ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to go beyond the boundaries of debate in existing Head Start literature. It describes how Head Start survived when other Great Society programs did not and examines the development of the tense but effective coalition of civil rights activists, expert-advocates and parents. Civil rights activists sought to provide an alternative to existing education and social service agencies that generally disrespected black communities. Psychologists, pediatricians, and sociologists hoped to design a program that would help children overcome deprivation caused by poverty. The chapter focuses on the first decade and a half of Head Start's life, before an overwhelming number of positive research results silenced most potential critics. It describes the Head Start coalition's reaction to current political debates surrounding the program. Others thought that poor people needed political empowerment to fight existing economic structures. Race underscored all antipoverty debates, whether or not politicians discussed civil rights.
