Summary: The History Of Kenneth B. Clark

The History of Kenneth B. Clark

An Introduction to Kenneth B. Clark Kenneth Bancroft Clark was born on July 14th, from the country of Panama. His father, Arthur Bancroft Clark worked as a manager for the United Fruit Company. His mother was Jamaican-born housewife, Miriam Hanson Clark. Despite the comfortable living situation in Panama, Kenneth’s mother wanted her family go grow up in the United States, where there were more opportunities for her children. Kenneth’s father, however, declined. He did not want to leave his job to go to the United States where he would not be treated equally. Despite his father’s objection, his mother proceeded to move without him. When Kenneth was five years old, his parents
He attended a predominantly all white school with Irish children from his neighborhood. Jewish children from the West Side, and a small number of African-American children also attended his school. Kenneth first discovered the tensions between the races when an African-American student teacher, Hubert Delany, came to teach in school. It was then when Kenneth began to realize how racial awareness was in his own life. “Delany was apparently at City College, and had come down to do his practice teaching at P.S. 5, and I remember one of my classmates telling me that there was a colored teacher, and I went to the door to look at him. I was so proud… I remember the joy, the pride, the thrill I had, and I think I went home and told my mother that I saw a colored teacher” (Markowitz and Rosner 1996). As Kenneth attended a public junior high school, he was pressured by his teachers to learn a trade. During this time, African-American children were advised to learn a trade because of the barriers they faced in the workforce. Kenneth’s mother refused to let her son become a product of vocational training. Things worked out for Kenneth since he had an interest in reading about ideas than going to school for a trade job. “He spent countless hours at the 135th Street branch of the New York Public Library. He came under the tutelage of Arthur Schomburg, whose extensive collection of books and documents of the 20th century Harlem bear
In his book, he analyzes the impact on racial prejudice and its effect on white and black children. Clark also provides counseling and a plan for action. In 1965, after his contribution to the Brown v. Board of Education case, Clark published Dark Ghetto: Dilemmas of Social Power. In his book, he re-visited the streets of Harlem as an “involved observer”. His intent was to understand the issues that lower-class African Americans faced in the Harlem slums. He believed that the residents of Harlem’s ghettos have complex and combined issues including, financial problems, family instability, and sexual misbehavior. A Possible Reality: A design for the Attainment of High Academic Achievement for Inner-City Students was written by Clark and published in 1972. The book itself represents the importance of motivation and determination to improve education in inner cities. Three years later, Kenneth wrote Pathos of