On campus, grim statistics for African-American men

St. Petersburg Times ^ | January 5, 2004 | Bill Maxwell

[Cincinatus' Wife]

African-Americans should be afraid - very afraid.

We have many reasons to be afraid, but two that should cause the most alarm are the low number of black men in college and the low number of black men who are graduating from college.

Nationally, a mere quarter of the 1.9-million black men between 18 and 24 attended college in 2000, the last year the American Council on Education reported such statistics. By contrast, 35 percent of black women in the same age group and 36 percent of all 18- to 24-year-olds were attending college.

A grimmer statistic, according to the American Council on Education, is that the graduation rate of black men is the lowest of any population. Only 35 percent of the black men who enrolled in NCAA Division I schools in 1996 graduated within six years. White men, on the other hand, graduated at a rate of 59 percent; Hispanic men, 46 percent; American Indian men, 41 percent; and black women, 45 percent.

Where are the black men, why are so few on our college campuses and why are so few graduating?

"In 1999 there were 757,000 black men in federal, state and local prisons," according to the Autumn 2003 issue of the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. "In 1999 . . . there were 604,200 African-American men enrolled in higher education in the United States. Therefore, there were 25 percent more black men in prison in the United States than were enrolled in institutions of higher education. Today, black men make up 41 percent of the inmates in federal state, and local prison, but black men are only 4 percent of all students in American institutions of higher education."

Many black and white educators at major colleges and universities, including Amherst, historically black Howard, Swarthmore and Wesleyan, are trying to help end this crisis. Several years ago, the University of Georgia established the African-American Male Initiative, a research program with the purpose of removing the hurdles to college enrollment and graduation for black men.

The obstacles to black males earning college degrees are many, some seemingly intractable. They include inferior public education before college, the absence of black men as role models, low expectations from teachers and other adults, low self-esteem, black men's own low aspirations and their tendency to drop out of high school in disproportionate numbers.

Yes, these are serious obstacles to college enrollment and graduation for African-American men, but, taken together, they represent the least important part of the problem. A role model, for example, means nothing or next to nothing to a child who is ill-prepared to emotionally and intellectually apprehend the significance of the role model's accomplishments.

The seeds for success, especially academic success, are most effectively planted at home. The presence of books in the home and parents who read and discuss ideas and current affairs almost always influence children to read and to care about things of the mind. Too many African-American homes are headed by parents, single or otherwise, who lack interest in the long-term efficacy of education, who do not insist that their children learn.

The efforts of the University of Georgia and others are to be applauded. But a parenting initiative has to be established, an initiative that forces parents and children to become introspective and diligent. At the core of the black male crisis is our failure to assume total responsibility for the destiny of our children - our future. Nearly 100 years ago, educator and civil rights attorney Charles Hamilton Houston said of black people and education: "Without education, there is no hope for our people and without hope, our future is lost."

By any means necessary, black adults must teach black children to take hold of their lives. While we should continue to acknowledge the debilitating effects of racism, we cannot afford to live as victims. We must forge a world of self-determination parallel to that of society's racism, an evil that is not disappearing any time soon.

External programs, such as Georgia's African-American Male Initiative, are good things, but they cannot replace black people's own will to succeed academically. Until we look inside ourselves and change our perspective on education, the grim statistics will continue to pile up, and our men will fall further behind and the dreaded cliche - black males are "an endangered species" - will become a reality.

We should be afraid - very afraid.

[cyborg]

I liked country when I lived in Arizona. Now I just listen to a lot of pop, classical, rap and boeremusiek. I get that same feeling after watching Braveheart :-)

I can speak a little afrikaans, but most are curses and I don't want to get banned...LOL

[dwd1]

If you get on the field with those guys, you will need every cent for medical bills :-) ... Work out... See you in the ER...

[dwd1]

William Wallace.... Totally worthy of respect....

[dwd1]

I must confess I know all the words to "Friends in low places" and I recognize 90% of the characters that appeared on hee-haw (A Gaylord Production)...

And with the appropriate Blood Alcohol level, I can do the cotton eyed Joe... Who knew being from a small town in Texas would come in so handy?

[dwd1]

Perhaps we should recommend that country music and line dancing be taught in all inner city schools.... Put out some of those down-home values...

[cyborg]

The ATF found the source of your 'inspiration'

[bayourod]

I wonder how many of the black men in this study enrolled in colleges are actually enrolled in colleges within prisons.

The modern practice is to establish a "collage" with offices outside the prison that conducts classes inside the prison.

Thus an inmate's transcript shows that he earned his degree (or credits) from "Smith College" instead of "State Prison". Inmates get full scholarships including room and board.

