The Dumbing Down of The Black Community Continues

I came across an article today on our very sad public education system in our country.  What is the most bothersome about the article is how little respect for the black community this administration seems to have.  I think I have made it quite clear that I am no fan of Bush's No Child Left Behind initiative.  Well it seems that we have left it behind.  But the one thing that I will say in favor of it is the fact that it did not discriminate based on color.  The present day expectations, not so much.

Here are the very sad numbers:

In D.C. the expectations for white students is that 94% will be proficient in math, while the expectation for the black community is expected to be only 71%.

In Tennessee the black students are only expected to be at 64% in English 2.

In Minnesota we are hoping for a whopping 62% in math.

The list continues.  Why aren't we expecting all students, regardless of color to be proficient in both math and English?  We spend a fortune on public education in this country and yet we are saying it is perfectly acceptable that blacks can lag behind.  In some cases we are saying that one-third of black students can not be able to complete a high school math problem and not be able to read and/or write a paragraph in proper English.

Oh Al Sharpton, paging Al Sharpton.  Why aren't you outraged at this?  What this administration is saying is that blacks are not able to be held to the same standards as everyone else in the country.  That they just can't do the work.  I am sorry, but I refuse to accept that.  This is about low expectations.

One parent in Alabama:

"I think having a low bar means they can just pass them on. I think it's dumbing our race down and preparing our boys for prison."

While that may seem like an exaggeration,  it really isn't.  When you take a look at the demographics of people who are in the prison system, the numbers of people who don't graduate high school is very high.  From the Bureau of Justice Statistics:

• 68% of State prison inmates did not receive a high school diploma
• About 26% of State prison inmates said they had completed the GED while serving time in a correctional facility.

We are giving up on members of our society, especially those of color.  We are expecting less and less, all the while the calls for income inequality, more welfare, more food stamps, and other entitlement programs grow louder and louder from the left.  Hey, I have an idea, lets stop saying that blacks aren't capable of learning math and English, lets set the bar high and see what happens.

Sadly, the black community will be still thinking that President Obama has the back the black community.  He is their messiah, here to right the wrongs that have been done to them by a racist society.  Never mind that this mindset is part and parcel of the democrat party, that blacks can't do as well as whites or Asians.  We can expect less of them.

After all, it certainly helps the party if blacks are kept in the same position that many find themselves in today.  We wouldn't want them to do better now do we?  They might just start to figure out that government is perfectly happy in keeping them dumb-downed.  It allows the size and scope of government to grow and grow.  It is good for business.  Who cares if it is bad for people?  They are besides the point.

"Black English" and Low Expectations

“It’s been a little scary. Sometimes it’s like she’s speaking Hungarian, and he’s speaking Cantonese. She’s been articulate, just in a different kind of English than mainstream English, she’s speaking Black English. Everything she says, where you can see the Twittersphere, or people I know thinking she’s making a grammatical mistake. If a Martian came down and the Martian happened to be in South-Central rather than in Grand Rapids, the Martian would have as hard a time figuring out how this dialect worked as any other. She said in the clip that ‘I had told you.’ Many people are thinking, ‘why is she using that?’ That’s Black English.”

So says a talking head on MSNBC when discussing the testimony of Rachel Jeantel.  A network that prides itself on being for the "little guy" and champion for minorities.  Really?  This is sticking up for minorities?  This is championing the cause of the inner city blacks?  I think not.  This is nothing but a huge insult as well-being more proof that the liberal mindset that they need special dispensation because obviously they are not able to better.  Another words, they are too stupid.  

I have heard many making fun of her and I am certainly not going to do that.  I personally find the entire episode sad and symptomatic of what is wrong with our education system and our society that we are willing to accept this.  I don't buy the argument that English is not her first language, she was born here.  I grew up with parents who didn't speak English as their first language either.  But I certainly learned it and so did all the children of my parents immigrant friends.  Kids especially will pick up languages quite quickly.  Outside of that even this talking head isn't using that as a reason.  This man is saying she is just an average black kid, talking like black kids do.  Why is this acceptable? 

This young woman will have a difficult time finding a good job.  She will likely stay in the confines of the inner cities.  But what really gets me about this is why does the black community accept this meme?  Why aren't they up in arms over these comments?  This is saying this is about what we can expect of the black community and we just shrug and say, hey this is the culture.  Why aren't we trying to change this culture?  Why aren't we saying there are obvious problems and these problems need to be addressed and addressed now?  

Don't they understand that they have been called too stupid to speak proper English?  That by accepting this, in reality they are accepting the low expectations that have cursed that community?  Lets face facts here, the black population is only around 12% of our population.  Yet somewhere around 27% of the welfare given out goes to that community.  They are living in poverty in higher numbers than others.  Isn't this part of the reason for that?  We have accepted that they have a "culture" that allows them to speak almost incoherently in a setting such as a courtroom.  She came across as ignorant as well as outright belligerent.  

