Chapter 3 schooling black males
More than any other group of men in our society black males are perceived as lacking in intellectual skills. Stereotyped via racism and sexism as being more body than mind, black males are far more likely to be affirmed in imperialist whitesupremacist capitalist patriarchy for appearing to be dumb or as we called it growing up in the fifties, appearing to be slow (meaning not quite bright). In childhood it was obvious to everyone in our all-black neighborhood that the thinking black man was perceived to be a threat by the racist world. There was no correlation made between one’s ability to think, to process ideas, and level of schooling. Well-educated black men have learned to act as if they know nothing in a world where a smart black man risks punishment. From slavery to the present day individual black men have been at the forefront of African-American efforts to acquire education on all levels. In the late nineteenth century and early part of the twentieth, any black male seeking to move from bondage to freedom looked to education as a way out. During this time a lack of material resources often led black families to send girl children to school and push boys to find work. In his 1930s autobiography Black Boy Richard Wright describes his shame about poverty and the resulting scarcity of clothing and books. “I began school at Howard Institute at a later age than was usual; my mother had not been able to buy me the necessary clothes to make me presentable.” Like many black families suffering economic distress Wright’s family was constantly moving, which meant his schooling was consistently
