by Morgan Johnson

Created on: October 15, 2007

Trying to close the gap between Black and White students is an absolute waste of time. That's like trying to win the silver medal in a close second. The focus needs to be on winning the race. Asians are known to be superior academic performers, so are Jews. Both groups perform because they have internally driven standards and priorities. That is what Black America needs. They must establish standards and act to enforce those standards. Blacks need an attitude of seeking knowledge without end, for the betterment of our whole community.

My experience with the Black community has been the opposite. My parents raised all of their children to read and seek knowledge. Both were denied a quality education growing up in the South in the 40's and 50's. They wanted better for their children and they recognized that education was the key to a better life. My siblings and I tested above grade level every year in reading and various other disciplines. We were aided by the fact that my father was in the Army and we traveled extensively. I spent my first three years of high school in Germany. We moved to Memphis after my father retired and I attended an all Black inner-city high school for my senior year. That year was an eye-opening experience.

First the Black community had serious issues with a Black man who spoke proper English. The fact that I also spoke German and French seemed to offend my classmates more than serve as a point of pride. I doubt if any of my classmates would recognize my name if asked. To them I was simply that guy known as "German."

This entire experience flies in the face of Black history. Up until the Revolutionary war Blacks were on equal footing with the non-landed Whites in free states. They received a standard education along side Whites in public schools. Society evolved later; in a bad way. For reason not germane to the point here, wealthy Whites decided to drive a schism between poor Blacks and Whites. Suddenly Blacks were denied proper education in all states. In slave states it became a crime for Blacks to even learn to read. Yet for generations, Blacks did exactly that, defied the law and taught their children to read.

The Civil War ended slavery but the plight of Blacks did not improve. It was still a liability for White Americans to discover a Black with an education. To them, an educated Black was a threat to their social domination; he or she must be "put in their place." It was dangerous to learn but many of our predecessors did. Along the way they created many of the inventions that made life comfortable for Americans and much of the world today. Though they did not receive the recognition they were due, they did it anyway.

We have failed. For more than thirty years, we have failed to use Black history to teach our young people just how much we African Americans have contributed to the world. It's okay that Whites remain ignorant, they are not our responsibility. But our own youth are and we must teach them that they are the torch bearers. They are required to advance the achievements of our community, to carry forward not for their own sakes but because of the sacrifice of the millions that came before. It is an attitude of obedience that will lead to performance. We owe it to our grandparents to do better.

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