Sunday, August 08, 2004
Bill Cosby and Barack Obama are both wrong.
Few people reading this are looking for a treatise on Africian American Education in America. (And most people stoping by right now are more interested in learning about Rev. Dr. Larry Spiceboy than my personal opinions) But this is important, so I'm going to tell you about it, even if you don't care!
98% of my students at The Little Academy were Africian American, and a lot of them were performing below grade level - so I have a bit of experience in this area. But let's put the blame where it belongs - - it's not a race thing - it's a *POVERTY* thing. The problems Bill Cosby and Barak mentioned are not limited to the Africian American community. White and Hispanic cultures have the same issues when there is poverty. Generational Poverty is it's own culture - and the values of that culture are SO different from the values of the middle class. Until "they" understand that, we can not make any kind of effective change.
It's really difficult for your typical middle class person to understand poverty. I've gone to several workshops on it (and worked in the culture for two years) and still fall into the trap of middle class thinking on the issue. There are a lot of differences, but the one most relevant to this conversation is the view on education.
We all know that "Education is the way out." Politicians know it, middle class voters know it, and Africian American parents on welfare know it. But that doesn't mean that those parents want their kids to get a super education. In the culture of Generational Poverty (white poverty, black poverty, hispanic poverty) PEOPLE are most important. Family and friends are important enough to hold on to forever (that's why women won't report abuse or a deadbeat dad - that would betray the PEOPLE). If your kid gets an education, he might leave.
Our current education system is designed for middle and upper class kids. It is created to meet their needs while simeotaneously keeping the poor populatons in exactly the same place. (If you don't believe me, think about the Property Tax system that funds our public schools, and compare the tax base of the ghetto with the glitzy suburb across the tracks).
Until politicians (and police, and teachers, and voters) start to really understand poverty, the achivement gap will continue, because that is what we want. We the middle class folk, don't want to pay a higher tax burden to educate someone else's kid (and create potential competition for your kid). The parents living in poverty don't want out kids to be smart enough to go away.
There's a lot more to the culture of poverty (like fate, forgiveness, community, entertainment, philosophy of spending). But that would take several workshops and a couple of years to explain, and we already know that most people here aren't interested in this - and that makes me kinda sad.
Bill Cosby to Blacks
A Framework for Understanding Poverty by Ruby Payne
PDF summarizing Ruby Payne's work
Few people reading this are looking for a treatise on Africian American Education in America. (And most people stoping by right now are more interested in learning about Rev. Dr. Larry Spiceboy than my personal opinions) But this is important, so I'm going to tell you about it, even if you don't care!
98% of my students at The Little Academy were Africian American, and a lot of them were performing below grade level - so I have a bit of experience in this area. But let's put the blame where it belongs - - it's not a race thing - it's a *POVERTY* thing. The problems Bill Cosby and Barak mentioned are not limited to the Africian American community. White and Hispanic cultures have the same issues when there is poverty. Generational Poverty is it's own culture - and the values of that culture are SO different from the values of the middle class. Until "they" understand that, we can not make any kind of effective change.
It's really difficult for your typical middle class person to understand poverty. I've gone to several workshops on it (and worked in the culture for two years) and still fall into the trap of middle class thinking on the issue. There are a lot of differences, but the one most relevant to this conversation is the view on education.
We all know that "Education is the way out." Politicians know it, middle class voters know it, and Africian American parents on welfare know it. But that doesn't mean that those parents want their kids to get a super education. In the culture of Generational Poverty (white poverty, black poverty, hispanic poverty) PEOPLE are most important. Family and friends are important enough to hold on to forever (that's why women won't report abuse or a deadbeat dad - that would betray the PEOPLE). If your kid gets an education, he might leave.
Our current education system is designed for middle and upper class kids. It is created to meet their needs while simeotaneously keeping the poor populatons in exactly the same place. (If you don't believe me, think about the Property Tax system that funds our public schools, and compare the tax base of the ghetto with the glitzy suburb across the tracks).
Until politicians (and police, and teachers, and voters) start to really understand poverty, the achivement gap will continue, because that is what we want. We the middle class folk, don't want to pay a higher tax burden to educate someone else's kid (and create potential competition for your kid). The parents living in poverty don't want out kids to be smart enough to go away.
There's a lot more to the culture of poverty (like fate, forgiveness, community, entertainment, philosophy of spending). But that would take several workshops and a couple of years to explain, and we already know that most people here aren't interested in this - and that makes me kinda sad.
Bill Cosby to Blacks
A Framework for Understanding Poverty by Ruby Payne
PDF summarizing Ruby Payne's work