Oh Lord, I know I’m probably going to get flamed because I cannot put this in the words I want to put this in, but here’s to hoping that people understand where I’m coming from.
Be warned that this post is full of rants…
You’ve been warned.
I get bothered by the fact that a lot of “black achievements” being simply because the person achieving them are black. Do not get me wrong before anyone starts stuffing words in my mouth, I think it’s important for children to look up to people of all colors for their achievements, but not simply because of their skin color…let me revert to metaphors and analogies since I seem to argue better using these devices:
When you celebrate the first black person in space who did not get there until 20 years after the first white American in space, you are basically saying “We recognize your achievement only because of your skin color because a whole parade of white people accomplished this feat before you did.” It is like praising the slower child for doing something that the other kids his age had already accomplish long before him. I feel it only adds to our sense of inferiority that we should applaud ourselves for finally accomplishing what white people have already done. It’s like treating someone special because you know they couldn’t do it like the “normal” people could. George Washington Carver did many amazing things and was a prolific inventor. He is celebrated not because he was black, but because he was an incredibly intelligent and capable human being. That to me is someone that should be a hero to a young black child. He’s not considered an achiever for following in the footsteps of whites, but because he was a leader.
Richard Pryor was a great comedian. And he was black. But he was not a great black comedian (as opposed to a great comedian who was white), he was a great comedian. Full stop.
I think what I am saying (but I could be wrong 
) is that when you quantify a person’s achievements by their skin color, you also say that the reason why we should be celebrating them is because of the their skin color, rather than because of their achievement. No one calls Bob Hope “a great white comedian” or Buzz Aldrin “a white pioneer in space”. Dr. Mae C. Jemison should be celebrated, not because she was the first black woman, or even a woman, in space, but because she’s an astronaut and that in itself is an achievement. Martin Luther King was a great leader of the civil rights movement. Not because he was black, but because he was a great leader.
I think Black History Month is important to remind all of us of the great things black people have done and contributed to the world and to build confidence in our youth that they too can achieve greatness since there do not seem to be a lot of positive role models out there in their lives for them to look up to. But let’s celebrate the people who have made these contributions rather than just their skin color.
Now onto my next rant…
As far as environment, it’s a known fact that most cushy teaching jobs (those in well-off schools and school districts with lots of resources) go to tenured, experienced teachers. Teaching jobs in impoverished schools and school districts often go to inexperienced teachers or teachers who are not dedicated to their work. As a reward for becoming better teachers, those who make improvements go on to the nicer schools where parents are more dedicated to their children’s education, the students all have goals that usually include tertiary education or trade schools, and the community has the money to provide the school with the resources it needs to produce the programs it wants.
Meanwhile those kids attending school in the more impoverish districts keep teachers that no one else wants and the teachers who don’t know what they are doing, using what little resources the district can afford to give them. Can you imagine feeling motivated to learn and pursue higher learning when all the teachers you get don’t want to be at your school, could care less whether or not you learn, and live for the weekend? What kind of message would you get about your self-worth when your own parents (or rather parent) doesn’t or can’t support you in your learning and your teacher would just as soon have you drop out so her class can go from 30 students to a slightly more manageable 29?
All of us on this website are lucky that we had someone out there who cared enough for us to inspire us to learn. I cannot say there is anyone here who did not have at least one really good teacher. And even if your home environment was not perfect, you still had someone in your life who believed in you. Not many of these kids get that. And if your life is devoid of hope, of the idea that you can escape the misery around you, then why bother getting better if becoming a part of that negativity is inevitable (or so you are led to believe)?
I am one who believes that genetics has nothing to do with how successful one’s life can be. Environment plays a big role in who we are. If we are taught that XYZ people are inferior to us, then until some opportunity comes along to show us something different, we will continue to believe that XYZ people are inferior to us. If we live in an environment where we are treated as if we are animals incapable of achievement, then if no one comes along to tell us otherwise, we will continue to follow the path we think we are meant to follow. Many people in the US (and our other home countries) believe that life outside of their own community/country is not safe or is too difficult to survive in. They never leave their home country. I think that idea is similar to what impoverished people, who are never told that they don’t have to live in poverty and can choose to improve their lives, go through. Granted, I was a linguistics major and not a sociology one, but I think it’s self-evident:
If you don’t teach a child to be respectful at home, most of them won’t learn it on their own, ignoring the fact that they do learn something through school culture and outside of the home.
If you don’t teach your child how to delay gratification, chances are they won’t be able to do it on their own.
If you don’t teach a child that they are worthy of success and capable of achievement or push them to do their best, you cannot expect that they will do these things on their own.
Let’s face it, it’s much easier to be disrespectful, get what we want immediately, and be lazy than to be respectful, patient, and hard-working. But it takes discipline and love to help us understand why it’s worth having the latter characteristics. Unfortunately, not everyone gets this discipline and love. Especially in impoverished urban environments.
Rant over. Packing up the soapbox as we speak.
Peace. Shalom. Sala’am.
ImaniOU