July 2001 - Bill Maxwell: We have no leaders to save our black men ***In every part of the nation -- Miami, Cincinnati, Chicago, Newark, Los Angeles, New York, New Orleans, Houston, Atlanta -- many black males seem determined to self-destruct. We will not gain ground by blaming whites for this sorry state of affairs. This is a crisis of our own making, and only we can fix it. Our collective lethargy -- our lack of rage -- is the greatest sin. Fixing this problem should be at the top of every black person's agenda.***
Clarence Page: What black parents must do now ... ***With those findings and many others in mind, we should never make too much of the impact that teen culture may have on achievement. But we certainly shouldn't make too little of it, either.
Your attitude, in large measure, determines your altitude, as I once heard Jesse Jackson say. Your first step in achieving is to believe that you can achieve.
There is no shame in the mere fact that some groups show different levels of interest and performance in education and other skills. It is only a shame if the low performers don't do something to improve.
Asian-Americans outperform whites academically, for example, yet no one blames racism for white "underachievement." Similarly, the rest of us should not reject useful insights about our children, either, even when it is a little painful to hear.
By facing obvious realities openly and honestly, we can begin to encourage a self-image among black youths that will help them to value their brains as much as their basketballs or the "bling-bling" and "ching-ching" of rap stars on MTV and BET.***
October 2003 - Walter Williams: No excuses part II*** Here's my question: Do parents, particularly black parents, know or even care about what's being done to their children in the name of education? Do they know that the A or B on their children's report card is worthless? Don't say the solution lies in more money unless you're prepared to show me great results with expenditures of $15,000 per student in Massachusetts and $13,000 in Washington, D.C., and skyrocketing education budgets elsewhere.***
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I couldn't understand a word he said.
| a parenting initiative has to be established, an initiative that forces parents and children to become introspective and diligent.
Curiousity and a thirst for knowledge must come from inside; these are qualities that cannot be "forced" on anyone. I dunno. Sounds to me like just another gubment program where the smart people wearing suits want to play at animal husbandry with the po' folks. Haven't we had enough of those already? Isn't that how we got here in the first place? |
If Maxwell would get off of racism as a crutch, I think we could have a meeting of the minds.
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Such as grades or studying or working?
inferior public education before college -- Destroy the unions, end government invovlement in education
the absence of black men as role models -- Blacks need to work on that
low expectations from teachers and other adults
-- "other adults"? A flaw in black culture, they need to fix it
low self-esteem -- Got it backwards. Achieve success and self-esteem will follow
black men's own low aspirations -- Blacks need to work on that
and their tendency to drop out of high school in disproportionate numbers. -- Blacks need to work on that
I don't see Racism as a contributing factor here at all.
Buried in the article is this statistic which I find very telling. Even among the "privileged" there is a 41% failure rate. There is something very wrong with the whole system of college admissions if this is true.
"black men make up 41 percent of the inmates in federal state, and local prison"
Trust me, a lack of rage is not the problem, and more rage is not going to fix it.
Exactly what are young men supposed to aspire to when the only males in their lives are occasional studs who sleep over with mama? Since Daniel Patrick Moynihan issued his warning that the black family was in danger of collapse, the very worst has happened. Today 70% of black kids are born into single-parent female-headed "families," and many of the others end up in broken homes as well. Without male guidance, the girls turn out like their mothers and the boys end up on the streets until the police stick them in jail. It's no surprise at all. The few who make it out of this madness are the surprises.
Since the percentage of black NFL players per team has now reached 98% (there are a few QB's and Euro kickers left on each team - referred to as token whites) I cannot get a job in my chosen profession.
That's right. I am a 58 year old white, anglo-saxon Protestant who would like to play wide receiver for an NFL team.
I believe punitive damages in this case should be commensurate with my ability or roughly worth say $200 million dollars. With a similar lawsuit against the NBA I should be able to retire nicely and afford my own domed stadium.
A terrible societal dis-service is done by making people think they're nothing if they don't go to college. Only a few university programs give graduates hope of a white collar career. Most do nothing in the way of providing a young person with the tools necessary to support themselves and a family.
Whats wrong with vo-tech? A brick mason with a little ambition can become the owner of a variety of different construction related busineses. Most any tradesperson can progress to being a businessperson without requiring multi-million dollar venture capital funding.
What sort of "initiative" is it that "forces" parents to do this or that with their children? Who is in charge of such an initiative, and what sort of things do they get to "force" parents to do?