The Creator and the Created

The building blocks of both Liberal and Conservative policies revolve around the idea of creation. On the surface, the idea of creation or the act of creating sounds powerful because it means to invent, to give rise to as a result of a vision. Liberal and Conservatives begin to experience an uncomfortable tension when both camps begin to define “who” does the creating. Conservatives proudly believe that the individual shapes their own reality, and that they live and die by their own successes or failures. The individual, in the Conservative sense, is a fully formed human being who is capable of survival. This line of thinking allows the individual to step into the role as the creator. Unfortunately, some of my more liberal brothers and sisters believe that creation occurs outside of the individual –almost like the Big Bang Theory. Mystical forces conspire to shape and mold the circumstances that determine the failure of the individual. The individual is not capable of creation; instead the responsibility of creating lies in the hands of other people or institutions. The individual is incapacitated, and is left in a fetal position, unable to fend for its own self-preservation. This line of thinking is very disturbing because if the individual is not responsible for their own life, then who bears the responsibility for the inevitable failure that follows?

According to the National Report Card (2007), black students in the 8th grade continue to lag behind white students in the areas of reading and writing. I do not want to limit my analysis to white versus black. I decided to compare the numbers between African Americans, American Indians, and Hispanics. In every case mentioned, African American (black) students are losing academic ground in the areas of reading and writing to each of these groups, especially our males.

If these numbers were not alarming enough, the Liberal response is even more disheartening. Many schools, like Wissahickon Middle and High School, have decided to close the achievement gap by discussing “cultural awareness.” Cultural awareness is simply code for lets discuss those forces outside of the individual that creates their reality as a result of perceived discrimination versus lets try to arm individual students with the reading and writing strategies necessary for academic success. These cultural awareness programs dissect the non-white students, especially our black male children, until the local institution (the school) finds a way to conduct a social experiment that will surely fail, and leave the non-white students believing that their success can only be achieved if white instructors remove the academic barriers that are hindering them. In addition, Wissahickon Middle and High School also analyzed their discipline trends. Like the average public school, black students make up an alarming percentage of discipline referrals. Therefore, this school (like many schools in this nation) have decided to actively reduce the number of discipline referrals based on race in order to keep certain individuals in the class which is suppose to lead to a decrease in the learning gap for reading and writing. These recommendations normally occur in schools where the faculty and staff are integrated. My question for individuals who embrace this line of thinking is – how do you account for academic failures in racially homogeneous school district?

I will close with the following thought, “COME ON PEOPLE.” Our black students have the blood of invention running through their veins, and we (black educators, black politicians, black parents/guardians, etc.) continue to allow Liberal theories to treat our children as if they are 3/5 of a human being incapable of reasoning? Black children must become masters of their educational successes and failures. They must become the creators, and not the created of a bastardized system that believes that they are less than capable. It is not up to the teacher (black, white, whatever), it is up to the students to learn and to master the necessary skills that will help them succeed in life. Black parents are the most important part of this formula. Encourage reading before black students ever enter the classroom. If you are not the best writer, by all means, find somebody who can arm your child with writing strategies. In other words, stop depending on the institution to be the only place of learning.