The situations in which my students live in are ridiculous, yet I am aware of those who live in worst. However, when I see what has been given to them to create this so called “American Dream,” I think to myself the government might as well come to
I look at my students and sometimes I get so frustrated with them. Because I believe that we are a people who have survived many things and many things have been fought for in order to secure the liberties (no matter how few) we have today. And even though many of us grow up in conditions that are far from what
And I say to myself what should I tell them… “Do better in school”….”Pay attention in class”… “Make sure you get good grades”….how can I tell them that after I hear the stories of how their schools treat them like inmates, how the teachers suck, and the school board couldn’t care less if the students were learning because test scores get you money not free thinkers…not critical thinkers…not independent thinkers…but students who can bubble in “right” answers…
Myself and one other girl are the only two black American interns here at this program…
On Saturday I had the pleasure of going to DC to meet an uncle who I have not seen since I was six years old. Later that day I was introduced to a cousin who I have never met before. After speaking with my cousin for a while he invited me to a Bar-B-Que.
I believe in
The Bar-B-Que was filled with people my cousin had went to grad school with at Cornell and people he attended Morehouse with and people who worked on the Capitol Hill and people who have accomplished receiving their Masters and Doctorial Degrees and people who worked with him…in a nutshell they represented most of the up and coming prominent African-Americans, 1st,2nd,3rd,4th, and 5th generation Black Americans in DC and the surrounding area.
It was something that I had never experienced before and felt truly empowered by it…
The city of
After I left the Bar-B-Que….I sat for a very long time…I picked up the book Pedagogy of the Oppressed that same day. I read the Introduction to the Anniversary Edition written by Donaldo Macedo and he writes about a conversation he had with a personal friend of Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 60s. The man who is identified as African American confesses to not going back to the ‘community’ in over twenty years. Donaldo writes something that I have been thinking about for a while now…He writes “having achieved great personal success and having moved to a middle-class reality, this African American gentleman began to experience a distance from other African Americans who remain abandoned in the ghettos.”
When I read that I thought of what I experienced at the Bar-B-Que…and then I thought about Camden….and how many of the volunteers are not Black…all of the churches we have gone to in order to raise money have been predominately white churches…
And I am not one to draw conclusions…I know there are many factors being who Urban Promise reaches out to that may affect who volunteers and who donates….but say the least I wonder how many of those who I met at the Bar-B-Que would be willing to move back…to help those neighborhoods that some of them left behind in order to move into Suburbia….
On Mondays’ and Fridays’ we have “Bible Buddies”. During this time we just hang out with a group of kids. One of my Bible Buddies is Lenny he is a Black Puerto Rican. Lenny is about to go to the 8th grade and is probably the most respectful person I have ever met. So we were talking about what he wanted to do…he quickly answered with “Anything that will get me out of
So I say all of that to say that it will be very interesting to see as the Black middle class continues to grow if they will turn back to help those who are still in the ghettos…It will be very interesting to see if they will rebuild there neighborhoods or escape them…
And then again are they suppose to?….why should they sacrifice and stay “behind”? Isn’t the goal of growing up in the “inner city” is to get out of it?
But if they leave…who will fight for those who couldn’t leave?
Grace&Freedom♥
4 comments:
Thank you for this kameale.
I think I have a different concept of the American dream. I always thought of it as what you earn and work hard for, not what anyone else, or the government gives you. Relying or blaming the government for ones situation goes against traditional American values. It’s not like I’m saying we shouldn’t help them, and I think its great what you’re doing, I just never thought of the American dream as something I receive from the government.
While a professional sport probably isn’t the most tangible goal, the US military can be a noble and valuable stepping stone to ones future. I personally would feel relieved to hear that young people are considering the military. Why does this sentiment frustrate you? Most people can’t pay out of pocket to go to college, and most young people have very little discipline and experience of hard work, the military does a good job of solving these problems. If you were an employer giving interviews to young hopeful employees you would find out very quickly the difference between those that served in the military and those who only went to school.
I have a few ideas for how their situation could possibly be improved in school. It sounds like these kids have a pretty crummy school. I don’t think it would be effective if the government just gives the schools more money, because like you point out there are more significant problems other than lack of money. My two suggestions are merit pay for teachers, and school vouchers. Merit pay wouldn’t solve all of their problems but I think it could provide more motivation for teachers to be better. Clearly it would still be insufficient if they were still only being given merit because of test scores though. I think school vouchers would solve a lot of problems. Instead of just pouring more money into schools, we can give parents more choices, and spend our money more wisely. The average amount that the government (really we pay through taxes) is about $10,000 per student, per year. In a lot of cases I don’t see $10,000 worth in what these kids are actually getting. I think the government should give a percentage of that $10,000 to student in the form of a school voucher. That way if they want they can use that money to go to a private school (which tend to get better results). I don’t think private school is for everyone but in a lot of cases, especially with kids that have a lot of trouble in public schools kids greatly benefit at a private school. I think that parents should at least have that option, whereas now most families can’t afford private school. Even if kids don’t go to a private, the ones that stay in public schools will still benefit. The public schools will now have to compete with the private schools. The public schools know that if the kid’s parents aren’t satisfied they will just take them elsewhere. This competition will force public schools to be better. It would also create more of a market for private schools. There would be more private schools built in areas where they are needed because they would now have a lot of incentive. A high quality private school (that costs a lot) would find little profit in Camden now, but if they could get the same profit in Camden because of school vouchers, and only have to compete with the crummy public schools of the area, they would be set.
Thnx Rod :)...I already told Matt that when I come back we need to have plenty of lunch dates when I come back so I can unload you are most definetly invited...
Paul Ward...ummm, thnx for the info on what we can do for the schools...but that wasnt the point of my post. And what goes on in most of the ghettos, inner city's, slums or whatever term one chooses to call it is far from the schools....the schools are only symptoms of a much larger problem...
And I rather not have my students think that the Army is the only option they have...
But thnx for reading my post :).
Grace&Freedom♥
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