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tem, the more their academic achievement
declines. So the problem is systemic not
genetic.”
Looking at education from the point of
view of a Black boy who has not had
enough support to be academically equal,
Kunjufu said “It’s embarrassing.”
Once education has become a source of
embarrassment and shame, instead of pride,
mastery and accomplishment, boys quickly
give up trying.
Dr. Kunjufu, pointed out that while 83
percent of teachers are White women, just 6
percent are African American and just 1 per-
cent are Black men.
“The future of the Black race lies in the
hands of single parent mothers and White
female teachers,” he said. Clearly this
absence of Black men in schools under-
mines Black students, who need role mod-
els who look like them, but he stressed that
race and gender are not necessarily the most
important characteristic of a teacher. What’s
important is for a teacher to have high
expectations for students, he said, along
with very good classroom management
skills.
“Just being Black is not enough,” he said.
“Are you listening Clarence Thomas? How
can you take advantage of programs and
then deny them to others?”
Choosing a school for your child is not a
simple equation, he said. A principal who is
an instructional leader, high expectations, a
positive peer group all are important con-
siderations. Parents need to stay involved.
Yet the advantages of Afrocentric schools
can clearly be seen in institutions such as
the historically Black colleges and
Universities, which take in just 12 percent
of undergraduate students, but graduate 30
percent of all Black graduates.
The contribution of middle-class African
Americans is badly needed in impoverished
Black communities, Kunjufu said. Yet suc-
cess has often meant leaving behind your
less fortunate neighbors and traditional
Black values.
Values are crucial, he said, and often the
values of the dominant White culture, do
not match the values of a Black culture that
has been forged in collective struggle. He
told this story about his own experience in
4th Grade.
Kunjufu’s teacher asked him what his
grade was and he said 100 percent. Then he
asked about his best friend’s grade. He
laughed and didn’t want to say but eventu-
ally said, 40. The teacher took a pen and
crossed out the 100 replacing it with 40.
‘From now on your grade will be whatev-
er your friend gets.’
“Schools teach more than the three Rs,”
he said. They teach values.
And schools teach ‘I’ not ‘WE’. “
He urged successful Blacks not to leave
behind traditional Black values that recog-
nize that the fate of one is the fate of us all.
“What are you going to do to give back to
your community,” he asked.
In a diverse talk that included dietary
advice – he is a strong advocate for green
smoothies and greens for health – as well as
education and parenting wisdom, Kunjufa
listed some of the strengths of African
American families:
A strong work ethic
Flexible roles
Extended family, and
A strong orientation to spirituality
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Page 8 The Portland Skanner June 22, 2011
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