Arguing that the present state of minority education may be worse than in the days of segregation, she said, “We had teachers who had very high expectations. We were not allowed to fail in my little school systems. We had bad books, we didn’t have equal libraries, we didn’t have equal pay for teachers in my earlier years, but those teachers knew that their job was to prepare us for the future. We were gonna to learn our tables, we were going to learn how to read. And we had this community buffer, because while the external world told us we weren’t important and couldn’t succeed, our parents said it wasn’t so … our teachers said it wasn’t so, our preacher said it wasn’t so, and so we knew it wasn’t so. … And we always were taught that we could change the world, and we had these role models everywhere. That’s missing today for so many of our children.”
Additional Interviews With Marian Wright Edelman
Edelman talked about her work with children and her views on welfare reform in an Oct. 18, 1995, interview with Charlie Rose, the first of four appearances on his show.
Edelman discussed the 2008 election and how she felt it would influence the future of American education in an Oct. 23, 2008, interview with PBS’ Tavis Smiley.
Edelman answered audience questions after delivering a speech at the American Library Association Annual Conference on June 25, 2007.
To learn more about Marian Wright Edelman, read her profile on findingDulcinea.
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