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FREEDOMWAYS             Fourth Quarter 1972

continued efforts to effect change in the relationship of education to our lives is a case in point.

School integration is, at this point in time, an academic issue. Resegregation, the impracticality of busing, and the "Southern Strategy" of applying desegregation law to all cities north and south, spell the end of integration as a viable solution. But ironically, even in instances where integrated schools exist the problem of meaningful education for our children has not been solved. The so-called "racial" turmoil so prevalent in integrated schools across the country relates directly to our "identity crisis." We are still struggling within a prescribed framework characterized by white standards of excellence, white tests of ability, white curricula and white teachers. We too have "set aside" identity, a most critical factor in Black life. We must make education real for us. This means that we must understand who we are psychologically, what our educational needs are and how best to satisfy these needs. Until we set our own standards "racial" turmoil and our children's growing despair will continue. Our politico-historical model places identity squarely at the head of the hierarchy of goals for the Black Liberation Movement.

Project Weeksville's full impact has not yet been realized. Continued research will undoubtedly increase the number of avenues to be explored and raise pertinent questions for 1972 and beyond. At present, for example, there are still some surviving relatives of Weeksville residents. The oral histories of these survivors will be a rich addition to Black history. There is some reason to believe that Weeksville may have been a part of the Underground Railroad. It has also been shown that although characterized as a kind of slum by the newspapers the collection of artifacts indicate that, in all probability, Weeksville was a "middle-class" community. There are many comparisons to be drawn between today and yesterday but more significant than comparisons is the fact that Weeksville will have an immeasurable impact on our never-ending struggle to insure that the priorities of the Black community are the priorities of the institutions that serve us. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Brooklyn Board of Education, Minutes of the Proceedings, 1869-1892.
2. McPherson, James M., The Negro's [[italicized]] Civil War, New York, 1965.
3. Ottley, Roi and Weatherby, William J., The Negro in New York, New York, 1969.
4. The Brooklyn City and Kings County Record, Brooklyn, New York, 1855.
5. United States Census, City of Brooklyn, Ninth Ward, 1860.
6. "Weeksville," The Brooklyn Eagle, July 30, 1873. 

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Transcription Notes:
Indication of italics deleted per transcription guidelines. ---------- Reopened for Editing 2024-02-20 01:47:48