[jkolio]

>I am pretty sure that it is a political goal not an economic one, this is obvious considering US black literacy levels took until 1979 to be comparable to whites.

I don't follow. 1979 would have been a high point in closing the black/white economic gap in America (partly because of the falling economic prospects of white Americans at the time).

[pastage]

Over here education came first economics later, that will color my conclusions. I am pretty sure giving black people as little education as possible was a political goal in the US.

[jkolio]

Neglecting black education was a political decision with an economic component, in that it helped support the system of slavery, and later kept jobs that required education segregated. Siphoning tax dollars from black communities to use elsewhere (instead of to support their educational institutions) would be another aspect of this phenomenon.