The question still looms some 42 years later: How do we keep Dr. King's dream alive? The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke of high aspirations for all children, in particular African Americans. He took a bullet to the head for the causes of non-violence, voting rights, and civil rights. How is it that 42 years cannot heal the deep wounds that integration and slavery left on African Americans?
About half of this time, I have spent in the public school system as a classroom teacher. I have seen a lot of changes. During the 60's, I was a product of "early" integration practices. For some school districts, integration did not occur until years after the federal laws took effect. First and foremost, people must recognize the truth. What hurt African Americans achieve in education was largely due to the exodus of whites from the public school system. Once private school options were made available to the affluent and privileged, the public school children were left behind. A new form of integration emerged. At first, we recognized the problem, but were hesitant to correct it. It was in that period of hesitance that African Americans lost their footing. Concurrent with the plight for a better education was the fight to get better paying jobs. The full court press was on. Most African American families could not support a private school tuition. Public schools were in deplorable conditions. These buildings were beginning to be the epicenter for breeding violence and turmoil for the African American in America. There's more than one way to keep a man down. Dr. King would say that all the time. He foresaw the ills that society would lay upon his people for future generations.
Dr. King knew that his people would not be given a fair opportunity unless a strong foot was holding open the door. Hence, drugs were introduced into the African American community. Public schools were made contact points. What comes as a result of drugs? Violence - the very thing that killed great African American leaders. Drugs prevent the aspirations, the goals, the dream. There is no way to educate a drug-filled mind. No way! While the African American people were "celebrating" over victories like the Civil Rights Act and the Voting bills, others had more devious tactics in play. Know this - a sick person can't play well.
No African American leader in today's world can speak on the education achievement gap without first discussing the drug problem in the African American community. The suppressed sleep from drugs have stifled creativity and genius. It's killing our babies far too soon and putting guns in the hands of young people before they can walk. Drugs and violence have become staple corners in our culture.
If anyone is serious about closing the achievement gap between African Americans and whites, then education about alternatives to drugs must be addressed. The African Americans have provided such a profound road map for a pure scientific study until it's almost too perfect to be true. Back in the 70's, you may recall a push from some groups to focus on drug education. Predominately African American public schools were in impoverished areas. So, kids had to walk to school surrounded by folk who were high as the clouds. The temptation to get rich quick has always been a part of the "American dream." So, drugs acted as an avenue for some to attain fame and fortune, while those addicted succumbed more to the wrath of society: jail, debt, or the morgue.
There is no way to close the achievement gap without making radical changes. There is no way to attain equality without making radical changes. Addiction is an integral part of the culture for African Americans. Purely scientifically, it would take a long time before drugs are removed from our reality. In these hard economic times, people are getting more and more desperate. Do you know how hard it is to educate a child today? When I tell students to go to college, they look at me as if I have a third eye. "Mrs. Brown, I know people who make more money in one week than you probably make in a year." Do you see the challenge? To top that off, students are high in the classroom. How can you get anything through to a person who's not really there? I tell you - the problem is deeper than funding classrooms for additional resources or making sure that tutoring is available after school. These are superficial solutions that are temporary at best.
We have to go back to basics. Honesty is the best policy. In order to close the achievement gap for African Americans, we have to honestly preach to our children "stuff" they already know: there's a unlikely chance that you will live past 70 (as a male)/there's a greater chance of you going to jail than anyone else around you/you will probably know someone who will be shot before age 20/there's a high probability that you will have HIV/there's a high probability that you die of heart disease and cancer/there's a high probability you will not attend college.
African American children work well with the truth. It's when they feel like you're running a game on them that they rebel. If you have time, listen to the music that in their ears right now. A lot of people want to hold back the truth thinking kids can't deal with it. But, they're stronger than what we think at times. It's the lack of openness that's keeping the African American child down. It's our code of secrecy that's helping them to become addicts. Early on, they "get it." We have to stop selling our children so short. Teach them the honest truth and the gap will close. What do we have to lose?
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