Black scholars get ‘aggressive’ about speaking on challenges Black males have
By Krystle Crossman
Dr. James L. Moore III and Dr. Chance W. Lewis collaborated together on a book that has gained national attention. The book is titled African American Male Students in PreK-12 Schools. It is all about the struggles that Black students go through and how they are challenged every day while they are trying to learn. Along with explaining the challenges that Black students face, they also have a few suggestions as to how educators can change this and provide a better learning experience for young Black male students.
David J. Johns who is the executive director for the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans, wrote the foreword in the book. He states that there are so many different challenges that face Black students in public schools today and there needs to be more of a focus on being college-bound. He says that the college-bound mindset should be spoken about as early as middle school. This is because many Black male students think that they will never go to college and will never be successful because of the statistics and biases that are always thrown at them.
The entire book is made up of statements and ideas from scholars all over the country. They all bring forth new suggestions to help reduce the number of Black male students who drop out of school and help them to get a better education and better mindset about them-selves and the amazing things that they can accomplish. This is one of the biggest challenges as many schools tell these students that they will not go very far because statistics show that they can’t. This does not give these young men much hope for their futures and they end up feeling like they shouldn’t even try to succeed because they don’t believe that they can.
The book was published right after President Barack Obama released a White House initiative that is aimed at helping students of color to achieve whatever goals they wish to achieve and to help them realize that they can do this no matter what anyone else says. Lewis and other scholars will be speaking about these topics at a conference in Jamaica in November.
