While researching racially segregated education, the author came across speeches delivered in the 1940s by two educational leaders--one a black man and the other a Native American man. G. B. Buster, a longtime African American teacher, implored his African American listeners to work with white Americans on enforcing equal rights for all. A few years before Buster delivered his speech, Henry Roe Cloud (Winnebago), a Native American educator, was more critical of white Americans, specifically the federal government, which he blamed for destroying American Indian cultures. At the same time, Roe Cloud praised more recent federal efforts to preserve cultural practices, study traditions before they completely disappeared, and encourage self-government among Native American tribes. Buster's and Roe Cloud's experiences illuminate a perspective embedded in recent scholarship that brings into sharper focus the study of comparative race and ethnicity in education.