In the Affluent Suburbs, an Invisible Race Gap June 4, 2003 http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/04/education/04EDUC.html?ex=1055802831&ei=1&en=7b7a5e95855bee2a By MICHAEL WINERIP MAPLEWOOD, N.J. ACROSS America, there may be two or three dozen suburban school districts similar to this one, towns like Evanston, Ill.; Shaker Heights, Ohio; Arlington, Va.; White Plains. They are heavily upper middle class, are racially mixed and feature high quality public schools. The high school here, Columbia High, is 51 percent black and sends 77 percent of its seniors to four-year colleges. Five percent are accepted to the Ivy League. A lot of black Columbia High graduates go on to big things. Rhena Jasey went to Harvard, Colin Brown to Princeton, Carla Peterman won a Rhodes, Lauryn Hill won five Grammys. From afar, these racially mixed suburbs appear to be the fulfillment of the Brown v. Board of Education desegregation ruling a half century ago. Green and tree-lined, they look like the quintessential level playing field. They seem to make the need for affirmative action passe. But they are not what they appear to be, as Ronald Ferguson, a Harvard professor, knows from surveying 34,000 seventh to eleventh graders in 15 of these racially mixed suburbs across the nation. Everywhere, he finds the achievement gap, with whites averaging B+ and blacks C+. Professor Ferguson calculates about half the Gap can be explained by economic differences. When the wealth of the 15 towns is dissected into four socioeconomic classes, 79 percent of blacks are in the bottom 50 percent; 73 percent of whites are in the top 50 percent. Fifty-three percent of these suburban black children live with one or neither parent, compared with 15 percent of whites. Twenty-two percent of the blacks have no computer at home compared with 3 percent of whites. Forty percent of blacks own 100 or more books, compared with 80 percent of whites. All this spills into these schools. "Teachers see black kids not doing as well academically, getting more incompletes on their homework," Professor Ferguson said. "They interpret that to mean black kids don't care, don't work as hard." Yet whites and blacks taking similar level courses report that they spend the same time on homework. It is just that the results are different: 38 percent of whites who spend two hours on homework nightly get all their work done; only 20 percent of blacks spending two hours finish their homework - the Gap. It would be politically convenient for Professor Ferguson, a black man raising his two children plus a nephew in a Boston suburb, if the Gap could be explained away by economics. It cannot. When he controls for income, half the Gap persists. Among the richest families, blacks average B+, whites A-. How to explain it? On a political level, he believes the human damage from two centuries of slavery plus legalized segregation that persisted until the mid-1960's will simply not be undone in a generation, not even in suburbia. On a personal level, he has looked hard at the data for ways to narrow the Gap. While 31 percent of whites say that a teacher's encouragement motivates them to work hard, 47 percent of blacks cite teacher encouragement as crucial. Professor Ferguson believes this may reflect the black children's insecurity. "Even in our own towns, we may feel like outsiders," he says. And so, Professor Ferguson runs seminars for teachers that emphasize the importance of encouraging these children to excel. If whites and blacks spend the same time on homework, and the black child is not getting as much done, says Professor Ferguson, "that's a skills gap." He works with schools to focus on the points in the curriculum where children fall behind, and to develop smarter ways to teach those lessons. His research shows that in the years before school, white parents spend more time reading to their children, while blacks devote more to song and play - the start of the Gap. Professor Ferguson writes, "As a black parent, I acknowledge there might be differences in what we do with our preschool children that would put them on a more equal footing with whites on the first day of kindergarten." While he practices that at home, quizzing his 3-year-old with math problems, he is hesitant to speak too much publicly about advising black parents. "If it shows up in The New York Times, it's like, wait a minute, here's another guy saying to black parents, `It's your fault.' This needs to be done within the community." In this community, Robert Marchman, 45, a lawyer with the New York Stock Exchange, has taken on the Gap. He is chairman of the South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race, which has been sponsoring discussions on the Gap and helped bring Professor Ferguson here. Mr. Marchman is one of a dozen black dads who run a mentoring program for 30 black eighth graders. "We talk about stuff you hear, like, `being smart is acting white,' " Mr. Marchman said. "I'll say to them, `So what does being black mean? To be an idiot?' " Mr. Marchman himself has bridged the Gap. He grew up in a Brooklyn housing project and when he was a senior, took the SAT, without any preparation. In the high school guidance office, he picked a college by starting with the letter "A" which landed him at Alleghany College. By law school - at the University of Pennsylvania - he was no longer making educational decisions based on alphabetical order. Last summer, before his older son, David, entered 10th grade, Mr. Marchman bought the boy his first SAT study guide. While Mr. Marchman played basketball ("that's all there was"), he encouraged David to switch from football to lacrosse, because it is a niche sport that might help get him into a top college. Though Mr. Marchman has made it to the far side of the Gap, he keeps his guard up. At the start of each school year, he makes appointments to see the teachers of his sons, David and Travis. "I put on a business suit," he says. "I want to set the tone with the teachers. I want them to know we have high expectations." His are black children to be encouraged, he wants the teachers to know. And though Mr. Marchman no longer needs affirmative action, he supports it, for even in this suburban place, he can see more clearly than most all those children still finding their way across the Gap. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/04/education/04EDUC.html?ex=1055802831&ei=1&en=7b7a5e95855bee2a
