UNgreat Expectations

Today, I had to do something that I have not had to do since last year. In school time, that's pretty long. I had to pull a young male to the side. I had seen this gentleman  before and he always seemed to be doing the same thing. He was horseplaying, walking with a cool "limp", mishandling materials, and acting unseemly. Society had already formed an opinion about him and he was completely unaware. So, why did I feel compelled to speak to him? He was African-American.

Yes, that's right. I pulled him to the side and asked him one question: "You know the perception that exists about Young African American Males, right?" He did have the temerity to look ashamed as he nodded his head. I told him: "Don't fulfill a negative expectation. You can do better." That was it. he immediately straightened up, walked back into his class and responded differently.

You see, sometimes that is what it takes. Addressing the behavior before it becomes something that is addressed by the wrong person who has already formed an opinion about you. I called him to the carpet on the behavior. Maybe he doesn't behave that way at home. Maybe he does. But what has been planted as seed in his mind today, is that someone noticed how he was getting his attention and encouraged him to take an alternate route.

I'm not a parent, but if I were, I would want someone to encourage my son or daughter to not fulfill the stereotypes and negatives perceptions that surround them.

Here are some startling statistics compiled by Tavis Smiley Reports:

These stats show the impact that structural inequality has had on Black men and boys in America.

-  54% of African Americans graduate from high school, compared to more than three quarters of white
and Asian students.

-  Nationally, African American male students in grades K-12 were nearly 2½ times as likely to be suspended from school in 2000 as white students.

-  In 2007, nearly 6.2 million young people were high school dropouts. Every student who does not complete high school costs our society an estimated $260,000 in lost earnings, taxes, and productivity.

-  On average, African American twelfth-grade students read at the same level as white
eighth-grade students.

-  The twelfth-grade reading scores of African American males were significantly lower than
those for men and women across every other racial and ethnic group.

-  Only 14% of African American eighth graders score at or above the proficient level. These results reveal that millions of young people cannot understand or evaluate text, provide relevant details, or support inferences about the written documents they read.

-  The majority of the 2.3 million people incarcerated in U.S. prisons and jails are people of
color, people with mental health issues and drug addiction, people with low levels of
educational attainment, and people with a history of unemployment or underemployment.

Young Black men — across the board — score below their counterparts in other racial and ethnic groups when it comes to graduation rates, literacy rates and college preparedness. And many African American men, in turn, are virtually locked out of employment and are filling up the nation’s prisons in disproportionate numbers.

We can step up to the plate as leaders now or we can continue to let these statistics be the norm. They don't have to be. It takes one person at a time to make a difference. Let's be the difference makers!