MichaelFauntroy.com

Teaching Black History: A Precious Legacy Lost?

It’s Black History Month, a time for all people to pause and celebrate the contributions that African Americans have made to the nation and the world.  These contributions, big and small, have helped make the America in which Blacks now live the world’s most important country and have also created a multi-century list of accomplishments of which all African Americans, young and old, rich and poor, can be proud.

But while I think it’s a time to celebrate Black culture, I can’t help but wonder what needs to be done to build on past gains to ensure future success.  I also wonder if our young people, who are increasing distanced by time from the Civil Rights Movement,  really appreciate that which has been given to them by the civil rights generation.  The change in America’s racial status quo that opened previously locked doors to them was won with the blood, sweat, and tears of the civil rights generation.  The fruit of their struggle is a precious legacy left to today’s teens and twenty-somethings.  I fear that many of the post-civil rights era babies are disconnecting from that past.

I’m particularly worried about young Black people and whether they understand what the civil rights movement was about or if they are getting the cultural enrichment that they need in order to have a well-formed sense of self.  The self-confidence that comes from understanding who one is and from where one comes can provide a wealth of protection from life’s cultural slings and arrows.  If this sense of self and understanding of what Black people in America have overcome is fading, then what are we celebrating each February?  Further, how do we keep traditions and history in the minds of our kids when the primary mechanism for transferring information from one generation to the next–family oral history–is less possible as the nuclear Black family has deteriorated to a point where more than 60 percent of Black children are born out of wedlock?

I think African Americans need a "right of passage" exercise–a cultural equivalent to Hebrew School, if you will–in which Black children learn all that they need to know about their heritage and the contributions made by their predecessors to the nation and world.  This is needed because much of the nihilistic and dysfunctional behavior coming out of some of Black America is due to a poorly formed sense of self.  It is needed as well because it is a mistake for African American parents to rely solely on schools to teach children about Black history (or any other non-white history for that matter).  Formal education should be supplemented by home and other cultural institutions, and should not be seen as the only form of learning.

Given that school systems around the country are homogenizing history and seeking to blot out or overlook anything that reflects poorly on the idealized view of America, it is incumbent upon Black families to impart more, not less, Black history upon our children.  Failing that, we can only expect more, not fewer problems in the Black community.

© Michael K. Fauntroy, Ph.D.
January 27, 2006

Black "Present" Month

February marks Black History month, a time to pause and acknowledge the contributions of African Americans to this great nation.  While I think it’s important to focus on what Black people have given to America, I think we might be better served by focusing on some current realities that, if not fixed, will imperil the entire nation, not just African Americans.  So I’m changing the name of the celebration to “Black Present Month” because the present will have more to do with the Black community than the past.

According to the Children’s Defense Fund, a Black public school student is suspended every four seconds, corporally punished every 34 seconds, and drops out of high school every 50 seconds.  A Black child is arrested every minute.  A Black child is born into poverty every two minutes.  A Black child is born without health insurance every five minutes.  Add to that Justice Department statistics that show that nearly a third of Black men in their 20s have criminal records and 12.6% of all Black men between the ages of 25 and 29 are behind bars.  Anyone with even blurry vision can see the storm that is engulfing Black America.

Many of our nation’s public education systems are in trouble, characterized by crumbling infrastructures, atrocious dropout rates, and the graduation of too many students who are unable to compete for jobs in our new, globalized economy.  Given the increase in immigration, those among us with poor skill sets have fewer chances for success since the end of de jure segregation.  The drop out issue has particularly significant long-term implications because nearly 70% of all prisoners in state penitentiaries in America are high school dropouts.  The prison route is too often a losing proposition because it serves as a graduate school for criminality and dysfunction rather than a place where one can be rehabilitated and move on to a productive life.  And, oh by the way, Black women comprise America’s fastest growing inmate population.

The Black higher education picture has taken a turn for the worse too.  According to the American Council on Education, of the 1.8 million Black men of traditional college age–18 to 24–only 25% were seeking higher education in 2004.  Moreover, a significant gender gap has emerged among African American college students.  Black males comprised just 40% of all first-year, full-time Black students attending four-year institutions in 2004.  That figure is five percentage points fewer than in 1971, when most Black college age males were either in or recovering from the Vietnam War.  When one considers tuition increases that far outpace inflation and recent congressional cuts in federal student loans (including a $12.7 billion cut in December) one can conclude that mechanisms that helped African Americans establish social and economic gains are now in peril.

The impact of all these and other variables on the Black community frames a crisis in which we all, regardless of our race, religion, or politics should be concerned.  Consequently, while focusing on past contributions is important and necessary, attention to our present perils will have more to do with our future.

© Michael K. Fauntroy, Ph.D.
January 24, 2006

A Black Governor for Pennsylvania?

Hall of Fame football player Lynn Swann recently announced his candidacy for governor of Pennsylvania.  Swann, a conservative who has never held elected office, is seeking the Republican Party nomination to take on Democratic governor and former Philadelphia mayor Ed Rendell.  Early polling shows that Swann has a shot to win in November, which should be encouraging to his campaign which hopes to make history by electing Pennsylvania’s first African American governor.

Swann’s hasn’t done anything to suggest that he is qualified to run a multi-billion dollar municipal corporation, so his record doesn’t justify his candidacy.  Though he won’t admit it, he is banking on his celebrity to draw supporters to the polls.  People vote all the time for candidates who are unqualified for the job that they are seeking because they are personally popular and have some measure of celebrity, so his ability to win, while disappointing, is not a big deal.  After all, California has an unqualified celebrity governor in office right now.

Swann’s candidacy could be a potential problem for Pennsylvania Republicans.  Some Republicans are concerned that Swann’s presence on the ballot could increase Black turnout and jeopardize other Republicans running throughout the state.  There may be as many as three U.S. House Republicans from Pennsylvania that could be vulnerable as a result.  It’s tough enough for Republicans to run in this climate.  Add to that a potentially higher than usual Black turnout, and it could be “lights out” for Pennsylvania Republicans

Swann is running at a tough time for Republicans, particularly those that are African Americans.  Given the standing of Republicans around the country, it’s tough to see how Swann could have a more difficult climate in which to run.  He’ll have to go out and defend unpopular Bush administration policies in a state that Senator John Kerry won in the 2004 election.  He’s also running in a state that will have one of the more hotly contested Senate races, Sen. Rick Santorum vs. Bob Casey, a race in which Democrat Casey has a double-digit lead on the unpopular incumbent.

Before Swann can get to Rendell, he has to get through former lieutenant governor Bill Scranton who is also seeking the nomination.  Scranton and his campaign made news last week when his now former campaign manager recently referred to Swann as “the rich White guy in the race” a statement that points to what may be a problem for Swann in the African American community.  He may be seen by some African Americans as inauthentic.  I have problems with that charge generally, because it suggests that there’s only one way to be Black.  I do, however, think it is legitimate to ask an African American Republican to explain why he or she supports a party with such an abysmal record on issues that are important to Black people.

If Rendell is able to make the race about Swann’s inexperience and his real or perceived ties to the Bush Administration, then Swann doesn’t stand a chance, his celebrity notwithstanding.  If Swann is able to make the race about the need for a change, then he has a shot.  If I’m Swann, then I’m hoping that the Steelers can pull it out this Sunday in the Super Bowl.  Maybe then he can get some residual support.

© Michael K. Fauntroy, Ph.D.
January 22, 2006