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  #1  
Old 06-10-2010, 01:48 PM
DaemonSeid DaemonSeid is offline
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CNN Asks Why Black Men Are Not Graduating From College

Hmmmm...looks familiar...

By Dr. Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jun 5th 2010 4:24PM


Richelle Carey at CNN Headline News recently reached out to me to find out why black men aren't graduating from college. I've written on this topic on a few occasions and also in my book 'Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about College.' The segment is here if you'd like to watch, and you can tell in the segment that I am angry.

I was angry during the interview because the lack of educational and economic achievement of the black male, along with mass incarceration, has continuously threatened the strength and stability of the African American family. I was angry because most of us, as Americans, have not had a sense of urgency when it comes to resolving these disparities. Some black men are too busy learning how to become thugs, and white America is too busy perpetuating racially imbalanced institutions that keep Jim Crow alive in America. Many black women are busy blaming every social ill on black men, which is equally problematic. At the end of the day, all of us are wrong, and we all have the ability to work together to solve this problem.

First, universities must stop making excuses for not hiring black professors. When I opposed the Supreme Court nomination of Elena Kagan, one of the reasons I stood against her is because during her tenure as dean of Harvard Law School, she didn't hire a single African American faculty member (out of 29 total tenured and tenure-track appointments). This problem is all too common, as many universities get applications from solid black professors and find some ridiculous, ambiguous and often secret reason to turn them down. The result is that many students go to college for four to 10 years (adding in graduate school) without having any black professors (except in African American studies, where they allow us to teach). That was my experience, as well as the common experience of many other black men who were educated at predominantly white universities. My hurdles in higher education led me to feel like a fish out of water, since there was no role model for me to look up to – I always felt like I was swimming upstream. Universities have to stop making excuses for not diversifying their faculty with underrepresented minorities; they must also stop hiring black professors for temporary jobs only, and start giving permanent positions to black faculty so that black students can have role models, too. A case in point is my brother's recent graduation from the business school at Cornell University. I saw only one black professor out of dozens on the stage. The same was true at my sister's graduation from medical school, where there was not a single black person in the entire group of faculty. Such outcomes should be appalling and unacceptable to all of us.

Second, black males must raise their expectations. Being a baller or a rapper is all fine and good, but it takes far less intelligence to be a doctor or lawyer. In fact, I earned good grades by studying four to six hours a day, which is less than the amount of time I would have spent on my job at Taco Bell. If a man can "slang" fast food for 10 hours a day, then he should be able to study for half that time. It's time for black men to stop pretending to be stupid. Of course, this doesn't include the black male soldiers out here who are already hustling to do the right thing. The truth is that black men are proud, strong and capable, and if we choose to dominate academically, it is fully within our ability to do so. In fact, if we were to take as much pride in our academic achievements as we do our athletic ones, we would be world-leading intellects. We would also have a lot more money in our pockets, since professional sports leads to more busted dreams than fulfilled ones.

Third, universities should realize that black men can do more than play basketball. I find it ironic that many campuses (i.e., the University of Kentucky, my alma mater) will claim that they can't find enough qualified black males to admit as students, yet they always seem to find a way to get a pack of black men onto the basketball court. I also find it interesting that campuses feel it is essential for black students to learn everything a person needs to know about Ben Franklin but don't require white students to learn much of anything about Malcolm X or the great civilizations of Africa. Perhaps if universities made a greater effort to diversify their curricula, we might find that black men are more interested in what they have to say.
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  #2  
Old 06-10-2010, 01:52 PM
DrPhil DrPhil is offline
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Amen and she's saying the same thing that has been said for well over a decade.

I want white people in general (in the case, CNN) to know that this isn't a new topic and they don't need to think that the media (or the election of Obama) is the instrument that is shedding light on this issue. It has been discussed from different angles by social activists and scholars for a long time.
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  #3  
Old 06-10-2010, 01:54 PM
DaemonSeid DaemonSeid is offline
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Not to mention this gets trotted out when....? Right around graduation time.

Thank you CNN
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  #4  
Old 06-10-2010, 01:57 PM
DrPhil DrPhil is offline
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OMG, at college graduations across the country, Black males were hardly anywhere to be found. OMG, we're so shocked that the Blacks who graduate from PWIs and HBCUs are predominantly Black women. When did this begin? How do we address it? Haven't "they" learned that staying in school is cool since Obama is the PREZ-a-dent?! Do we have time to tackle this huge generations-long topic with the BP oil spill?!
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  #5  
Old 06-10-2010, 04:55 PM
Elephant Walk Elephant Walk is offline
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Why are underprivileged white men not graduating from college?

