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One of the biggest impediments to African-Americans entering college is not educational but is psychological and cultural. As a substitute teacher at two high schools as well as a continuation school, I found that the black students had much lower expectations, in terms of what their life would look like after high school, than most whites. One young man, trying to pull my leg, asked me if I thought he should become a pimp or a thief.

While this young man was playing with me, the reality is that for many blacks, their career choices are limited or at least they believe they are limited. I was a community organizer in southeast Oakland in the late 60s. A neighborhood activist pointed out, in a public meeting, that the role models for "success" in the black neighborhoods were the pimps, the thieves, and the drug dealers. Any black who became a lawyer, doctor, teacher, or achieved any financial success, immediately left the neighborhood.

It is possible that many parents of young African-Americans do not encourage them to achieve academic success. If a young black has the opportunity to become a professional athlete or entertainer, she or he can be successful, but that represents a very small percentage of the black population. It is very likely that many teachers also hold low expectations for their black students. If the community around you holds low expectations for you in high school, the chances are very slim that you will be able to hold a high opinion of yourself.

In those experimental schools where African-American students are given a big daily dose of encouragement, are continually told that they can succeed, the success rate is astonishing. The racist assumption is that blacks are simply not as smart as whites. This has been disproved again and again. With the right encouragement and inspiration, black students can be competitive with whites. The problem is getting this kind of supportive atmosphere into our public K12 schools.

Learn more about this author, Bob Trowbridge.
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