Saturday, January 14, 2006

New Blog Link About Matters of Race

Look to your right at my list of links. You will see a new link to La Shawn Barber's Corner. La Shawn Barber is considered one of the rising stars of the blogosphere. Most of her writings deal with the state of Black America. Ms. Barber, who is black, is a conservative lawyer and freelance writer. I highly recommend that you read up on her thoughts, because she truly "keeps it real".

You may notice many of my posts address the problems and social pathology faced by blacks in our country. I do this for good reason. I so want to see black people in our country succeed and live normal lives; and many are. However, I go to work every day and witness first hand, an entire generation of black youth throwing their lives away as they emulate and worship thugs, mysoginists, and moral turpitude. In fact, one of La Shawn Barber's more recent posts quoted a black columnist who explained it best. Speaking of yet another bout of violence during a celebrity hip-hop event at a nightclub, the columnist stated,
Viewed through the racist eye, events of this nature serve only to lend credence to the notion that blacks deserve none of the rights and freedoms that our ancestors struggled and died to earn for us, because our race is inherently incapable of civility. Examined in broader context, they speak to the current state of the African-American psyche in a culture unmatched at pandering to its lowest common denominator.
In the same post, Ms. Barber candidly sums up her thoughts about what blacks in America need to do. Please keep in mind, this is a black female talking:
If American blacks, as a group, don’t start: 1) marrying before they have children, 2) stigmatizing illegitimacy as they once did, 3) ostracizing immorality and decadency, 4) holding themselves accountable for their children’s low educational achievement, 5) shunning criminality, and 6) resisting the “racism” hustle — moral decay, social pathologies, underachievement, and other ills will define the “black community.”

And thug culture will be the perverse crown jewel sitting at the top.
As long as I watch such a disproportionate number of the black students I teach do their damndest to emulate the "lowest common denominator", I will continue to do all I can to demonstrate to them (and students of all colors), that they don't have to hobble themselves with their dress, speech, and behavior. I will never stop telling them to pull up their pants, conjugate their verbs, and tell them that it is not acceptable to backtalk me, until the day it no longer becomes necessary. As a teacher, I owe them that much.

Good Day to You, Sir

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I consider your comments in light of the Stossel special on Friday night showing blacks who want, demand, and are getting a good education in spite of those who decry the influence of "whitey" on their "culture."

W.R. Chandler said...

Just to clear up any possible confusion - I never said that every black student I have (and their parents) don't care about their education. Quite the contrary: I teach quite a few black students in my honors classes. The key word in my post is "disproportionate". A disproportionate number of the black students I teach, act, talk, and dress in the way I have described.

There are plenty of black students, and especially their black parents, who would love to get the student the best education possible. This is one of the biggest tongue-cluckers out there: While Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, the Black Congressional Caucus, and the Democrat Party - which depends on black support for its survival - decry the use of school vouchers and fight them tooth and nail, national polls find blacks in America to be very much in support of vouchers. Yet it is their own "leadership" that stops the vouchers from taking hold.

Anonymous said...

What the hell is your problem man? All you do is pick on the black culture and the black people that try to better themselves with music. I think these people should be looked up to by black children as people who hadve made it out of the slums that you white people have put us in. sure some of tehm have broke the law, but i bet they were just trying to survive in the white mans world.Its people like you that hold us "blackies" back. you say you want only the best for blacks, but i bet your wouldn't let one in your home around your family because you would think they were there to mug you or something.You talk about teaching black students and this scares me. I imagine that you are trying your best to make them as "white" acting as possible to make them fit in instead of letting them be there true color. People like you are the problem with black america, not movies and rap singers.

W.R. Chandler said...

OK, is this a crank comment?

Anonymous said...

I hope the second comment is facetious. Otherwise, he is a person who was too busy rapping in school to get much of an education. Oh wow! The errors in that one! You are wrong about one thing: Black musicians did not "make it out of the slums." They never left them. They merely brought them along.

Miroslav said...

Chanman,
I am curious to know more about your upbringing and experience with the black community beyond your role as a teacher. Also, what is your economic background?

Keep lovin' on these kids. They need it just as much as any of us.