NYCPS Parents: Are You SERIOUS???

Dear Black Parents of New York City Public School Students:

What the heck is wrong with you?

I just read this article about the fact that under one percent of all current students at Stuyvesant High School, the school often considered the best in New York City, are Black. ONE PERCENT.

What happened?

When I went to Brooklyn Tech, another of the elite high schools, 35% of us were Black. Thirty-five percent. And even the numbers of Black kids at Bronx Science and Stuyvesant were higher than they are now.

What's going on?

In junior high during my own growing-up years, taking the Specialized High School Exam was basic. It was simply what kids did. And I went to a junior high in East Harlem, not an expensive private school. Back in the '90s and earlier, everyone knew about the test! And every parent wanted the best for their kids so they tried to get them into schools that would provide them the best academic opportunities that would lead to great colleges and amazing careers. This was basic stuff: parents wanted what was best for their kids.

So how is it that MOST of YOUR KIDS don't know the test exists ... and many of the ones who know it exists won't take it because they're being told it isn't "for them"?

Seriously?

Because of you and your inaction, there are many otherwise bright people who actually think Black people simply aren't good enough for the best high schools in New York. They don't see your kids there, so this is what they conclude. Why do you insist on reinforcing stereotypes? Where are your children? What are they doing with their time? Why is it acceptable to you to send them anywhere other than the best schools they can get into??? Are you comfortable that a caste system is developing because you're not doing your job?

If you're squirming in your seat right now, angry at this letter, thinking, "I can't know everything about this school system; I work several jobs" please keep in mind that 75% of the parents of the kids at Stuyvesant are immigrants and have to work their butts off to survive as well. Yet even they somehow know how the school-choice and school testing system in NYCPS works. You and your kids actually have an advantage over them for that reason alone. You're from the United States! All it takes is responsible parenting: not just sending your offspring to school but learning about the school system and finding out which schools are the best!

As Black Americans, education has historically been our priority! Everyone knows this. Our ancestors came from some of the most advanced cultures of the ancient world. Even when we were stolen and brought to these shores we learned the unlawful skills of reading and writing every chance we got (Frederick Douglass even tricked his White peers into teaching him, and his is just one of countless examples). After slavery "ended" one of the first things we did was educate ourselves and start schools. Throughout the past century and a half, we regularly battled difficult and often deadly circumstances to gain an education. For most of the last 150 years, HBCUs graduated the vast majority of Black engineers, scientists, physicians, and other professionals. These are just a few examples that education is and has always been in our blood. And more contemporarily, we were very present in New York City's Specialized High Schools in the 1990s and earlier. Our parents knew these schools were the best and told us we would prepare and at least try to gain admittance. I can literally name hundreds of us who I know now or have personally known who at least took the exam and at best got in. Hundreds. And I'm just one person.

So how in the world could we have moved backward? Please explain this to me. PLEASE. How did you allow this to happen on your watch???

Let me be as blunt as a can: Get your act together and be a PARENT. How do you expect our people, and, most importantly, your own kid, to benefit from the best opportunities provided if basic research about education isn't done, basic expectations aren't explained to your offspring, and ignorance is acceptable?

Or do you care that the kids of parents who are actually diligent about their chances in life will be the bosses of your kids? Because that's exactly what will happen in the near future ... if your kids find themselves employed at all.

"Parent" is a verb, not just a noun, you guys. Please, please, please, for the sake of your children who deserve to get every benefit New York City Public Schools has to offer, PLEASE start parenting. A strong education is critical. Such a plea to you shouldn't even be necessary.

Signed,

An Upset, Embarassed, and Perplexed Member of Brooklyn Tech's Class of 1993

Open Letter To Poor White People

Dear Po' White Folks:

I apologize that the United States of America and the entire globe trends toward ignoring your existence, but it may just be your own fault. Where are your Al Sharptons and Cornel Wests? Day after day, evening after evening, news byte after news byte, politicians, the media, and even "Black leaders" perpetuate the myth that issues of poverty are actually "Black issues" when the truth is that you comprise HALF of America's poor.

