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Nathan McCall, author of the best seller "Makes Me Wanna Holler: A Young Black Man in America," teaches journalism at Emory University. He is a former reporter at The Washington Post and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. |
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Posted on 08/15/2003 7:50:16 PM PDT by optimistically_conservative
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Some years ago, when I was a young boy, I decided that the gritty streets were far more promising than a good education.
I was in junior high -- right around the time experts say young black males tend to disengage from school -- and I was fairly certain the place was a waste of time.
Of course, plenty of grown-ups told me otherwise: My parents insisted that if I applied myself, I could be a big success in life. My teachers said that if I studied hard, I could even be president of the United States someday.
But there was one problem: As a child in the 1960s, I saw little to convince me that grown-ups knew what they were talking about.
When I went to the encyclopedia and saw pictures of all the former presidents, it was clear the job was reserved for rich white men. And when I looked around, even the most educated black people in my neighborhood didn't appear to be faring well. It appeared, in fact, that my parents and others in the neighborhood were passive and beaten down. They worked twice as hard to get half as much as their white counterparts, so their lives didn't impress me at all.
On the other hand, I thought I saw something more encouraging in the streets. I saw guys my age hustling, making good money selling drugs. They stood tall, defiant, and seemed self-sufficient. My best friend used drug money to buy a luxury car while we were still in high school! I saw real fruits of the hustlers' labors, and it had nothing to do with books or school.
Based on what I saw, the streets looked much better than the classroom. It was immature, distorted logic for sure, but convincing enough to lure me away from books.
Prompted by misguided notions of manhood, I eventually went from being an honor student to a behavior problem. In high school, I took a stab at selling drugs, and probably would have stuck with that, but I seemed to lack the required business skills.
After a series of hard knocks that ended with a prison term for armed robbery, I realized that all the grown-ups had been right after all: an education is, in fact, powerful and priceless.
I now teach at Emory University and have devoted my life to learning. Yet, looking back, I understand why it's so hard nowadays to convince young black males of the value of education.
I thought about that after reading two pieces in last Sunday's Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the difficulty in motivating young males to strive to excel in school. The issue has mushroomed into a national debate, but in all the wrangling there is one vital point that often gets underplayed: As adults, we tend not to see what they see when they look out into the world we have made for them.
We still tell them they can be president, and they see that the top job is still reserved for rich white men. They also see that, with brilliant blacks holding multiple college degrees, a mediocre white man of average intelligence (George W. Bush!) gets to run the world. And despite all the lofty declarations of equality, few people will seriously entertain a different ethnic choice.
I suspect that black males see that, among African-Americans who boast sterling college credentials, many still appear to be beaten down.
Moreover, there is an appalling paradox concerning higher education in America and black males that is virtually impossible for young people to overlook. That paradox is this: We say we cherish educational opportunity, but as the recent Michigan affirmative action battle demonstrates, what we say and do are different things. Nowadays, blacks entering the nation's top schools often are haunted by suspicion and nasty lawsuits that essentially challenge their right to be in school.
Yet black male athletes are wooed by those same elite universities. And they receive a hero's welcome, with no fuss about test scores and grade-point averages.
As much as we adults promote the value of scholarship, the truth is, America has always sent a clear message to young black males that they are valued and rewarded anywhere except the educational arena.
Maybe that's why young black boys are so obsessed with athletics and entertainment. In the glamorized view of the young, it appears that, beyond street hustlers, Michael Vick and Snoop Dogg define success for young black men.
It's hardly a coincidence that the first black millionaire, an actor called Stepin' Fetchit, was paid handsomely to play demeaning screen roles as a stereotypically stupid, subservient black man. And today, as we insist to young people that education rules, they see rap stars making millions by saying the most ignorant thing that comes to mind.
We've made great educational strides, but still the black people awarded the most wealth and public acclaim are those who come prepared to sing a song or bounce a ball.
So why do we expect young black boys to look into the world and see something other than what's really there?
For black adults, there is a wide range of valid and complicated reasons, including the stubborn belief that nothing -- not even excessive wealth -- beats a solid education. And of course, our history of struggle also plays a role: In the past, black people always strived to achieve, even when there was no visible evidence of impending rewards.
If we are really to get to the heart of the challenge of motivating young males to excel in school, we have to seriously weigh the impact of the mixed messages that young people ingest. Yes, there is far more opportunity now, but there are still too many glaring educational contradictions that boost the appeal of the streets, the rap CD or the long shot at the NBA.
