As I kid I never thought what does it mean to be white. Amen
When I grew up, there were individualists and rugged individualists. I was raised with the idea that I must read and interpret the Bible for myself; that I should never trust other's interpretation. Max Weber referred to this in the Spirit of Capitalism.
I was oblivious to role models. The question was: What did God want me to be, and to do? I see a small number of my Black neighbors raising their kids exactly the same way. The pre-school kid is reading the King James Bible just as I did. Some Korean families near me also have that personal salvation and reading the Bible for ones self approach.
I see some Sikhs and Moslems raising their kids the same way. They are just using a different book. Maybe for others, the motivation is money and power, not religion.
Conclusion: A religious revival/awakening might be the solution. I'd like to see a study of the MillionMan March and PromiseKeepers (two arms of the same movement). A PromiseKeepers style religious conversion to personal responsibility might just be the answer to our social problems.
Printed on my mother's fourth grade report card was "Every Catholic Child in a Catholic School". The atmosphere was no-nonsense, do your work and learn. The religous studies expanded vocabularies and thought process to include other than social contemporary exchange of thoughts. She absorbed a sense of patriotism, ethics, charity thru personal application of effort (she had no money to buy off responsibility to others). The teachers at that time saw teaching as a vocation, not a career. They were doing God's work to educate children and steer them towards heaven. Judge Clarence Thomas was sent to a catholic school by his grandparents for all of the above reasons. It does seem that children who attend church run schools have an advantage over secular schools, regardless of race. We can speculate endlessly on the IQ theories, but parents of all races who want the best for their children will find a way to educate them in a non-government school. My parents did it for me and I will do so for my children. Vouchers are the answer for non-discriminate school selection.