I would have felt so much better if MSNBC was screaming about how poor of an education this young woman received.  Now she is far from the only person who can't read cursive, I asked a 16-year-old suburban white girl yesterday, and she says that she has a hard time reading it as well.  She doesn't write that way, and her public school has done little to nothing to educate her on that type of writing.  Cursive is being taken out of public and private schools at an alarming rate, and I say it is to the detriment of our society.  It is a skill that shouldn't be tossed aside simply because we are more of a technological society, learning how to write properly will also help with other skills such as reading and comprehending what you are reading.  

We can't keep saying well that is just culture when it comes to these types of things.  We need to start asking why is this considered acceptable?  Why is this "just culture"?  What does this say about our culture? 

I want to make it perfectly clear, that I am not making fun of this young woman.  Exactly the opposite.  I think we need to do something that stops promoting this meme and stop coming out with comments like this is "Black English".  We shouldn't be accepting that the simple act of speaking is done along racial lines in this country.  We should have but one "English" in this country.  

My advice to Ms. Jeantel is to go to your local public library, they normally have some sort of class that can be taken at no charge to address your language deficiencies.  Then you won't have to accept whatever job you can find and just get by.  Sadly, the talking heads at MSNBC seem to think that is all you are qualified for.  With a little help and motivation on your part, I think you can prove them wrong.  

R.I.P. America – All My Babie’s Mamas Set to Air on Oxygen

Just when you thought we couldn't go lower than Honey Boo Boo, comes this news: 

The moral decline of our country continues and Oxygen is willing to capitalize on it.  Some rapper that I have never heard of, Shawty Lo, 35 (aptly named wouldn't you say) has 11 children with 10 different woman.  At least 7 of which are willing to be filmed in this degrading series about their lives and most inappropriately the lives of their children as the new hit reality series.   Oh, and let us not forget the 19-year-old girlfriend who will be joining in on the fun too.  Hey if she marries the man she will have a step child that is the same age as her.  Ooh, a dream come true.  

Apparently he still continues relations with some of these women and obviously they all know about each other.  It will be a day in life of man trying to juggle 11 children and 10 woman.  What is not entertaining about that?  

I really enjoy the nicknames he has for the little women:

E’Creia — “First Lady Baby Mama”
Angela — “Fighter Baby Mama”
Amanda — “Jealous Baby Mama”
Sujuan — “Wanna-be Bougie Baby Mama”
Tamara — “No-Drama Baby Mama”
Serena — “Shady Baby Mama”
Liana aka Pebbles — “Baby Mama From Hell”

Tamara is so low drama that she is allowing herself and her child to be exploited on national tv for money.  Yipee!!!  

Of course there are the family groups that are collecting signatures to ask the station not to air this trash, but my question is where are the feminist groups and their outrage?  I mean I would think that they would fit to be tied over this, what exactly is empowering about hanging onto some man who obviously isn't all that concerned with the best interests of these women?  At least one of these women had a second child with this man.  She didn't seem to mind being treated like trash, or maybe she was stupid enough to think he would change his ways if the second child came along.  

Where are the black groups such as the NAACP?  How can this possibly be considered something that should be looked at as entertainment?  The black community does have a huge problem with single parenthood.  70% of all black babies are born to single mothers.  Study after study has proven beyond all doubt that raising a child in a single parent home is more likely to lead to a life of poverty.  After all there are only so many rappers with his level of sexual desire to go around.  Not all black women will find such a "good catch" as these women have.  Doesn't this play into the stereotypes that we hear complaints about from civil rights "leaders" all the time?  

I think the black community needs to have a physician heal thy self moment and take a serious look at how they are willing to portray themselves and the culture they are creating for the next generation.  I also think that people who work in the entertainment industry needs to do the same.  I also think that anyone that is willing to watch this exploitation of women and children needs to seek treatment at their nearest mental health facility, do it quickly, please.  

A Tribute to Father's. Allan Houston on the Importance of Fathers in the lives of children.

Men have been left out of the equation when it comes to fatherhood.  We live in a society where we are told that biology doesn't make a family, and women are perfectly capable of being wonderful single parents.  Both of those statements are true, to an extent.  But that doesn't change the need that children have for a father figure.  Study after study has shown that children do better in a happy two parent home.

The Cleavers don't exist.  It would be nice if they did, but they don't.  I don't think it is healthy for a child to watch day in and day out a unhappy marriage and two parents that fight constantly.  But we need to get to the point again that we discuss that fathers do matter.  They matter a great deal.

