Toward a New Appreciation: Educational Histories and Pedagogical Legacies of Black and Lumbee Schools in a Triracial System in Robeson County, North Carolina

Robeson County, the largest by landmass county in the state, is tucked in the southeastern pocket of North Carolina. Yet invisible in the southern and education histories of North Carolina is the development of the tri-racial state and county school system, more specifically, the educational histories of the Lumbee and Black public schools. This paper seeks to illuminate these historical landscapes within a decolonial historical approach that speaks to the role of settler colonization that fuels white supremacy, racial hierarchy, and racialization, leading to the creation of the tri-racial school system in Robeson County. Schools for White students began in 1840 in Robeson County. Black schools were created in response to the 1868 North Carolina constitution, a document archiving the forced compliance around “separate but equal” language. By 1875, North Carolina legislators were backtracking on these constitutional promises. The concentrated effort of disenfranchisement of Black North Carolinians impacted educational history and relations among Black and Lumbee people in Robeson County. In 1885, the Lumbee people received access to school funding when they were named a third race (Croatan Indians) by state and county politicians. Black and Lumbee education histories are interconnected by the chronic underfunding from the county and state officials, the lateness in which secondary curriculum and school buildings were made available, and the physicality of archive collections categorized in North Carolina agencies. However, yet to be acknowledged are the rich legacies of pedagogical traditions and commitment by Black and Lumbee teachers, schools, and community members in the development of local schools. Along with a decolonial historical narrative, this paper seeks to enrich the relationship between Black and Lumbee educational histories and acknowledge the role of Black educators in modeling for the Lumbee people a school structure that centered community involvement and authentic care for the whole student.