I'd never realized how jaded we are as an African-American community. We sit back and because of how things used to be for us, we allow them to continue - and allow ourselves to fail. On the dawn of a new decade, with as many advances we have made (as people), I am baffled to see how conditioned we have become, to believe that society is made for us to fail... so we will do just that. There is no more "going against the grain" or "making something out of yourself"... it's "I don't have to do anything, but stay black and die."
As you already know, I'm a teacher in a high school in the heart of Brooklyn, New York. Mainly, my day consists of dealing with suspended and tardy kids - my classroom is more of a holding room than anything else. Some days, I'll have 25 kids... and some days, I'll have 5. This particular day last week, the room was full of kids who came to school after 10am (3rd period). The dean who stays with me once in a while, asked the students, "why do black people kill each other?" Their answer was "The white man wants us to fail... They want us to kill each other." THey continued saying, "They give us the drugs and the guns... so we're gonna learn how to use them." I wanted to say I was heartbroken, but that's an understatement. I was crushed. I'd never known a group of teenagers to be so broken to feel that they have nothing to offer themselves.
The idea to work and get an education and get out of "the hood" isn't the same anymore because a lot feel that EVEN WITH an education, that's not enough. A lot of students feel that there is no way out. There is no method to escaping poverty and failure. As disheartening as it is, we have to realize that as African Americans, it WILL BE a harder struggle, because society is already posed to think that we, as a people, are less qualified. But as African Americans from NYC, its even MORE of a struggle, because add the urban mindset with a impoverished mentality, and you have all the variables needed for failure.
I guess we need to start from the beginning - start over - brand new even. Let these kids know from day 1 that failure is never an option. "It's too hard" or "I don't get it" or "I can't" are cop outs and these excuses need to be deleted from our vocabulary. I try and tell my students all the time, "There's always something out there for you to excel in, and that's not guns, drugs, gangs, or sex. You need to get an education so you can do something with your life." College might not be for everyone, but there are other options out there for people. Job Corp, Trade Schools, Armed Forces, etc. For real, with the proper education and guidance, we can change the world - on mind at a time.
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i agree. i agree 110%! one point that should be mentioned though is that most of the youth of today are being raised by the youth of today. what i mean by that is there are babies raising babies. if you look at how much the world is changing and then take notice to who is changing with it, the youth. nowadays, especially in the "hood", sons and daughters are the ones teaching their own parents! these urban homes, especially withinn the african american community, are lacking in the teaching of culture, manners, social fundamentals! it does take a village to raise a child, but in every village there are internal and external influences; example: internal, the home and external, school. what good is a village with broken homes? a "broken" internal influence. hence, where do the children turn... to the village, the external; the streets, their schools. luckily, we have teachers like you who are down with, the external, pulling these young ones off the path to destruction. But who's pushing from the home??...
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