I hope the answer to that question is yes. I have a two year old son and I often wonder what he will grow to become. After I had my son, I remember feeling anxiety that I didn't feel with my daughter. Although I know several successful African American males, we cannot deny the difficulty that some African American males face in this society. Although the abundance of African American males in the justice system is not the only hurdle they must cross, it alone is enough to cause others to develop perceptions about their educational attainment, work ethic and even patrotism.
Let's face it. When we think about African American males in the classroom, the words high achiever don't come to mind. How will I help my son overcome these labels and how can I keep him stay motivated even when he is doubted by teachers, other African American males and even himself?
If teachers subscribe to these notions about the African American male and therefore use sterotypes to make jugements about them, will the cycle ever be broken?
For some reason my REALLY LONG COMMENT did not post. So I will give a summary. Make sure your son has a strong foundation and great male role models. Point out the positive qualities in men you see on a day to day basis. I could have easily been a statistic but male role models made the difference.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip. I do find that he often responds much differently to my husband than he does me. What can I say, I guess it is a man's world. Lol.
ReplyDeleteThere has to be a paradigm shift in the way we see African-American males. The negative stereotypes of black men did not occur overnight. You have to travel back into time almost 400 years ago and see how institional racism has replaced chattal slavery.
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