I don't think I've talked much about my family here. I remember when Cobb killed Boohab, at least partially (as I understand it) to integrate his personal life into his internet oriented political work. I haven't made that leap fully, largely because my own professional persona (which is pretty much distilled here) doesn't require that I do so.
Something happens every now and then in my personal life that gives me pause. Such is the nature of black life.
I have two sons and two daughters. My oldest daughter is nine, my youngest is 1.66. My oldest son is 6, my youngest is 3.90.
My two oldest children attend the same grade school. We supplement their education with our own as much as we can. My teaching mode with my own children is much the same as I employ with my students. I try not to tell them WHAT to think, but rather, try to teach them HOW to think. While the true results won't be known for a while, I think we're doing ok.
So my son tells me last week that he got into a spat with another child. I am significantly underplaying it. The first day I was able I went to the school to talk to the teacher, to see what they intended to do about it. When I talked to the teacher, she then had my son go to the classroom of the other child and point him out.
The little boy was a couple of years older than my son, and dark skinned. As soon as I saw this, I recognized that there was another problem at work. People doing research in this area recognize that the educational gap between black and white kids starts at around 8 or 9 and persists afterward. When I saw the little boy I recognized that we needed to make sure that my son was ok, but also that the little boy wasn't tagged with the label. Because as soon as that happens, it isn't all over NECESSARILY...but it becomes much more difficult for black children to succeed. When i talk to the (white) administrators I specifically tell them that I'm not interested in having the other kid punished, because I'm sensitive to what schools routinely do to black children in general, and to darker skinned black boys and girls in particular. They ensure that this won't happen, that they'll talk to the boy and his parents, and see to it that everything and everyone is made whole.
I get an email from the administrator. The parents want to meet with me and my wife.
They don't think their son was guilty of what my son accused him of.
At this point a number of scenarios are playing themselves out in my head. But I agree to meet. In talking it over with a couple of my colleagues, they think I've made the wrong choice. I can easily imagine going OFF on someone who accused my son or daughter, if they told me they didn't do it. And given the way that institutions often work on black children it isn't hard to imagine the worst case scenario--angry parents trying to protect their child from the system and from someone else's parents.
But we stick by our decision.
We had the meeting yesterday. When I came to the meeting I made sure I came in discrete mode. No "Dr Spence." No suit or tie. As close to hip-hop as I'm going to get as far as gear at 35. I don't want any of my words misunderstood because of class differences.
The meeting goes far better than anyone would've possibly expected, largely because we didn't come in there talking zero tolerance. From jump, we tried to make sure that the parents understood we knew what they were dealing with, that we weren't trying to jack anyone, and that we wanted to make sure that everyone was safe. The administrator and counselor (who were present as facilitators) thanked us all profusely for not taking an adversarial approach and for looking out for everyone concerned.
There are a lot more layers here than I can adequately convey in this space. But I couldn't help but wonder how the situation would've been different had I been white...or if I didn't teach this stuff for a living. Would I have looked out for Leroy (and his parents) interests as much as I did?
I've come to the general conclusion that one of the reasons for the gap is not simply the material resource gap that exists between blacks and whites, but the psychic resource gap. How much time do I have to spend thinking about these issues compared to my white counterparts? How much time do I have to spend supplementing my children's education? How much time do i have to spend making sure that the black history fact sheet about Maya Angelou is actually ABOUT Maya Angelou rather than Marian Anderson (true story)? How much time do I have to spend going over letters making sure that the adminstrators aren't sorting and surveilling black kids unknowingly? How much time do I have to spend actually thinking about what I have to do to make sure my children and their black friends are powerful in spite of the racialized hurdles they have to face?
thanks for the comments, they are appreciated. i've actually used real world stuff in the class to teach my kids, but the one time i offered the teachers at my kids' school help they kindly rebuffed me. teachers are loathe to give up autonomy to perceived outsiders. or perhaps perceived non-professionals would be a better term here. i've given up that project, but just for the short term.
Posted by: Lester Spence at March 6, 2004 08:13 PMYou gotta make them an offer they cannot refuse. And if they do, take it to the PTA, the Principal, the newspapers.
The point is to get some positive affirmation of the learning process: you cannot take no for an answer!
Posted by: Ward Bell at March 7, 2004 02:01 PMThat sounds great Ward. But that's not a battle I choose to engage in. Soon...perhaps. Not now.
Posted by: Lester Spence at March 7, 2004 08:45 PMI understand.
What I'm really driving at is that only a few of us have the understanding and the freedom to get involved with the public educational system at the classroom level. Many either lack the understanding or the freedom to engage.
Depending on the school, there may be a dearth of opportunities for kids to see Black males in positive, education-supporting roles -- including teachers.
There may be resistance for a variety of reason -- some of which might just reinforce the need.
But, again, I understand that we have to pick and choice our battles and this one doesn't seem to resonate with you at this time. Let us know when it does; I'd be interested in hearing about your experiences.
******
25 years or so ago, I faced a similar situation. My then wife and I had many heavy arguments about whether or not our son should attend public school or private. I argued for the public with the understanding that I would make myself active within the school -- including some classroom presence. My thing was that I wanted those kids who were growing up without a dad or who's dad couldn't or wouldn't get involved could see that there were dads who did get involved.
Posted by: Ward Bell at March 7, 2004 10:26 PMLKS ,how long,as long as it takes.Thats the good fight,institutionalize the struggle..
tootsie
LKS,I would be remiss if I didn't recall a couple of young bros.Delray and Corey.If only I had your wisdom ,but one reach one, and one teach one .Thanks Doc.
tootsie
I feel a little shy commenting here because I'm an old(er) white woman. On the other hand, what you are saying here is vitally important for white folks to understand.
Dr. Spence wrote:
I've come to the general conclusion that one of the reasons for the gap is not simply the material resource gap that exists between blacks and whites, but the psychic resource gap.
The big deal is the beliefs inculcated by popular culture: striving in school isn't cool. A child who achieves in academics isn't authentically black. Having a career plan (other than sports or music) is inauthentic.
When my own white sons were in high school they were vocal about these values. They had the luxury, however, of having parents who pushed back hard, and had the expectation that they would exceed.
I don't have an answer. I don't know how you go about changing a culture. But the truth is that white kids don't pay the full price for youth culture, and black kids do.
Posted by: liz at May 2, 2004 02:20 PM
Lester,
You should spend as much time as your situation allows. It is part of the debt you owe your community for what it has given you in different ways. Vis-a-vis your kids (and, to some extent, those around them), the psychic gap should be 0 or even in the other direction.
We all should supplement and compliment our kid's learning: both to ensure that they are getting the right stuff from their teachers, but also to re-inforce the learning methods that you mention.
I'm pleased that you took the stance you did with the other kid and his parents. It is not likely that he or they will fully appreciate the impact of what you did, but your knowing is enough reward: you potentially stopped a kid from being labeled.
I'd love to hear that you've taken it another step. You have several classes of students who would benefit from some real world application of what you are teaching. What if you took some of those students over to your children's school and help those teachers with a civics lesson where your political science students broke it down to the level a third grader could understand?
Posted by: Ward Bell at March 6, 2004 07:22 PM