Most whites simply do not know what
black people are like in large numbers,
and the first encounter can be a shock.

Great quote.  Too bad the article will be written off as racist without acknowledging some legible facts that are presented.

headkicker_girl wrote:

The only problem that I have with the article is the generalization.  Having taught school before I went to law school, I know first hand that this is a socio-economic problem and does not represent all blacks.  (And as an aside, I have a black friend who did Teach for America in a hispanic school in LA and had a similar experience with an all hispanic inner-city classroom.  She hated it so much that she only lasted 6 months).

The black kids that the author refers to are at the bottom of the rung.  The fact that this is presented as a generalization is what kills the debate.  As soon as someone claims that "all" of any group is like something it stinks of racism, even though there might be some underlying valid points.

I agree with his assessment of poor whites.  The difference is that poor whites, for the most part, respect authority;  poor blacks do not.  I've found this to be true in my legal practice.  Poor whites and hispanics will take my advice and be thankful for it; poor blacks will challenge me every step of the way, believing that their street smarts trump my years of education and experience.

Again, there are exceptions to this, but the problem with educating poor blacks kids is a cultural divide.  Anyone who teaches inner city black kids needs to assert his or her authority immediately.  You can't be friends with these kids.  Any white liberal who thinks he or she is being a savior will be eaten alive.

Here in Chicago in the magnet schools you'd find no difference between the black and white kids, but there are many schools where the kids are just biding their time to drop out.

Excellent post, and spot-on (god I hate that term), HKG.

headkicker_girl wrote:

...Again, there are exceptions to this, but the problem with educating poor blacks kids is a cultural divide.  Anyone who teaches inner city black kids needs to assert his or her authority immediately.  You can't be friends with these kids.  Any white liberal who thinks he or she is being a savior will be eaten alive.

After 12 years of experience teaching children at an "inner-city" school in the High Desert (children whose families moved up directly from Compton, South-Central, and other garden spots of L.A.), I have to agree.  What drives me more nuts than white liberals naively thinking they can "save" the lost children of the poor, is the conservative teachers that refuse to attend any sort of training like the Ruby Payne training that can shed some light on what goes on in the neighborhoods and homes before and after school, for fear that it is "indoctrination" of teachers to get them to accept maladjusted and dysfunctional behavior.  It's not--far from it.  Instead, participants get straight to the point of what makes an effective stimulus for desirable behavior.  Understanding something does not necessarily equal accepting it.

headkicker_girl wrote:

[good stuff]

I am even forced to disagree with the very first paragraph. Teaching inner city minorities is one thing, but I think the 'study' fails to capture other socioeconomic regions. There is really no 'grand average.' It's obvious that where the money is, there will be funding for textbooks, art and music programs, magnet schools, and the like. However, would you consider African-Americans in these other localities 'assimilated' or otherwise acclimated to the learning opportunities/inclinations of their Anglo cohorts? Similar things, to a far worse degree than latinos or blacks, occur out here, with Native Americans. The reservations are horrors.

I really don't think I've ever seen a decent cross-cultural study with good samples and proper statistical formulae. It's too easy to generalize from what seems obvious; i.e., there is little way to balance wealthy districts with poorer ones. It all reverts to the 'general plight of the non-white.' Disgusting, yes, but insidious and persistent. Theoretically, it's why we came up with desegregation and affirmative action. I fully believe that a student of any ethnicity, given the same resources and possessing the same acculturated interest (note this secondary qualifier), can academically achieve as well as anyone else.

As yet, no one I know has tried to adequately compare the ethnic difference between Asian-American familial values and those of inner city blacks (I've seen two studies, both nearly made me throw up). The disparity is pointless, but it's family systems psychology...not necessarily a sociological phenomenon. In a private way, I think my own vote for Obama did more for the effort than years of civil struggle. Instead of some obscure historical model, we now have a President. I really hope that alters group mentality for the upcoming generations.

Meanwhile, in the Nanny state