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What is the state of Black America? (cont.)
Interesting, however, is how the popular media exploits
discussions on how Black men and Black women articulate
a belief that they must step outside their race in order
to make meaningful connections because it becomes hard to
find someone that shares their socio-economic grounding
and backgrounds.
Yet, when we look at the jobs and educational systems that
are suppose to provide us with this socio-economic grounding
and advantage, we are still left on the outside, so much so,
that there is a continued need to nationally debate the merits
of the Affirmative Action practices within institutions of
higher education.
Having worked in the corporate sector for over twenty years,
I know from first hand experience that the glass ceilings for
women are alive and well and the disparities with respect to
opportunities between women of color and majority women is also
a wide river. The blanket racism that fails to level the
playing fields with respect to opportunities for African American
men is also alive and well. A rhetorical question, however,
I have to posit is why do we fail to recognize circular patterns
of systemic behavior that separate our families, drive our youth
away from us and put us at odds with one another. It becomes easy
to point the blame at "them", whom ever "them" are at the moment.
It becomes harder to develop a proactive and strategic stance to
change these conditions, where we are leading the charge.
Adding to our woes is the fact that we face serious dilemmas
in our educational systems that impact our abilities to compete
in this continually changing and global environment, which also
results in popular terms such as digital divide. Complicating the
disadvantages we face in the educational system is another
well-kept secret. You see, over 30 percent of the population
in this country is economically categorized as working poor or
poverty. They have jobs, but they do not pay a wage significant
enough to maintain a decent standard of living, which forces people
to live in communities where lack is common. However, again,
this is not just an issue relative to the poor. Across all
economic strata, our educational systems are despicably failing
youth of color throughout major metropolises across this country.
I could go on. Unfortunately, the list of issues that face the
African American community is long. However, my point is not to beat
a horse dead. We already know the issues. My point today is to talk
about a different paradigm for bringing forth change.
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