An individual’s value is judged by what they contribute to their community, society or world (and let no one tell you otherwise). This same value assessment is used when dealing with groups of people. To largely exclude the record or achievements of Africans and African-Americans not only creates an obstacle or void that the black student must contend with, but it gives the white student (and whites in general) a basis to, at best, deemphasize the accomplishments of those of the African Diaspora or (at worst) disrespect them altogether. These accomplishments, by the way, have not only benefited the black community, but society and the world as a whole.
There are some who say that it is abundantly clear that there are cultural shortcomings in the areas of social studies, history and English, but that doesn’t account for the failings of black students in the areas of math and science. To that I say the whole of education is connected. If our black students are not validated and challenged in all aspects of their educational experience – if there is an indifference (or even downright antagonism) towards all things African or black – then their mastery of any of their subjects (including math and science) is at-risk. It also would be somewhat naïve of us to believe that adolescents and children will not carry a negative experience in one classroom into the next one.
In his essay, Cognitive Styles and Multicultural Populations, J.A. Anderson touches on this dynamic: “For children of color, biculturality is not a free choice, but a prerequisite for successful participation and eventual success. Non-white children generally are expected to be bicultural, bidialectic and bicognitive; to measure their performance against a Euro-American yardstick; and to maintain this orientation. At the same time, they are being castigated whenever they attempt to express and validate their indigenous culture and cognitive styles.
Educators: For white educators, the first step is to examine what issues, biases, prejudices, and assumptions they carry into the classroom and how these inform their curriculum and attitudes towards black students. In fact, they must constantly engage in a process of examining and critiquing their own perspective because this will also affect the way they approach teaching. Furthermore, it is the role of administrators to insist that this process be as frequent and all-encompassing as necessary.
In the black community we must get about the business of cultivating and developing educators. It has been estimated that in 1950 one-half of all black professionals in the United States were teachers. Compare that to The National Centers for Educational Statistics 2001 data that found of the 105,566 bachelor’s degrees conferred in education in 2001, only 7,394 were awarded to blacks. Those numbers must change in order for us to have the impact that is necessary to affect real change in educational systems. Those of us who teach at the postsecondary level may have to gently nudge some our students in that direction.
However, there has been some progress in recruiting blacks into education who have degrees in areas other than education. The number of second career professionals who have ventured into education has grown somewhat in the past decade – these professionals include those from the fields of social services, engineering, medicine and journalism.
Parents: As parents, we should expect excellence from our children and do all we can to help them reach those expectations. Although parent-teacher conferences and making sure that our children stay on-task academically are important aspects of our involvement, equally important is making sure that our child’s educational experience is positive and just.
There are still glaring inequities present in our schools. Recognizing, addressing and combating these inequities falls into the category of parental involvement as well. Challenge the schools that are educating your children to make a greater effort to recruit and retain black educators and to develop and implement a curriculum in which your children will see themselves reflected (and not just during February).
If you haven’t already, or when funds and resources permit, invest in a computer and the internet (we must begin to look at these things as investments and not purchases). There is literally a world of information, which is enormously beneficial to the education of your child, within their (as well as your) fingertips.
I already hear the voices of dissent: “You can’t blame what is happening with black students in education on white educators.” Although I did not write this essay to attribute blame to anyone nor do I blame white educators entirely for the hindrances that black students face, I would like to say this: You can take it to the bank that if we as blacks represented more than 85% of a profession and there were significant problems within that profession, we would be receiving an extreme amount of blame.
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