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Some extreme measures have also been suggested to improve the nature of certain public schools in this country. One such measure is the idea of an afro-centric education that teaches from an African-American point of view. Molefi Kete Asante, one of the largest proponents of an afro-centric curriculum, states, “Afrocentricity provides all Americans an opportunity to examine the perspective of an African person in this society and the world” (Noll, 268). While Asante is most likely correct that afrocentricity will allow people to learn more about African-Americans, Asante is incorrect in his motives for an afrocentric curriculum. Multicultural education should be multicultural, and an afrocentric education provides for a singular viewpoint. An afrocentric education would be a step backwards. In no way should African-Americans be left out of a multicultural education, but also in no way should they or any other culture be the lone focus of a public education. Such a step would lead to further polarization between races, which is what educators are attempting to fix by installing a multicultural education.

The topic of afrocentrism and the teaching of a specific culture leads into the question of what should be included in a multicultural education, and where educators should draw the line as far as teaching culture. Louise Derman-Sparks, a proponent of multicultural education, says that preaching diversity in all parts of learning is the best approach to teach diversity. She suggests, among other ideas, to avoid denying color, but rather to embrace it. “By implicitly setting up the dominant culture as the norm, we end up equating ‘We are all the same,’ with, ‘We are all white.’” (Levine, 19). A multicultural education should touch upon different aspects of many different ethnicities, but not do so in a token manner. Such an education should also teach students specific skills at the same time that the education teaches life skills that are not often equated with the classroom.

Enid Lee, a leading arguer for multicultural education, believes that education reform is absolutely necessary, and produces a harsh tone for anyone who is not in favor of educational change. She states “If you don’t take multicultural education seriously, you are actually promoting a monocultural or racist education. There is no neutral ground on this issue” (Levine, 9). While Lee’s view may be considered to be somewhat extreme, she is correct in the fact that this country does need some sort of educational reform. Although the answers may not be clear yet, enough people have called for a change that it is time to do something about the situation. Calling for change is not enough either, as many pieces have been written on the issue but not much has actually been done to produce a different sort of public education. Whether the issue must be decided in a political arena, which education reform likely does, or whether educators must produce the changes themselves, something needs to be done, and the reform starts with targeting a clear and specific goal and moving towards this goal. A clear definition makes for a clear answer. There is no neutral ground on this issue.

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