Interesting article, Icehouse. Thanks for the post. White flight is one of the most disturbing trends of the last 50 years -- in essence, it's unofficial segregation. And, since African-Americans couldn't vote or even eat in white restaurants less than 40 years ago, they're still trying to catch up (whites had a 400 year head start). Economically, as a collective group, whites were born on second base and blacks were born into an 0-2 pitch count. Of course, some batters will hit an 0-2 pitch, or even hit a home run. But, statistically, does the runner on second have a better chance of scoring than the batter with an 0-2 count? Until we're all playing with the same equipment and training, there's going to be gross inequality. But when was the last time a team with the edge gave up their advantage for the sake of competitiveness?
I know I'm not giving up my advantage. I'm just glad blacks haven't learned the secret handshake yet. I was up against this black guy for a job. I came out of the interview after about 30 seconds and was laughing all the way to the bank. Muhaahahaha.
There was an intensive study done of the Shaker Heights situation that turned out to be interesting, even if it may not have been entirely accurate. It was written up in a book called "Black Students in an Affluent Suburb" by John Ogbu. In it, he placed a not insignificant amount of the blame for the Gap on parental expectations, as well as the differing peer pressure African-American students can face (i.e. the "acting white" argument), etc. Many have said this study is flawed since Mr. Ogbu did not spend time in white homes during his study, but I don't think we can dismiss his research entirely (as has been done by some). Certainly the issues he raises could be at least part of the reason such students lag behind. While I don't personally believe one can lay the complete blame for the Gap on any one thing and think that there is something to be said for problems with teacher expectations and things inherent in the school system and the community itself. I don't know that you can completely dismiss any notion of at least some of the problems being somewhat self-inflicted. These issues are solvable, and it isn't going to take hundreds of years to do it. But it is going to take being honest with ourselves (whether black, white or whatever) and being willing to look at the situation honestly and being willing to try potential solutions regardless of who comes up with them or what our political affiliation is. But I'm not hopeful such things are close at hand.
I wish people would stop doing studies based upon skin color. It only helps perpetuate the stereotypical arguments that race invites. Until we pull race completely out of the equation at the lowest levels it will always be a problem. If you just let nature take it's course in a few decades it would be all over, just make it a pure meritocracy and level the playing fields completely. Just my .02 DD
In the case of the Ogbu/Shaker Heights study, I don't know that I disagree with their reasoning. The African-American students should be achieving about on par with the white students in the district. These are kids who are growing up with all the advantages that white suburban students supposedly have, yet they consistently do worse in school and on standardized test and so on. If I were an African-American parent of a student in that school district, I'd want to know the reasons why the African-American students who have all the advantages the white students have still fail to achieve the same level of success as the white students. And that's why those parents did invite Dr. Ogbu in to study the situation. Of course, they didn't like the answer he came up with and dismissed his findings, by and large. But there are some things that seem to defy explanation. Those things often need to be studied to determine why it is the way it is. But that's just what I think. I guess, to me, there needs to be some study to determine how the playing field is leveled. It could well be that white students simply learn differently than black students, and by having a one-size-fits-all teaching system, we are inadvertantly discriminating against black students. But by making a few simple adjustments that don't harm white students, we level the playing field. But unless we study it, we don't know.
The reasons for the "Gap" are undoubtedly complex, but the article hints at the most important factors.
loosely translated. . .you been screwed for 400 yrs. . . what is another few decades. . . . bend over and take it long enough for my kids to benefit form it some more and yours to suffer through it some more I mean . .. If rape is going to happen . . . might as well sit back and enjoy it just my .11 Rocket River
I'm not ignoring that the problems at home need to be addressed, but I find it conspicuous, that you listed all of those as the most important.
