NNQueen said:Great thread. Glad you started it Brother Pan because somewhere else here we've had this discussion before as it's so important. All the comments thus far are excellent and on point. Brother Manasiac, your outline is very thorough and filled with common sense solutions. How simple and direct can it be? If only this problem was that simple though.
What makes this problem so complicated are the people required to solve it--all of us. I don't know where the problem begins nor where it will end. There was a time in our not so distant past when education was one of our number one priorities. In the past 30 years however, many of us have witnessed a vast difference in our attitudes about and approach to education in the public school system. As Brother Manasiac has pointed out and I agree, there is a combination of issues that are reasons for this change in attitude and behavior. But although Brother Manasiac has pointed out that this isn't just a Black issue but a societal issue, I want to focus my comments on what I think is happening with Black families today.
For one, I think that the nature of parenting has changed, and two, technology has changed the way we live and view the world. It's too easy to blame the decline of Black males in college to racism. If that was entirely true, then why are there so many sisters in college--aren't they Black? Although I believe that racism could play some role in this, I also think that we have too many opportunities available to us to counter that to a great degree. But it takes focus and willpower to make it through.
What has changed about parents today that was different among those that focused more on their children's education and welfare? What do we see as major differences among Black parents and why?
Technology has changed the culture within families today with video games, digital television, computers, etc., as Brother Manasiac wrote already, such that it creates a lot of noise and too many accessible distractions. Today's parents are spending a lot of time sitting as well, doing the same kinds of things.
I think many of us need to learn the value of diversification and I don't mean in the sense of our financial portfolios but in building our educational arsenal. Do Black people put all of their eggs in one basket instead of practicing "it's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it" adage? A college degree may not seem like much to many of us, but what happens to those who find they need one but don't have one?
If our youth only want this or that--to be in the NBA or NFL, to make a lot of money fast or nothing at all, then don't you think that something is seriously wrong when that only happens to a very small fraction of a percent in this society and the majority who try end up back at home or worse, in the street?
Our children are diagnosed with ADD and ADHD, but I wonder how much of that is true or simply symptoms that our youth are spending far too much time in front of the television and/or playing video games? True or not though, that type of diagnosis tracks our children in some very negative ways which impacts how they are taught or not taught.
How many parents try to lessen the amount of time their children spend watching television or playing Xbox or Playstation games to see if their attention improves as it relates to other things? Not to create a double standard, parents need to practice this as well. If our children can't sit still and focus in the classroom, then why can many of them focus on the basketball court or playing field? What's the difference?
Anyway, these are just a few of my thoughts for now. I'll add more later as the discussion continues.
Peace,
Queenie
Both my parents went to college and on to grad school. On my mothers side, women and to a lesser degree, men, have been going to college since reconstruction times. Where as my dad was a second generation college graduate
Historically black families in the south would send girls to college in larger numbers in order to protect them from the pervasive sexual assault on the part of white employers. The obstacles for males had more to do with not appearing uppity, or God forbid look at a white woman with lust.
In short the overall safety and future of black children became a determining factor in whether you went to college or did blue collar and/or share cropping.
What is ironic about this is that, many black people who did own farms no longer own them today, in alarming numbers. But I digress
Like brotha Pan stated earlier, today the trend seems to be to become an athlete or rapper. Reaching back is a must to help those that have little guidance