Yet for some reason you've been largely silent and I'm frankly puzzled. Every once in a while, a reference to underprivileged, rural White people in Appalachia comes up in the public discourse yet the White poor, which again is HALF of all poverty-stricken people in this country, isn't limited to Appalachia. You're all over the place! But because of this underexposure, you could be missing out on hundreds of programs that could serve to assist all 20 million of you and yank you out of poverty quicker than the biased methods of the past did the majority of your race in this country half a century ago. So why don't I hear rightfully-cacophonous and persistent objections to the vast omission of your presence in the public conversation? Is it some kind of shame in being broke, an underestimation of your poverty, or some bizarre notion of privilege you harbor?

Come out and make yourselves known! Since half of penniless Americans look like you I'd like to see you represented in half the images of poverty I see as well. Many people seem oblivious to your existence and for many reasons it's critical that they know that you actually do live and breathe throughout this great nation. It's highly possible that the hand-up you deserve as citizens are largely being allocated elsewhere because of your absence in the public lens. Moreover, America greatly needs a balanced perspective of what poverty really looks like. Maybe then, our nation will do something about a rising problem that affects so many. So please, please come out in the open. Let the world know about the other fifty percent of America's poor and its need for healthcare, food, job training, and infrastructure. I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

Concerned Black Citizen

The Deception of Dating?

Take a minute and view this:

Honestly, when I consider the truth in what is being touted here -- essentially that marriage is two selfish sinners trying to build a life together -- it occurs to me that almost anything would be superior to modern Western methods of courtship and matrimony.

So why not try something radical?

Why not throw out the dating/courtship process altogether?

I mean, even those few who engage in dating in a hands-off fashion that attempts to stay away from deceptive emotional entanglements find themselves gravitating to characteristics that have less to do with relational success than other characteristics. Such persons still want a person who looks great, helps them feel good, is fun to be around and provides as little drama as possible. This is normal. But even the most responsible couples fail when it comes to thinking more about how they can be a benefit to their partner than how they can benefit from their partner.

In fact, the latter is natural, and the former often takes at least as long to develop through maturity as a person's natural life.

So why don't we just delete the dating shenanigan altogether?

How about just locating a friend of the opposite sex with whom there's chemistry (admit it: you have one) and discuss the essentials of marriage. Get a little counseling, and then just ... get ... married.

The lack of a dating period will at least slightly minimize the bizarre expectations you have since your partner will have less time to try and deceive impress you. And believe me, as cynical as this sounds, us humans tend to be happier when we don't have expectations. We just have fun and take life as it comes. Seriously.

So how about it?

No dating, no courting, just select a person you've already befriended with whom there's chemistry you've never admitted to, make sure you're on the same page about marriage, get counseling, and jump in with both feet.

Sounds good to me!

Man Up

Interesting, isn't it? How every trend that society grabs hold of will later come home to roost. Like a few decades ago when a generation of misguided dudes decided to take societies' backward cues, contradict the way stats show they themselves were likely raised, stoop lower than paternally responsible creatures like the emperor penguin & red fox, and reproduce with reckless abandon. "Abandon" being the operative word, right? Because after they reproduced, they "abandoned" their own offspring. And that sparked off the splintering of the American family that has only gotten worse since. Yes, I know women are complicit as well, yet it usually takes two to do the let's-give-our-kids-half-a-family tango.

So here we are, decades into this broken-family trend, deep into the unfortunate impact of the surge of absentee dads, and along come the brothers of Reach Records and others, seeking to shed light on the principles of manhood that each boy should have been taught by his own father in the first place.

"Sperm donors" (i.e. irresponsible dads) from sea to shining sea should be utterly embarrassed that the most recent push for manhood training is being initiated by a group of sneaker-wearing cats from hip hop generations X and Y. To such sperm donors I say now is the time to step up to the plate. It still isn't too late. Whether your son is 2 or 32, he needs you. Because of your actions, believe it or not, there are still things he can't even realize he doesn't know how to do.

And to the brothers involved in this effort called Man Up, keep doing what you do.

I Hate Fox "News" but ...

... I'd call this "decent commentary."