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Final Word - The resolve from within Reply to story about racial education gap
While there are no simple answers to the education gap, my years in a high school classroom convince me of one very important piece of the puzzle. At a certain stage in a child's life, that child is capable of actively choosing regarding his or her education. I believe that when a young person reaches that point, the responsibility for education and success rests firmly and squarely on him or her. Providing endless alibis for failure or pointless sympathy only weakens the child. Relating the stories I could tell would take a book, but many black students in my classes have ignored taunts of "Oreo" or ostracism from black peer groups in order to get high grades and to embark on rich and rewarding lives. The majority of the cases I am familiar with involve black students tormenting other black students - not white students or teachers giving blacks a hard time. Many successful, capable, personable black students have gone through both my regular and honors classes, and they succeeded because they decided to. To paraphrase one of my "heroes" - Chicago African-American
educator Marva Collins - "I can't do anything about your home situation,
but I can help you do something about your education." It's the students
determined to do something about their education in spite of difficulties,
who do well. While teachers can encourage, this resolve, this commitment,
this backbone has to come from within the young person. |
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