From: charlie
Date: 10/17/03
Time: 8:35:32 PM
Remote Name: 209.240.198.63
Jasper, Once again--I understand where it comes from but we have to deal with the here and now.
What I am telling you is that there is a certain (not all of course) attitude in the black community that to succeed in school (even in a basic way) is to "act white" and they rebel against it.
And you tell me how you are going to by-pass the parents.
And what I am talking about is way more than a dialect or accent --which can very much keep a person from being successful.
I am talking about not learning past an elementary school level of education--if that--because the importance of doing so is not important to them or their parents.
I know you will disagree with me but one of the most useful helps in recent years has been Welfare Reform. In our city, there are more and more Blacks working places where you come in contact with them every day. (our city has about 40,000 blacks--about 10 %). I see more Blacks driving nice cars, going to work, shopping in the malls, etc. There is a growing middle working class. I can't help but think this will help in the long run.
The children that I had (and so did everyone els) trouble with with children from the government projects who might be the 3rd or 4th generation of welfare. They had very few role models for going out and having a job and being successful.
I learned this while TRYING to make the point of growing up and having goals. I would ask them what they wanted to do when they grew up. They didn't know. I'd ask them finally if they had anybody in their family who drove a truck, worked in an office, was a nurse, was a teacher, was a clerk, and so on. And they would tell me that they had nobody in their family who worked.
We have the same situation in Eastern Ky. with whites on Welfare for 4 and 5 generations. They don't grasp that you grow up and work and support a family. As far as they are concerned--the money comes in the mail.
And I still want to know how the teacher gets around the parent. Esp. when the parent is hostile.
And why isn't this a project for other successful blacks to do?
charlie