Racial equality and racial equity in U.S. education has been elusive although decades of education reform have them as goals. Current discourse advocate colorblind and post-racial solutions to racial inequality and racial inequity in education; these solutions implicate presentism, a view that exclusively circumscribes the existence of present-day conditions to the here and now. On the supposition that history is important in understanding present-day challenges, the article promotes historical reflexivity, a process in which education reformers consider the history around present-day desired goals and related outcomes. To illustrate the relevancy of history in developing education reform that facilitates progress towards racial equality and racial equity, a historical trace of racial inequality and racial inequity in education for the U.S. writ large and New Orleans specifically is presented.