If Barak Obama is Elected US President, Will Black Males Automatically Do Better In School?
There is a sense of optimism among many US blacks regarding the so-far successful candidacy of Barak Obama. This ecstatic burst of utopianism extends well beyond the US black community into Europe--even to Islamic terror organisations--but it is US blacks whose hopes are elevated to the most rapturous levels.If Obama could do anything to help black males in the US, perhaps it would be worth it to elect him president just for that. What are the challenges?
In examining graduation rates, the report finds a national graduation rate for black males (47 percent) that is 28 percentage points lower than the graduation rate for white males (75 percent). In ten states, the difference in graduation rates for black males and white males is 30 percentage points or more...In addition to low graduation rates, black males also have "consistently low educational attainment levels, are more chronically unemployed and underemployed, are less healthy and have access to fewer health care resources, die much younger, and are many times more likely to be sent to jail for periods significantly longer than males of other racial/ethnic groups," according to the report. _Source_via_JoanneJacobsAs a group, black males are the chronic statistical laggards of US society. Can Barak Obama do anything at all to help them? The problem is vast and begins at a very early age.
In the country as a whole, the number of Black students in Special Education classes is disproportionately high and the number in Gifted/Talented programs is disproportionately low. The number of Black students, particularly Black male students, who receive out-of-school suspensions and are expelled is also disproportionately high. _Source_via_JoanneJacobsA quick look at the chart above shows that as bad as young black males are doing in school, their sisters--born of the same parents, raised in the same homes, and eating the same foods--are actually doing fairly well.
Why are black girls doing reasonably well by comparison? Black girls, in contrast to the boys, get pretty good grades, go to college at decent rates and graduate from college at very good rates, earning degrees as twice the rate of men. _Source_via_JoanneJacobsBlack males are staggeringly over-represented in the prison population--44% of prisoners, and only 5% or so of the population (black males of prison age). The overall IQ average for American blacks is 85. That is 1 standard deviation below the overall mean of roughly 100. It very possible that the black male average IQ is even less than the overall US black average IQ, looking at comparative life success.
We know that executive function (EF) is more important than IQ for life success, although EF lacks a comparably accepted metric to IQ, so it is more difficult to compare EF statistics. EF can be improved by training (Posner, Rothbart), which should be done not much later than age 6. Even so, EF--like IQ--is highly heritable, so that there are limits to what training can do. Still, better trained than not.
Finally, if Barak Obama becomes US President next January, will the IQ's and EF's of black males magically and instantly normalise? Will we see abrupt drops in criminal and delinquent behaviour from black males? Will black males suddenly begin succeeding in school--from kindergarten through college? Will the exaggerated strut of young black males suddenly have a full complement of efficacy and competence backing it up?
Probably not. Not immediately, and not for a very long time. Then what will become of all of the magical expectations floating around the messianic candidacy of Barak Obama?
Obama has no substantive achievements, no particular experience or accomplishments to prepare him for the challenges he would face as chief executive of the world's only superpower. But never mind all that. Born of a white mother, raised largely by a white family, and only absorbing the victimist culture of black America secondhand--what has prepared Obama to pull black males out of the incredibly deep hole they are in?
Labels: executive function, IQ, Obama, race, US Blacks and Obama
posted by al fin at 11:20 am
6 Comments:
Even a casual glance at the tactics and methodology employed by a "community activist" will provide the answer to your titular question. As I am sure you already know. :)
Since people who actually provide mechanisms for raising the standards of community members are called business leaders or entreprenuers, the Obama's of the world function by lowering the rim of individual achievement targetted individuals must attain to "succeed".
So, yes, Obama can start to "improve" black male's status almost immediately upon taking office. A simple Executive Order causing an limited adjustment of the national reporting and testing standards will result in impressive gains in the statistical ranking of the target population.
Obama's claim to fame is as a community activist - his Senatorial record is effectively mum - it would behoove us all to take that fact, and it's ramifications, into account.
For what it's worth, my own anecdotal experience is that blacks (men and women) are critically discussing Obama's shallowness among themselves, at least in the factory where I work.
BHO is absolutely not a shoo-in this November, however much metephorical whistling-past-the-graveyard might be coming from either principle contender's camp.
Thanks for your insightful comment, Will.
The last thing black males need is pity or a victim-for-life-club membership card. That is what Palestinian children in Gaza are given at birth, and look where it takes them. Boom!
A multicultural society composed of populations with stratified average aptitudes is always walking a tightrope above bruised sensitivities and worse.
The victim card used as explanation for poor performance and bad behaviour might have died out in time, if not for race-baiters such as Sharpton, Jackson, Wright, Farrakhan, and perhaps Obama (time will tell).
The US has grown beyond the white-black dichotomy, although race-baiters among the latino and asian communities are trying to jump on the same bandwagon that the Reverent Wright and his cohorts rode to affluence upon, and refuse to let the divisive race antagonism die.
I just ordered a sweet "Party Like a Barak Star" shirt from www.PantherTees.com. They have tons of great stuff. They said not to tell anyone, but here is a 10% discount code, pts10 (it is case sensitive, so copy and paste it). Enjoy!
It's a sad thing that the first black president might be this new Jimmy Carter. I am very critical of Rice but she would make a far better President than B.O. And with the Arab press referring to her as the "Black Widow" and by other, even worse terms, her time in office might have been a real eye opener to those who think that only whites can ever be described as racist and that all non western cultures are morally superior.
This will not improve until such time as the community itself values intellectual accomplishments (now dissed as "acting white") as much as prowess on the football field or basketball court.
Swampwoman, that might work for the 3% of black males who have an IQ high enough (over 115) to do well in a rigorous 4 year college program.
Since successful business is a far better path to affluence than any intellectual field, it would be smarter for the community to value success in business.
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