The truth is that it is the Black child in Delaware who is more likely to be suspended, expelled, miseducated, undereducated, ignored, misunderstood. The ancillary effects of all of this is a Black child who in turn fails state mandated tests and benchmarks and must go to summer school or repeat a grade. More and more we are seeing Black students regularly left behind and kept back while white children move forward and somehow excel.
While there are those who would say this is because Blacks are not as smart as Whites, this is not the case. It is more an issue of how one is treated, regarded and motivated. Point of proof.
My early education began in the old Wilmington School District among neighbors and friends who knew my family and who cared about their community's children. This was a predominately Black School District that existed in the neighborhoods of the City.
And like the city, most of the students were Black as were most of the teachers, principals and guidance counselors who also lived near the places where they taught. They were as much a part of the fabric of the community as the kids they instructed and helped to raise and guide. The school district superintendent went to school with my parents as did many of my teachers. Mr. Carmichael was my mothers principal when she was in school and was my principal in middle school. On the rare occasions when I got out of hand, it was nothing for me to get a spanking from my teacher or principal. And they were allowed because they were our school-based surrogate parents and we were their beloved children. They were just as devoted as a parent in keeping us on the right track, keeping us safe, and pushing us to use our talents to be the very best. This was in the truest sense a village raising our children.
Imagine for a moment a stranger comes to stay with you and prior to their arrival all you have heard was that they were a problem child and you'd better be on guard. That is what happened in 1978 when court ordered desegregation moved me and thousands of other black children and black teachers from their neighborhood schools to a strange new place--someone elses neighborhood. We were received as the stranger with a bad reputation--not a part of their neighborhood family. That cloud has never been lifted from the Black students in Wilmington schools since.
It is hard to function is an environment that is not warm, inviting or friendly and you do not feel connected to or a part of. This was and still is the reality for Black students in New Castle County Schools. I was lucky as were many of my friends who were bused to a suburban school with me. We'd inhaled years of the a welcoming air before the move. We'd been feed a lot of love at home and in our old urban schools that helped build our confidence in our ability and our person. We'd been spanked and hugged by teachers/neighbors who genuinely cared about our welfare and success. We were older and it would take a lot to dismantle the confidence, and studious arrogance we arrived with. So we made it. The excellence we'd mastered as youngsters while we were still unsure of ourselves and our ability stuck with us and carried us through.
My son and the children of my friends from that era do not have the same benefit. Part of who they develop into is indeed affected by the elementary encounters they must endure in an environment that is not as loving, supportive or uplifting. The new environment places our children in a constant battle to defend themselves, even before they understand what is happening to them, Black males more than any. I'd like to see what percentage of Black children compared to other ethnicity's in Delaware schools have been directed to seek medication for their child because they are believed to be ADD or ADHD or suffer from some sort of behavioral or mental health issue? The reality is that some do not know how to manage children in a classroom, especially rambunctious, bright, inquisitive Black children who have little fear and will challenge thought and authority. .
There are a number of prominent studies that explain the difference that exist between cultures. This includes how they express themselves and interact. The operative word is differences. In this age of diversity awareness you would think educators would get that different does not mean wrong, inappropriate or problematic. Some differences are as simple as terminology. (Not Ebonics) For example, just because you call it a mug and I call it a cup does not make it wrong. It simply means different. Or how about the tests in which you lose points for not knowing the terminology used in an ethnically different household.
Even through testing material and classroom exercises, upon entry into school, our young children are told their vivacious, spirited nature is wrong and must be tempered or silenced. Their inquisitive mind is said to be distracted. Challenges to old ways of thinking and coming up with new ideas is considered aggressive and disrespectful. Black children are repeatedly reminded of this as they grow up in the school system and those who don't immediately conform, are in turn medically caged, or caged in an alternative learning programs or alternative schools to manage their behavior and spirit. And we wonder why they rebell and some of their actions become inappropriate.
For the parent who recognizes their child is talented, smart, capable and refuses to let their energy be extinguished, Charter Schools like Moyer Academy are who they turn to. It is because it is an institution that is run by people they know and trust, people from their community, people who believe in the ability of Black children and share the parents passion to motivate these young minds. It is because it is an environment where students feel loved, warm, safe, comfortable and capable. It is because Black parents are tired of the teacher's conferences where the teacher tells you all of the things they feel is wrong with the Black child and can't think of anything or very little to tell you that is right. It is because the Black parent feels as much a stranger and outsider to this school now as they did when they were on the school bus at the start of desegregation.
Of course we all want a quality learning center that prepares our youngsters to excel in every academic challenge. At one point, it was believed that busing and time would yeild that. Not so. However, neighborhood Charter Schools that offer an environment like that I excelled in should be supported. If the school is not meeting minimum educational qualifications, give them the resources to do so. Do not shut them down. You've already made the first hurdle... offering an environment the student feels able to learn and do well. All is needed is the learning material and an innovative curriculum to address that need.
Charter Schools often have to do much of it's own fundraising. In poor neighborhoods, there are not a lot of benefactors to help. If the school is working with a population of students that the mainstream system poorly serves or ignores, it is all of our responsibility to pay for what is needed. Those organizing the school took the first brave step to meet the challenge. Why not help them succeed.
In the case of Moyer Academy, how hard would it be to simply reorganize the center so that student performance levels improve. It is honorable and necessary to set high benchmarks that should be met. And using non-traditional classroom teachers like out of work scientists, mathematicians, historians and journalists to meet the goal could be the way to do this.
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