[summer]

In other words, there is a divorcing of the woman and the children. I see this in all ethnic groups.

I am a public school teacher, and I, too, see it in all ethnic groups - but, IMO, the situation and statistics are staggering when you look at blacks, and consider how many black children are born out of wedlock.

I have spent a lot of time trying to figure out what would have most helped my black students (having a father would have helped, and having an employed father would be even better).

But beyond the obvious need for blacks as a population to somehow build a family unit, I think blacks who make it financiallly need to do a whole lot more to promote education. It is very tough to convince a black teen not to drop out of school and to clean up his act when the black teen idolizes someone like Snoop Doggy Dog and knows very little else about accomplishments of other blacks in today's world.

Also, it is odd to me that some black teachers will not even consider teaching in a black neighborhood - they consider themselves a success only if they land a teaching position in a white school. That kind of attitude needs to change. I don't know how to change it, but I know it's not helping black kids back in those neighborhoods.

[cyborg]

Actually that is a very good idea. Kids are starving for something different (the younger they are the better). I like rap, but then I'm 30 and not a thirteen year old boy raising himself. Churches are really trying, but the schools need to offer something other than what they think inner city black kids want. Sheesh I remember talking about Mozart in class, and one kid told me it's okay for YOU to listen to music like that, but I'd get laughed at my friends :-( There are a lot of kids in the 'inner city' that would listen to country if teachers didn't have such low expectations.

[cyborg]

ROTFL why are you the only person who thought of that?

[dwd1]

Curses... Foiled again! :-)

[dwd1]

Well stated... I think that too many of the examples that young people take their cues from tend to encourage a desire for "instant gratification"... And I would be lying if I said that I would want to teach in a rough neighborhood again... My first teaching job was in South Gate, CA back in 93 and I remember seeing the working girls out in force during the daytime near Tweedy and Long Beach Blvd.... I was very pleased to get past the 710 on the 105 and head home...

You are talking about giving something back and I agree that it should occur... I have no easy answers on that because I have dealt with the bigotry that some black people perpetrate on others... Not an easy thing to deal with...

However, I would like to be like this guy who goes quality of life at age 52 (money saved, 401K in good shape, kids graduated from school and doing well)... I know, however, that with social security being unreliable when I get 65(I am 40), I have to do as much as I can now to secure my future.... When I see people having a hard time in any community, I sometimes say "there, but for the Grace of god, Go I"... Keeps me focused on trying to do good... Wish I had a better answer for you because I know that I feel like I have paid my dues and deserve better but I know I need to find a way to give something back... Like many with a few letters, I spend so much time helping myself, I find myself going into a situation where I can not help others... I will have to work on that....

[dwd1]

I have never been a "guest of the state".... this is news to me...

What respectable crime should I commit if I want to go back and get a masters??????? HMMMMMMMMMMMHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

[dwd1]

Well, I think you have to tie it together... I think that if Alabama can sing "God must spent a little more time", Conway Twitty can sing "Slow Hand", Barbara Mandrell can sing "If lovin' you is wrong...", if Whitney Houston can sing "I will always love you!", then I think anything is possible...

I guess I am showing my age confessing that the songs I listened to have been remade by other artists black and white... I am proud to say I can listen to both types of music.... (Country AND Western)

[cyborg]

My mom would cuss me for saying this but not everyone needs to go to college to be a success. Is a black man who is a self made millionaire less successful than a white man who just went to undergrad? Just wondering out loud.

[cyborg]

http://www.charleypride.com/

[Siamese Princess]

With all of the affirmative action and minority scholarships, the Negro College Fund, and the intense recruitment of blacks for diversity, there is no reason for the grim statistics quoted other than the obvious. The Bell Curve states the facts and one cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

Unfortunately, you are speaking the truth that very few admit openly. Another reason is that many blacks are attending top colleges when they are only qualified to attend mid-level colleges. In other words, the black kid who can make the dean's list at NJ's Rutgers U. would barely make it through Princeton.

[dwd1]

Ask the man behind OTIS cookies..

I think education is about choices.... Sometimes you get lucky in life...Sometimes you don't... but if it is true that luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity, then formal education is what prepares you to capitalize on the opportunities presented...
Jodie Foster made it as a child star through luck but her performances as an adult are a result of her experience at Yale.... Sorry, Mr. Hinckley...No disrespect intended...

[cyborg]

The Bell Curve as one man's set of 'facts'. I am continually amazed at how some FReepers just trod out one researcher's book to entertain their own prejudice.

[dwd1]

Well aware of his story... I think he is somewhere in the Dallas area...
Perhaps I will run into him at Tom Thumb...:-)