On this father's day I thought there is no better tribute than to talk about a man who is putting his money where his mouth is.  He is the father of seven so he knows of what he speaks.  He knows that his father was a good part of the reason for the success he has had in his life.  He wants other children and fathers to experience that.  This is so needed in the black community especially.  7 out 10 kids are born to single mothers.  The black father has been made irrelevant in our society.  That needs to change.

It doesn't hurt that I am long-suffering Knicks fan.  Read about his foundation here.

Homeschooling Reaching the Black Community

A dirty little secret that you won't find out about from the U.S. media (shocker, I know) is that more and more black families are turning to home schooling in an attempt to give their children the education that they deserve.  While I am sure it is very difficult in the more urban areas where the public schools are especially atrocious, it is still a growing trend.  Another thing many are probably not aware of the existence of is a homeschool cooperative dedicated to the black community.

 Monica Utsey, who runs a home schooling co-operative for African American children in Washington DC, says: "African-American mothers, especially those who have boys, have a lot of trouble in the school system. The way the classroom is designed is more conducive for girls."
For her, though, the main motivation was cultural - she wanted her sons to learn about their African roots and not "to believe that their history begins with slavery"

Another words, she doesn't want her sons to be taught that they are victims who have no real chance of succeeding because of a racist society that is America.  Derrick Bell will be rolling over in his grave.  How will the left indoctrinate these young sons who are taught they are equal human beings and have the same opportunities that their white counterparts have, they just have to work for it? Oh Al Sharpton, watch out, you may not be able to make a living peddling fear anymore.

It is true that homeschooling is not something that will work for every family.  Some parents don't have the discipline, the qualifications, and some children do well in a public school environment.  I know someone who has one child in public school and homeschools the other.  Her son was just not doing well in school and his teachers were not communicating that to them.  They pulled him out and have him at home.  She works full-time, but works from home most of the time.  He does much of his school work online and if she happens to be away from home she can log in and watch his progress.  She told me the difference is night and day; he is learning --eager even--and is much happier.  Her daughter has excelled in the public school and is a very social young lady, homeschooling wouldn't suit her personality.  It is a situation that works for their family.  It is the essence of choice.  Not every parent who has that choice will pull their children out of public school.

Of course that destroys the narrative that the public school system will crumble.  More homeschooling will make the public school system better.  Competition is a good thing.  If they need to compete for the dollars they make sure that they are giving an added benefit to the parents who are making that choice.  One of the things you hear unions complain about all the time is the fact that the class sizes are too large (they are right, they are in most cases) this will also help with this problem.  The teachers will have smaller classes and will be able to give more attention to the individual students.

Another topic that has come up with these homeschoolers is how they resent that teachers now are only teaching to the test (Thanks Sen. Kennedy and President Bush).  The evil of No Child Left Behind has left children behind.  The school systems are under so much financial pressure to keep and/or improve test scores that the joy of learning has been taken out of the equation.  I am sure it is no joy for the teachers either.  But students are suffering because of this piece of lousy legislation.  Parents are seeing for themselves that their kids are losing motivation:

It was not the violence, or even the fact that he was being bullied, that finally led to the decision to remove Copeland from his public school in what she describes as a "really bad area" of Washington DC, but the fact that he was "losing his love of learning".

Of course this little boy was learning his love of learning - which by the way, is innate in a child - if he is being bullied, seeing violence, and being taught only to a standardized test.

The shift to homeschooling has been much slower for the black community than for the white.  They are under even more pressure to keep pretending that the public school system has their child's best interests at heart:

"For the African-American community there was a huge amount of pressure against it, because in America, the grandparents of today's home-schooled children fought for desegregation of schools. They thought, 'The public schools are going to save us,'" he says.

But Dr Ray, who regularly interviews black home-schoolers as part of his research, says attitudes are changing fast - and it's also a lot easier today for black families to try it than it was 20 years ago, he points out.
Joyce Burges, co-founder of National Black Home Educators, who home-schooled all five of her children, aged 16 to 35, says the practice is growing "exponentially" in the African American community.
"The failings of public schools have caused all of us, whether we are white or black, to come up with creative ideas about how we can educate children.

It is way past time that the black community push back and stop accepting the failing status quo that has become our public school system and take matters into their own hands.  Stop listening to the stories of the past generation that believed that it was going to be public schools that solved the ills of the black community.  Access is meaningless if the school is failing.  Your children will be much better off for it.

H/T Jammie Wearing Fool

Stat of the Day - Abortion in the Black Community

Abortion killed at least 203,991 blacks in the 36 states and two cities (New York City and the District of Columbia) that reported abortions by race in 2005, according to the CDC. During that same year, according to the CDC, a total of 198,385 blacks nationwide died from heart disease, cancer, strokes, accidents, diabetes, homicide, and chronic lower respiratory diseases combined.

Read it and weep. It looks like Sanger is getting what she was after when she created Planned Parenthood; death to black community.