Someone should do a study into it.
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Overall, though, it's the bigness of the car that counts the most. Because when something bad happens in a really big car – accidentally speeding through the middle of a gang of unruly young people who have been taunting you in a drive-in restaurant, for instance – it happens very far away – way out at the end of your fenders. It's like a civil war in Africa; you know, it doesn't really concern you too much. - P.J. O'Rourke
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  #6  
Old 06-10-2010, 05:02 PM
DaemonSeid DaemonSeid is offline
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I will take "Because the numbers of them vs the numbers of black men are not as high?"

for $500, Dick
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  #7  
Old 06-10-2010, 05:04 PM
Kevin Kevin is offline
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Certainly.. let's end racial discrimination with more racial discrimination. That'll work!
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  #8  
Old 06-10-2010, 05:08 PM
Munchkin03 Munchkin03 is offline
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I never had a black professor in college or graduate school. I always thought it was because there weren't really a ton of blacks in architecture, and not any systematic attempt to keep black people down. Even now I've never worked with another black architect.
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  #9  
Old 06-10-2010, 05:12 PM
DaemonSeid DaemonSeid is offline
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It's "Tha Man's" fault! HA!
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  #10  
Old 06-10-2010, 05:20 PM
DrPhil DrPhil is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Elephant Walk View Post
Why are underprivileged white men not graduating from college?
At a national level, they are graduating from college.

Efforts (particularly by public institutions) to reach students from lower socioeconomic status have been quite successful. Interestingly, despite the high correlation between social class and race (to the point that they are almost synonymous in many instances), outreach to poor whites (including white men) has been more successful than outreach to Black males across social classes.
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  #11  
Old 06-10-2010, 05:23 PM
phitheta376 phitheta376 is offline
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This is pretty much the worst possible article in every possible way. It relies on racial stereotypes and gross generalizations to basically state that black men should "stop rapping and playing basketball" to "start 'hustling' as doctors and lawyers."

Lets not forget that this is a race that has been enslaved for hundreds of years, suffered segregation for at least another hundred years, and is just now being allowed to advance into the American middle class. Black standards of living and rates of education have dramatically been increasing -- the only thing really slowing them down at this point is the government-run schools.
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  #12  
Old 06-10-2010, 05:25 PM
DrPhil DrPhil is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Munchkin03 View Post
I never had a black professor in college or graduate school. I always thought it was because there weren't really a ton of blacks in architecture, and not any systematic discrimination. Even now I've never worked with another black architect.
I prefer this wording.

It is a combination of the proportion of architects who are Black and discrimination (based on outcome and practice even if it isn't their formal intent). Colleges and universities with faculty diversity initiatives know exactly what to do if they want more female, Black (and other racial and ethnic minority--that includes HBCUs that are increasing their nonBlack faculty and staff), and/or bilingual faculty.
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  #13  
Old 06-10-2010, 05:31 PM
DrPhil DrPhil is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by phitheta376 View Post
This is pretty much the worst possible article in every possible way. It relies on racial stereotypes and gross generalizations to basically state that black men should "stop rapping and playing basketball" to "start 'hustling' as doctors and lawyers."
Then you would just hate the decades of articles and books written on this topic. Have you read any of them?

Quote:
Originally Posted by phitheta376 View Post
Lets not forget that this is a race that has been enslaved for hundreds of years, suffered segregation for at least another hundred years, and is just now being allowed to advance into the American middle class. Black standards of living and rates of education have dramatically been increasing -- the only thing really slowing them down at this point is the government-run schools.
Black folks don't need a sob story. This is about a combination of institutional practices and personal accountability. I pity the fool who is waiting for all the -isms to subside before they can work toward personal and professional success.

And please don't call Black people "them."
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  #14  
Old 06-10-2010, 05:49 PM
Elephant Walk Elephant Walk is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DrPhil View Post
At a national level, they are graduating from college.
Link?

Quote:
Originally Posted by DaemonSeid View Post
I will take "Because the numbers of them vs the numbers of black men are not as high?"

for $500, Dick
Link?

Look, I get it man, you're a racialist. That's fine. Alot of the white nationalists I know are too.

The more important thing in this situation (and in most situations) is class rather than race. I would guarantee that white Appalachian poor trash kids would get along much better with urban African-American poor than a African-American doctoral student.

Walter E. Williams cited a study done in his book "The State Against Blacks" which showed that a middle class white resident would rather have a middle-class African American move into their neighborhood than a poor white person. Something to think about.
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Overall, though, it's the bigness of the car that counts the most. Because when something bad happens in a really big car – accidentally speeding through the middle of a gang of unruly young people who have been taunting you in a drive-in restaurant, for instance – it happens very far away – way out at the end of your fenders. It's like a civil war in Africa; you know, it doesn't really concern you too much. - P.J. O'Rourke

Last edited by Elephant Walk; 06-10-2010 at 05:56 PM.
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  #15  
Old 06-10-2010, 05:50 PM
DrPhil DrPhil is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Elephant Walk View Post
Link?
Actually, the one making the original claim is the one who must cite the source. Where did you get that poor and working class white men are not graduating from college at the national level?

This claim is different than the widely given notion that the underprivileged (across race and gender) have a harder time affording, matriculating, and graduating from college.
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