Jones Blog

UPDATE: See the last paragraph of the post. If some large segment of the African American population believes that "being educated" is really "the ticket" to an easier and better life, a life of more opportunity for the next generation, then what does that mean for the role of homeschooling in the African American community? Clearly, the public school system is not doing a great job of educating black young people (just look at the stats, and do a simple search on race and the achievement gap). My parents grew up in a segregated educational system, so we've had about a generation and a half to see what could be. Some African Americans are convinced that sending their kids to private schools will do the trick (like my parents). You still run into problems related to race, achievement and expectations for success. This is why I think the homeschooling movement in the African American community is going to explode. See my last personal story below of a professional African American woman who decided to homeschool her kids. At first, the conversation did not vear into race, but when I brought it up, out flowed a passion and even fear about the effect of of formal education, its expectations and even its ability to support and challenge her children. I would bet a lot of money that other black homeschoolers have similar fears. They may be religious, and they may believe in creating a strong family unit, but the issues I just described are always underneath the surface. Again, my two cents...

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I watched African American Lives Part I this week on PBS - mesmerizing! This clearly is the latest brainchild of Henry Louis Gates Jr., and is a fresh new perspective of African American history.

The documentary profiles the family histories of Oprah (media mogul and who doesn't know it), Chris Tucker (comedian), Dr. Ben Carson (Director of the Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital), Quincy Jones (musician - extraordinaire), Dr. Mae Jemison (Astronaut), Pastor T.D. Jakes (well known founding pastor of a mega church in Texas), Dr. Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot (Professor of education at Harvard) and Dr. Henry Louis 'Skip' Gates Jr.(Chair of the Department African and African American Studies).

Gates is not really an interviewer, but he makes you want to find out what the participants discover about their family tree. I believe Part II comes on next week on the 8th. But on PBS, they play the same documentaries over and over, so chances are you can catch part I again if you missed it the first time.

I did make a personal discovery. I noticed that the participants kept talking about education as the 'key' to make lives better and less difficult. So much emphasis was placed on education, and it wasn't about being arrogant or being status conscious. It was one of the things that African Americans have historically clung too post slavery and segregation, and education has held that kind of power in the African American community ever since. Obviously, there are African American folks who don't value education as much as others. But those that do, give education this mythic status of being the ticket to a better life. I don't mean a shiny Ph.D. necessarily, but a degree. And my interviews reflect that as well. I started to get the feeling that this view of education was cultural when I noticed the feedback from others about my interviews and about my blog in general. But I think the documentary really helped cement that for me. Many African Americans appreciate education because decent education was denied for generations and that's the mentality that many were brought up with. It was in my family. Something to think about...