Today I had the opportunity to read an article titled, "Mis-Education and White Motherhood". This article was very informative and fascinating. As I read the article, my eyes were wide open like a deer in headlights. After having read the article, I began to understand the structure of the public school systems today and why the public school systems function in the capacity it does today. In my opinion, this is the very reason that 87 percent of the 12.4 million African Americans, are deem as illiterate.
We as people must really take a self-inventory on ourselves, concerning the education of our children. Parents should ask themselves, do I really like the structure of education my child or children are receiving? Is the content in the public school structure challenging to my child? We have to want better for our children.
African Americans have come a long way since Thurgood Marshall's, Brown vs. Board of Education era and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's, Voting Rights Act. We are still not there yet, as African Americans and other minorities, when it comes to obtaining full equality. African Americans still face complex challenges today. Not only economically, socially but educational challenges as well. As the article, (Mis-Education and White Motherhood), talk about the power structure of the public school systems across America, the complex challenges in that, there is 3.5 million white teachers, 250,000 black teachers and 75,000 Latino teachers. Out of these educators, roughly about 3 million teachers are women. That’s the reason why the title includes, “White Motherhood”. The article mention how mostly white women teachers spend more time with our African American children than us parents and guardians. The article also make mention on how white women teachers are apathetic to our African American culture, so therefore, they will never teach our African American children about our culture in which some of the white women teacher’s ancestors once despised our ancestors.
Another challenge, public schools across America do not teach African American culture, Latino culture, Mexican culture, Asian culture or any other culture other than white European culture. Dr. Carter G. Woodson said, "The public school educational process crushes the spark of genius in the Negro by making him or her feel that his or race does not amount to much and never will measure up to the standards of other peoples".
How can these public schools say that they are an equal opportunity employer, when you have more whites employed than African American and other minorities? As here in Penns Grove, NJ, you have five schools, 2400 students that are predominantly African and Latino American. You have 400 people that make up teachers and administrators, fifthteen people which are of African and Latino American teachers and or administrators. That leaves you with 385 white people that make the teachers and or administrators. What is the equal opportunity in that aspect? How come you don’t see the opposite in predominantly white neighborhood public schools?
So what African American parents must do, educate ourselves on our rights and responsibilities. We have to look for resources to better our children literacy and knowledge of our African culture. Yes we face so many challenges but to understand who we are and where we going, we must know where we come from. We are able to do this; I believe we are able to suppress the challenges of public school education. Parent's it's time to turn off the soap operas and game shows and pick up a book, pen and paper. We have to read to our children. We must not only make our children read but also, write about what they read, so that we may enhance their minds. In my opinion, this type of practice would help the children to understand or articulate what they have read. The yellow brick road to a better education starts at http://www.testourkids.com/. The best part about it, you don't have to click your heels three times but only click once with the mouse on the link.
As another has well said, to handicap a student by teaching him that his black face is a curse and that his struggle to change his condition is hopeless is the worst sort of lynching.
Carter G. Woodson
Brother you are so right. 87% percent of our children can't read. What does it take for us to be embarrassed enough to say my brother, my sister, my mother, my father, and even worst I CAN'T READ. When do we come to grips with the realities of where we are in the world and why we can't progress. Nothing is built without foundation. Reading is the foundation of education. Not the other way around. You can not educate one who can't read, but one that can read can be educated to almost anything. If reading was a dice game and you lost 9 out of 10 times, would you continue to play? So why are we playing with our kids future?
ReplyDeleteDwayne