Before the Civil War, education in the southern United States was very backward and there was serious racial discrimination. More than 90% of blacks are illiterate. The rulers adopted a high-handed policy towards the education of blacks, and regarded every gathering to teach blacks to read and write as an "illegal gathering". If the participants are black, they will be whipped, while whites will be imprisoned and fined. Every southern state has such laws. In particular, it is not allowed to teach slaves to read and write, because it will help them unite and resist.

The civil war liberated 4 million blacks and became free citizens. The education of black citizens has become an important issue in the southern United States and even the whole country. Southern States are faced with the need to determine long-term policies for black education. This caused a heated debate. Some people think that blacks have no learning ability, and even if they have the right to education, they should not enter the same school as white citizens. Others think that black people should not study. Belinda said at the 1900 Southern Education Association Conference that southern blacks are incompetent, ignorant and vengeful people. They want to seize power in the south, and education will basically become a tool for them to fight against whites. These statements are typical manifestations of "white superiority theory" and "concretization" in education.

Leaders of black education, such as Booker Washington and Walker, strongly advocate educating black people. They think that by training blacks with practical skills, they can improve their skills, increase their employment opportunities, increase their purchasing power and improve their moral quality, which is beneficial to both blacks and whites. This will easily make blacks an important part of regional economic recovery, and blacks will never seek to dominate the life of the south and the fate of whites through education.

1847, the Massachusetts High Court clearly ruled that it is legal to run "segregated but equal" schools for blacks. This gives the green light for school isolation. /kloc-in the second half of the 0/9th century, there was a great debate between the north and the south on this issue.

Although black schools are established according to the principle of "separation but equality", the education of blacks is much worse than that of whites. Black schools have short semesters and low funds. 1900, the average length of education in the south is less than 100 days, which is only about half of that in New England. Even in such a short time, only one third of school-age children go to school. 1900 The average annual expenditure per child in Virginia is $9.7, that in North Carolina is $4.34, and that in Massachusetts is $37.76, a difference of about 4 to 9 times.

At the end of 19, although a lot of legislation on black education was passed, the actual progress was quite slow, and the efforts to win black and white schools failed due to various obstacles. The actual expression of the principle of "separation but equality" is that separation is a fact and equality is only a dream.

The problem of black education not only troubled the United States in the19th century, but also remained a worrying issue in the 20th century.