Hillary will not be able to criticize the black community’s ills the way Barack Obama can. In fact, she will have to keep pandering to the lowest common denominator while Obama can take a higher road and address real problems in the black community. More blacks are willing to listen to criticism about their community probably than ever before.
He is basically taking a page from the black Republican handbook and offering some legitimate criticism, but not over-reaching - as many black Republicans do - and shamelessly pandering to racist whites. That is why black Republicans are not taken seriously
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is delivering pointed critiques of the African American community as he campaigns for its votes, lamenting that many of his generation are “disenfranchising” themselves because they don’t vote, taking rappers to task for their language, and decrying “anti-intellectualism” in the black community, including black children telling peers who get good grades that they are “acting white.”
[...]
In a brief interview, Obama said he is simply giving broader exposure to the problems that African Americans discuss with great frankness in private. “It’s what we talk about in the barbershops in the South Side of Chicago,” Obama said, adding that he talks about these problems more in the black community because they are more pronounced there. “There’s an old saying that if America has a cold, we have pneumonia,” he said
[...]
“In Chicago, sometimes when I talk to the black chambers of commerce, I say, ‘You know what would be a good economic development plan for our community would be if we make sure folks weren’t throwing their garbage out of their cars,’ ” Obama told a group of black state legislators in a speech in South Carolina last month.
The criticism one can hear of the black community in barber and beauty shops would sound racist coming out of the mouths of non-blacks, but it ends there. If he stays on this theme, this message will resonate
The concept of “acting white” and worries that African Americans are not pushing their children enough to focus on education have been long-standing concerns of Obama’s — he has mentioned them in several recent speeches — and issues that many prominent members of the community, mostly notably comedian Bill Cosby, have focused on in recent years.
But some scholars assert that even if black kids do say that other black students who excel in school are “acting white,” it is hardly a sufficient explanation for the achievement gap between black and white students, which remains vast. The gap is “not because black 7-year-olds are holding back other black 7-year-olds,” said Melissa V. Harris-Lacewell, a professor of African American studies at Princeton University. “This black pathology argument is appealing, but I think he’s wrong empirically.” [More...]
A lot of blacks agreed with Bill Cosby - I don’t personally know anyone who disagreed - and said “it’s about time someone said it!”
However, blaming it all on friends is wrong because because the children need a good home too, which many black kids (over 70% in the inner cities) do not have. But there is no denying the effect idiot friends can have on otherwise smart children which is why many black parents are now trying to get their children into better and more diverse (read: less black) schools with other achievers
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Filed under: Black American Muslims, Convert Issues, Muslim Isolation, Practical Solutions
Great post, Tariq.
Obama is sounding better and better, and while there are many things I would like about Hillary, the freshness of his message is the tonic Americans — and hence, the world — need right now.
As to the issue at hand, I am in agreement that it is a matter of many factors. Some must be tackled within our White communities so we can make more progress in the war against racism by educating White Americans to see the value of racial, gender and religious equality. Others have to be tackled in the Black communities — perhaps even redefining what it means to be Black in a way that makes African-Americans completely equal partners with equal advantages and opportunities in our societies. It seems to me that the only way to do this is to forge alliances between Americans of all races who want to jumpstart the stalled process of creating a racially diverse society that encourages and allows equal participation and rewards for all its citizens.
As an American, albeit one living in the Middle East, this goal seems all the more urgent because of the high profile and influence we have due to increasing globalization. And while it is consistent with the tenets of Islam, in practice racial and ethnic prejudice is one of the largest problems in the Arab Muslim world (the others being gender equality and overly extreme interpretations of Islamic doctrine which has contributed to the tremendous divide between the Muslim and non-Muslim worlds). Wouldn’t it be something if we could educate and eliminate the scourge of racial, gender-related, and religious oppression throughout the world? Insha’Allah…
Salaam Alaikum,
PM
FYI - latest PR from the Thora Institute regarding “Acting White.”
THE TRUTH ABOUT “ACTING WHITE”
New Haven, CT (BlackNews.com) - For twenty years, black students have been chastised based on flawed research. Black leaders and black public intellectuals routinely claim that black students see academic achievement as “acting white.” The actual evidence for the “acting white” hypothesis, however, is meager and not at all convincing when examined carefully.
Among the flaws in the study that popularized the “acting white” hypothesis is the presumption that no white student has ever called another white student a nerd, geek or brainiac. This presumption is clearly false.
A study by the Girl Scout Research Institute shows that black and white girls experience equivalent levels of academically-oriented teasing. Forty-one percent of white girls reported that they worried about being teased for speaking or participating in class. Thirty-five percent of black girls felt the same. These results are statistically equal because the margin of error is plus or minus 7 percentage points.
The proponents of the “acting white” hypothesis claim that black students experience much more academic teasing than white students, but they have never presented any direct evidence to support this assertion.
The educational researcher Ronald F. Ferguson has found that the key to popularity for black and for white students lies in having cool clothes and being funny. For both groups, scholastic achievement is not important to being popular. Black leaders and black public intellectuals have therefore been condemning black children for behaving like average American students.
Much of the concern with “acting white” has been based on a desire to address the very real achievement gap between black and white students. But while leaders have been fixated on the “acting white” hypothesis, they have neglected the real reasons for the gap.
