African Centered Education

SEARCH BLOG: EDUCATION

Yesterday, I wrote a tongue-in-cheek post about the Detroit Public Schools abandoning grading of students because of the "disparate impact" it had on its African-American and Hispanic descendant students. I ran across this as part of the spoof [click image for larger view]:


At first I thought this was just the pipe dream of Rev. Jimmy Womack who is listed as the president of the organization promoting African-centered education... and is an at-large member of the Detroit Public Schools Board of Education. Then, upon, further checking, I found that it is actually part of the DPS curriculum.

Just a couple of thoughts:

• I can't find Detroit anywhere in Africa
• What would the reaction be if Milwaukee declared that it was establishing a German-centered education... presumably around brewing beer... or if Minneapolis proclaimed a Scandinavian-centered education focused on the principles of being a good Viking... go long and then cut toward the sidelines?

What do the 67 white students in the DPS system think about this approach... and how has it helped any of the students achieve anything in mainstream American society, science, or business?

This is a perfect example of ethnicity running amok.

Is this to be the basis for educating our future leaders... to prepare them for the Supreme Court and other positions that require a rich ethnic background and empathy? God help us all.

There is no limit on human stupidity. Instead of focusing on a continent that has been largely out of the march of civilization... except for Egypt which is more closely aligned to the Middle East than the sub-Sahara... why not teach students about the basis of their own nation and society...

you know, the history of the nation bad and good; the way government does and does not work; the principles of capitalism and economics... and how that applies to earning a living; scientific discovery and its impact on their own lives; why education and acquiring skills are good things; understanding mathematics and managing income versus spending (presuming there is income); what they could do with their very limited time on this planet besides eating junk food and having sex (not necessarily bad things, but there is a bit more to life).

The biggest failing of the Detroit Public School system is not its students' grades or lack of scholastic achievements. It is that the system is looking for gimmicks to replace expectations and discipline and hard work.

Singing Kum Ba Yah around a mystical motherland campfire may be gratifying, but it is not educational. Looking for excuses in abuses of 150 years ago is fine for maintaining the myth of present victimhood, but it doesn't jibe with the successes of many recent immigrant groups who have been quite successful.

The DPS students are failing themselves, their parents are failing parenting, and the DPS is a bad caricature of a school system. Phony glorification of African cultures rife with slavery, corruption, genocide, and tribal hatreds is not an answer... any more than phony glorification of Europe's Dark Ages would be.

The fact that African-American and Hispanic students can and do succeed in suburban school systems that have high expectations, discipline, and require hard work is proof enough of Detroit's bankrupt educational vision.

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