Did anyone else here live in a neighborhood like the ones he's describing? I attended a private school in Shaker Heights and met a number of the students who were in the public highschool. I wasn't in a position to notice differences in grades but I wonder now whether they might have experienced the same sort of hurdles that we had at my own school. As a minority it seemed that in the different private schools I've attended minorities were quickly categorized. Some of the students were regarded as being in the school to meet a quota, at least they seemed to look at themselves that way (I think other students looked at them that way as well). Minorities who did not fall into racially determined cliques were also more likely to be expected to do as well as any of the other students. There were a number of other differences between the minority students who went on to attend top tier colleges and the ones who didn't. For one thing, most of the former had parents who also had received excellent educations, had parents who were married to each other, and had the same access to computers as everyone else. The article mentions a similar case in which the father had a law degree from U Penn. It still leaves a chicken and egg type problem. Do minorities gather into cliques and achieve less because they are less well received and are doing less well academically? Or do they get lower grades because when they are not seen as being "white on the inside" they are not expected to do well. Or do these problems just feed on each other?
Have you considered that ideas like the Great Society and welfare contributed to the breakdown of African American families?
River, Come on now that is being a little over the top, don't ya think. My only point is that as long as we keep basing things on skin color it will just continue the problem. I think man will work it out, just got to have a completely level playing field, and merit and aceivment being the only indicator. Let people be racist if they want, their businesses will fail to the people who are more broad minded. DD
That's because, IMHO, they ARE the most important. Two additional points to amplify the text I quoted from the article. I have two school aged children, both of whom do very well in school. If either my wife or I were out of the picture (dead, divorced, Jazz fan ), there is no doubt in my mind that my kids would not be doing as well in school. Granted, I can't prove it, nor would I hope to, but I am as sure of it as the sun rising in the east tomorrow. Second, the school newpaper (my kids are in HISD) recently reported on reading awards for the year. Judging by the names of the kids, one minority was disproportionately represented in getting the reading awards. Can you guess which one, and do you care to make a guess as to why? Just to make clear, I am sure there are other factors at play as well, as mentioned in the article and in some of the other posts.
I don't think so. It's an uncomfortable issue, but there's no denying that (as a group) African-Americans have been screwed for almost 400 years. While millions of whites were accumulating wealth (home ownership, bank accounts, college degrees, access to health care, establishing themselves -- multiplied over generations), blacks weren't even able to vote or share sidewalks with whites. And that was AFTER slavery. Laws change in the last 40 years, and suddenly African-Americans expected to play at the same level as whites. C'mon. Blacks were given "freedom," but they were poorer than 90 percent of all whites, and have been trying to catch up ever since. There's no silver bullet to the problem -- and I know there is anecdotal evidence that says race isn't an issue -- but pretending race doesn't exist is a tragic blindspot in 2003 America.
Problems exist, but also problems exist in black society that are not addressed. It was highlighted in the article and I was going to write on it earlier, but I was too lazy. The single biggest problem is the lack of 2 parent families. Is that whites stealing from blacks? Further into this is kids having kids too early. Is that whites stealing from blacks? Then also there is the problem of a big strain of anti-intellectualism in black society. Anyone who tries hard in school or uses big words or whatever is painted as being white or a dork or whatever. Yeah it happens in white society, but in black society it seems like one of the worst things is being called white or not acting black. Like it is cool to act black, but if you act white then that is bad and you are a sellout or a dork or whatever. That is also a big problem in my eyes. When people stop pigeon-holing themselves into something then their opportunities open up. If black families were able to stay strong and kids weren't having so many kids out of wedlock then don't you think that would go a pretty long way? It doesn't matter what race you are if you have a kid too early in life. When you have a kid when you are 18 you are pretty much screwed. I know there are people who break that rule and go back to school and become successes, however the vast majority of people are stuck with having to take care of a kid until he or she grows up since it is such a huge financial, emotional, and time consuming responsibility. That is a big problem in black society that is not the fault of whites. You know people have to accept responsibility sometimes and stop putting blame on others for their problems. I know there is still a fair amount of racism in society and it bothers me. However, when people ignore problems within their own society and blame others for some major problems then it bothers me. Thats my ranting on this subject.
What does this have to do with this article??? It is talking about black kids growing up in affluent neighborhoods, something your predjudiced rant with no statistics has nothing to do with.
He's saying that whites have a 360 years head start, but it still has nothing to do with this article.
You guys are talking about 2 different things. 1. Economics of the situation between blacks & Whites. 2. Achievement by both. I think what Pgabrial and others are saying is that they are intimatly related, though this article tends to refute that somewhat. DD