Five Steps to Reducing the Black-White Achievement Gap
While misguided leaders have been calling for a cultural transformation to address the supposed “acting white” crisis, they have ignored far more important educational reforms:
1. Improving and expanding early childhood education. A large body of research shows that black students begin kindergarten behind white students. If we expand and improve the quality of the pre-kindergarten education received by black children we will significantly reduce the testing gap.
2. Improving teacher quality in black schools. A recent study by the Illinois Education Research Council found that 45 percent of black high school students in Illinois attended schools with the lowest teacher-quality ratings. Only 8 percent of white students attended such low teacher-quality schools. Until we eliminate the teacher-quality gap, we will have a test-score gap.
3. Providing small classes and creating small schools. Black students, who are often behind, benefit from the extra attention available in very small classes. Reductions in class size have been shown to boost black student achievement. Smaller schools have been shown to increase black students’ graduation rates.
4. Increasing school integration. While black leaders have been condemning black students based on flawed “acting white” research, America’s schools have been becoming increasingly segregated. Few black leaders have said a word about this issue. Yet historically, integration has been one means by which blacks have gained access to higher quality schools. Effective school integration can also help break down the racial stereotypes of whites and blacks.
5. Making college more affordable. Research suggests that if college were more affordable there would be higher black college enrollment and graduation rates.
It is time to address the real issues holding black students back.
For a detailed discussion of the flaws in the “acting white” research of Signithia Fordham and John Ogbu–the originators of the hypothesis–send a check or money order for $9 made out to “Thora Institute LLC” to “Truth about ‘Acting White’,” Thora Institute LLC, P.O. Box 367, New Haven, CT 06513-0367.
To keep abreast of the latest high-quality social science research on black America, subscribe to the Black Directions newsletter. Send a check or money order for $36 (33% off) made out to “Thora Institute LLC” for a year’s Black Directions subscription (six issues) to Thora Institute LLC, P.O. Box 367, New Haven, CT 06513-0367. Only Black Directions separates the myths from the facts about black America.
CONTACT:
Algernon Austin
203-772-4418
contact@thorainstitute.com
http://www.thorainstitute.com
This is a good piece brother… jazak’allah kheirun.
Abdullah - be nice. That’s a bit harsh, eh?
I can tell you from direct experience growing up that the “acting white” and “talking white” things exist in the black community. We would be derided as nerds for joining school clubs or community organizations
“A lot of blacks agreed with Bill Cosby - I don’t personally know anyone who disagreed - and said “it’s about time someone said it!””
Michael Eric Dyson sure disagreed…
Salaam’Alaikum
I really like Barak Obama! : ) He totally has my vote.
I think the lady in the article who disagreed with him is underestimating the psychological power school peers have with each other. There have been many recent books by family experts warning parents of children that the peer group has replaced the family has the primary influence upon children. I gave into that psychological maniuplation from my peer group when I was a school girl. The consquences were not at all good but I did get over it and move on.
Salaam’Alaikum
I might have the articles mixed up here? I wanted to say, I believe it was this article but, there was a comment made about how everything from a doctor in Harlem to a working class man in the city and a farmer in the country were percieved as being black.
That comment brought back memories. I’m not originally from the Northeast, alhamdilal. : ) lol but this comment brought back memories.
What ever happened to home training? I believe one reason why all people were percieved as being black in the comment mentioned in the article is becuase people believed in home training. Mama was your educator. You didn’t need a college degree to be intellectual, competent, able, and motivated. Mama was teaching diction in the morning, business math in the afternoon, and had you memorizing scripture at night? What ever happened to that concept? Being competent, intelligent, well spoken, well mannered, dressed, and cultured used to be apart of home training and thus used to be apart of our culture as black people.
Geesh! There really is a breakdown occuring in our communities.
Side note: recent studies indicate that the acting white label is not much of a problem for black kids overall, but the lone exception black kids in predominantly white schools. So those Black parents sending their kids to predominantly white schools because they fear the acting white label are making matters worse.
I also think this is one reason Black student have lower drop out rates at historically black colleges.
One of my friend’s daughter was accepted into a nice french program at a french school for full year. The mother told her repeatedly, “Why do you want to go? You’ll be the only black person there.” “You know you’re going to be the only black person there.”" And then the nine year old girl just changed her mind….
Now, I’m not black, I’m Latino and so I don’t really have the same experince. I just thought it was sad. So what if you’re daughter is the only black person there. My husband who is black but African was like what’s the big deal, send her there. Anyway, I just thought I’d share….
I read that study by Dr. Fryer and it was very enlightening. Its a complicated issue, I do think that many times Black students will do better when they see other Black students excelling. The problem is that you also have the strong negative influences also on your children. Also Black schools are less challenging academically so if you have a gifted child this could be a academic risk.
I think each parent has to evaluate the risks to their child. Some kids are easily influenced and will do anything to be popular, I would not put that child in an all Black school unless it was a charter school with high achieving students. Kids who have strong values and leader type of personalities can do well in an all Black school.
Umm Zahra: That is so sad. Sometimes we are our own worst enemies.
[...] The following are some cool posts I read recently: Obama speaks out on “acting white”. [...]
I teach a predominantly black population and I definitely see accusations of high achieving students as”acting white”. I even saw it when I was in college and living in the states for the first time. It took me entirely by surprise. This won’t stop them from accusing “the man” of holding them back from success, when all I ever see is their own self-destructive behavior. Of course I speak specifically about a particular segment within the black community and not all black individuals.
[...] in point is when TariqNelson pointed out that Barack Obama could say things that Hillary Clinton could not, and that just [...]