For African-Americans, getting a better handle on what is going on with our young people also may require those of us who are college-trained to take a critical look at ourselves. As I move about Atlanta, I see many well-heeled blacks who seem content to enjoy the fruits of civil rights gains, but feel no obligation to give anything back. And when I look at us, I often wonder: Do we represent inspiring examples of what it means to be educated?
Judging from the lyrics in their music, our young people see us as passive and self-absorbed.
These are neither easy nor pleasant issues to entertain. But we have to be willing to take these matters on in all the complexity that our history demands.
This does not mean we should ease the pressure on young black males to excel in school. And certainly we must continue to mentor and get involved as parents in helping improve education across the board.
Perhaps most important, we need to examine this educational challenge from the vantage point of the people we seek to help -- young black males. If we do, we might realize that there is no lack of logic guiding them. We might also discover that they are, in fact, motivated -- not by what adults tell them is true but by what they see is so.
If you want on (or off) of my black conservative ping list, please let me know via FREEPmail. (And no, you don't have to be black to be on the list!)
Extra warning: this is a high-volume ping list.
You can thank affirmative action for that.
and nasty lawsuits that essentially challenge their right to be in school.
Nice try, felon boy, but the "nasty" lawsuits are challenging their "right" to be admitted based on race. They are not challenging their right to "be in school".
Sorry about that, you might like this one better: Clayton board fails its students
Just once, I'd like to see black civil rights activists take to the streets to protest schools that miseducate black children. Just once, I'd like to see so-called black leaders up in arms about popular culture's casual acceptance of mediocrity (and worse) in black students.But that's not the typical story line of black protest in matters related to education. The plot, ever so predictable, usually goes like this:
A black teacher or principal is fired. Black activists call a press conference to denounce the alleged racism of white school officials.
Or, school officials propose that new teachers be required to pass a standardized test. Black activists immediately declare the requirement racist.
Or, blacks win a majority of seats on a school board. They immediately institute a purge, eliminating whites from top administrative spots.
We have the same problem in my neighborhood schools. I live in a middle-class, mixed race area but they bus the hood rats in from the projects (I guess the school down the street from the hood is getting rich, white kids???). The discipline is horrible, subjects are dumbed down, and the place looks like an add for street bums and homeless people with ill fitting clothes.
All of this is why my children will be going to a Christian school. They will learn the meaning of respect for God, their parents, and themselves. They will learn that education is good, ignorance is something to be remedied, not celebrated. They will learn that they are responsible for their situation in life, not the gummint, and certainly not someone of another race.
The word for struggle in Arabic is "jihad."
Quit bitchin' at the dark and light a candle.
(paraphrased from "the Christopher" movement)
If average intelligence is defined as being in the IQ range of 90 to 110, President Bush is way above that. People (mostly in or below the average IQ range?) who say that he is of average intelligence, must mean that he not a genius. Leadership is needed in a president, not genius.
Leftist academia fawning over "authenticity."
Hear's another take on Mr. Nathan McCall from a review on Amazon.com:
A well-written book about BM hypocrisy!!, October 13, 1999
Reviewer: Shay Max from Los Angeles, CA
I am an African American female.
I have very mixed feelings about this novel. What was GOOD -- explaining the criminal mind while engaging in a crime, high school rivalries, prison life, post-prison life.
What was SAD -- McCall's anger/hatred/violence directed at black women, the girls he gang-raped in high school, the one he planned to kill after sex in a car, his crazed criticism of his wife, his illegitimate children (again blaming their mother alone as if he himself never heard of a condom).
Also, SAD -- McCall had no problem committing crimes against black people in his own community yet he admitted that he would dare not challenge a White police officer's authority on the street! Also, this lying, raping, stealing excuse of a Black man gets caught by America's justice system and now he cries "racism" the way his female victims tried to cry "rape." Like them, no one hears McCall's cry. Next, McCall lies to get a job and is upset over getting caught! He steals and is upset over being watched by others! DUHH! -- MCCALL, YOU ARE MISSING A FEW FRIES FROM YOUR HAPPY MEAL!!
The worst part of this novel is that McCall grew up in a decent home with a father/stepfather. Yet McCall criticized everyone: his stepfather working for white people, Blacks who travelled, white people (yet he confessed having sex with a white woman was some kind of Black male rite of passage).
This is a well-written book by a very disturbed criminal who happens to be a black male. (The book's subtitle is a complete misnomer!!) The only time McCall claims "Blackness" was when he got himself in trouble and needed a way out.
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