A Wake-up Call For Educators Of At-risk Youth
Thursday, April 29th, 2010Universal Greetings with Respect,
It would be a travesty of justice to approach the subject of At-Risk Youth without addressing how people of color are affected since the largest number of At-Risk Youth are of color. Three primary areas of concern are:
1.Our higher rate of incarceration, from juvenile to state penitentiaries, compared to our white counterparts.
2.Our limited access to affordable and quality health care.
3.The lack of appropriate pay for qualified teachers to work in economically deprived areas with our at-risk youth–the “shadow kids.”
I am aware that it is impossible for a single person to speak to all of the opinions, experiences and ideologies of a race of people however, is my desire to express as much as I am able based upon my exposure.
As a Black man living in America it is obvious that I (We) are attending way too many funerals of our youth. Yet there is a greater number of youth who are physically alive according to medical sources, but to those of us who know them, we know that they are dying–spiritually, intellectually and emotionally due to the infestation of negativity and mis-education. We have some of the most physically overweight and unhealthy people in some of the most economically deprived communities (“When you control a man’s thinking you don’t have to control his actions.”–Carter Woodson) and those numbers are growing exponentially.
As a member of the group known as African Americans, we are a very resilient people with unlimited potential who possess a rich culture. We exist on the shoulders of giants such as Shaka Zulu, Marcus Garvey, Harriet Tubman, Fannie Lou Hamer, Martin Luther King Jr., El Hajj Malik Shabazz and multitudes more whose names we don’t know and whose history we have not studied, excluding minimal discussions which are condoned during the so-called Black History month.
However, in spite of all things considered, many fighters for our at-risk youth become co-opted and silenced by the need to keep insurance, pay mortgages, car notes, win friends and influence people. It is not popular to be race-specific in our empowerment and teaching methods, although the disproportion in our detention centers, alternative schools and among at-risk youth is, race-specific. In attempts to be politically correct, all inclusive and non-offensive, we have watered downed, generalized and broad-brushed our approach to where the core of the message, if still present at all, is having little effect.
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