For Black studies to be recognized as credible in education and higher education, is not only something of the past but also of the present day. From my own personal account of being accepted onto a Black studies BA Hons degree at Birmingham City University, I experienced resistance from some within the Black community. Who questioned whether Black studies would gain me means to viable employment or either didnt see the purpose of studying the degree. Nathan Hares accounts of the battle for Black studies highlight the issues for the liberation of Black education to be institutionalized in white America. One of the first issues was history, history was distorted to suit the European agenda that held racist views with academics and also educators who defended this. People of African origins contributions to mathematics English, sciences, art, and medicine were unacknowledged. Hare documents this by saying: Still another course was the history of Western civilization (not world civilization, as in the case of the masterpieces), this curriculum would say to Black students who already were failures as individuals that they had no ennobling ancestral roots: their kind had produced no civilization worthy of attention, no literary achievements.
African American students are viewed as being academically underachieving, however failing to realize the factors that play into the difficulties Black students face to reach academic success. Feelings of the inadequacy of being in an institution or having to conform to middle-class white society, which is not catered for you, and lack of positive Black role models in academic fields. Black students are seen as more socially acceptable being good at sports or music. With not realizing their full educational potential additionally, teachers and professors have low expectations of them. On the other hand, Black students are portrayed as having multiple behavioral issues, leading to the term defeatism, which Hare expresses: It might be more in to be good at cards, for example, which only multiples the probability of failure in the academic arena. It would be a regular occurrence to hear about Black basketball players in the NBA, then it would be to hear about Black surgeons or Black scientists, this not only feeds into the idea for many Black students that they would have more success doing sports or music or anything else but their education it, systematically defends the institutional racism perpetuated throughout the educational system.