcription should be wholly on one or both pages. For example, if it's "educators" then maybe use that whole word here and then "[[educators]]" to begin the next page. ---------- Reopened for Editing 2024-02-13 11:04:11