Why Are Black Students Lagging?

New York Times | 11/29/02 | FELICIA R. LEE

[webber]

When a segment of society decides that nothing is their fault, but somebody elses, then that becomes a crutch to NOT succeed. They will use that scapegoat for all their woes, all their deficiencies, all their inequalities.
That segment of society will always stay where they are because they refuse to overcome their problems, choosing to stay where they are and blame others for their problems. That's not a personal attack, it is not racism, it is the facts.

[ImaGraftedBranch]

I think liberals in general do not want their children to be more successful than they were.

I would consider myself a failure as a parent if I did not instill in my child the desire to use his God-given abilities to their fullest.

I have relatives that flat-out do not care to see their children excel. I knew a guy that dropped out of ROTC so that he could enlist, just to make sure that he never would outrank his father (retired master sergeant). I was flabbergasted.

[kattracks]

When a segment of society decides that nothing is their fault, but somebody elses, then that becomes a crutch to NOT succeed.

And perhaps this is reinforced when they are constantly told that nothing is their fault, and that they really can't make it without the help of certain politicians, (read DemocRATS)

[Squantos]

IMO they are being dragged down the path of the bell curve versus the straight line of study and performance based educational success by the social engineers that use them as lab rats .

Promoted by those that prey on these kids, making them believe they are in need of help because they worry more about the color of their skin than the value of a good education .

As long as such is believed by those who trust that a race card will feed and cloth them in their adult lives .........they suffer as will their childrens children.

Just my opinion of course......Stay Safe !

[Charles Henrickson]

Not mentioned at all in this article, but a huge factor nonetheless: The extraordinarily high percentage of blacks born out of wedlock and raised without the father in the home. The rate is much, much higher than among whites or Asians.

[Godel]

Facts are irrelevant if they don't support a liberal worldview. All black problems are due to horrible things done by whites, claiming anything else is racist.

[Cvengr]

Unfortunately that works two ways.

Throughout my entire life, there has not been one talent, generational gift, benefit of perseverent hard work, denial of immediate gratification, obedience and sacrifice over not only days, weeks and months, but decades, generations, and families which hasn't been overwhelmed in this world by affirmative action and promotions for minorities over perceived powerful middle-class America.

I can still strive to change with the times, remain vigilent and dutiful, efficient and productive, but when I observe my behavior won't effect the overall results, I can continue to strive to succeed, but I have no expectation of reward or award or now even a fair return on effort employed. That's not a crutch to NOT succeed, it's a more mature acknowledgement of cause, effect and consequence without overgenerous attention to any one particular factor/function.

It's also strong justification to not place much faith in agnostic or atheistic or do-gooder plans which characterize the bulk of liberal politic and some conservative politic.

[DBtoo]

An anthropologist from Berkeley. That's an oxymoron.

True anthropological studies have been censored for a few decades now. But with the advent of human genome research, which is being done for real in other parts of the world, I think we will soon have answers to lots of questions. People need to realize though that it's okey for us all to be different. All groups of people have strong points and weak points. This is a very sensitive subject though and most people with sense will not touch it with a ten foot pole.

[DBtoo]

Are you describing the situation with the Palestinians and the Jews? Oops! Wrong country.

[Reactionary]

The gap between group averages is one of the most thoroughly demonstrated phenomena in psychometrics.

Yes, and it's been that way for nearly 100 years.

The egalitarians, however, will only admit scientific evidence when it fits their worldview. Since they presuppose radical human equality, any evidence to the contrary is, in their view, immoral.

[TennesseeProfessor]

Just a concrete example: Compare the liberal's treatment of Clarence Thomas and Jesse Jackson.

[Cobra64]

Too many reasons to list. Besides, too few care.

[GailA]

I went to a racially mixed HS back in the 60's, whites, blacks, hispanics and a few asians. We were all treated the same. No special preference was given because of gender or race. We were expected to follow the rules and acquire an education. If you didn't take advantage of what was offered then you flunked out. We weren't having sex in the john, assaulting teachers or other students. We were there to be educated. And that is what we did acquire a HS education. The drop out rate was no higher for minority students than for white students.

[cherry]

reguarding "stereotyping" and the genetic component in sucess...

we all know in the back of our minds that some people just are more talented at certain things...

we know that Black people for example , have a higher number of great athletes as compared to white or Asian peoples....

why can't we just accept that?

why can't we just accept that perhaps there are genetic/racial components to some of our talents...

[monocle]

Learning requires self-discipline. Have you ever visited a supermarket or a shopping mall and observed the difference in behavior between young blacks and whites? Rap culture to a large extent dismisses self-discipline and whether this dissing of self-discipline is gained from outside sources or from the parents themselves, the result is the same: lack of self-discipline = failure at school.