This article brings two black intellectual traditions to bear on the question of charter schools: black Marxism and black nationalism. The authors examine the theoretical and rhetorical devices used to talk about charters schools by focusing on how notions of "black liberation" are deployed by the charter movement, and to what end. The authors first use a black Marxism lens to illustrate the character of the racial and economic relationships facilitated by charter schools. Next, the authors use historical methods to contextualize the liberation discourse of school choice proponents within a black nationalist history of school reform. The authors conclude that "choice" rhetoric makes claim to the black freedom struggle without addressing its most enduring commitments to social justice and self-determination, ultimately perpetuating dependency by oppressed people upon their oppressors. The study identifies the limitations of contemporary critical theory to excavate several dimensions of racism in educational policy and highlight the need for scholars to draw on black intellectual traditions to evaluate the theoretical and historical significance of contemporary educational reform.