I just found out that all the backslapping and glad-handing that the city has been giving itself for its improved performance public schools has been done without the achievement of Black kids, specifically Black males.
NYC’s Black Male Graduation Rates: The Lost Two-Thirds
This number breaks down to something like a 68% dropout rate for Black boys. True story is that I am surprised its not even greater. After Brooklyn Tech I couldn’t stand high school. There was no fucking excitement, no challenge and no stimulation. Mostly just a regurgitation of all the bullshit that I was fed for the prior ten years. Meanwhile, the real world was happening outside of the school.
What saves some of us Black boys are the alternative schools which farm us out to participating businesses as interns. The city gives these businesses the incentive to join the program with tax rebates. They aren’t just sending any nigga off the street to work inside an architectural office. You are vetted by the high school’s staff for your ability and attitude. Because I was already smarter than your average teenager I had no problem being placed in the area of my choice. Now how does the city do this for the other 300K Black boys failing out of school?
Black males are failed out of school too early in the game. High school is already too late to save these kids. Their programming, or de-programming is done damn near in kindergarten. Black males are singled out for disciplinary actions earlier and at a greater rate than any other kids. This becomes the population for special education programs which aren’t too special. Black boys find themselves in classes with the developmentally disabled and the physically disabled. Their self worth is negated even before they become teenagers.
The preparation that little Jamaal is being given will place him on the fast track to the prison industrial complex. Even in a wealthy city like New York you can see how Black boys are being sent in the opposite direction of successful adulthood. So many things combine at once to ruin Black boys minds. Poor nutrition, poor social values, poor educational options, basically poverty in a nutshell. When I see that 68% of Black boys are not graduating high school I realize that means at least 68% of Black males are living in poverty in NYC.
