I have heard a lot of static concerning African Americans and their supposed disregard for education. “Our black kids look down on education” say many of the black pundits, “they tease the black kids who are doing well school and say they are acting white.” I’ve heard this repeated over and over again by African-American personalities and celebrities (none of which, by the way, have any extensive, classroom teaching experience). Let me also add, that in all my years as an educator and youth program specialist, I have never heard any student equating scholastic achievement with whiteness. Nevertheless, this assertion is usually made without challenge, rebuttal or explanation. This is yet another sign of the reactionary times that we now live in, here in America – with a pit bull-like tenacity we lock on to what is being said without examining why it’s being said. I, in the course of this writing, will endeavor to unmask this widely-held misconception.
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