The big myth about why Black kids can’t get ahead

[JT-Money]

Nobody in my family went to college, I went to a cheap community college on my own. In the meantime, I started off as a student worker making $7/hr. Went to Walmart making $9/hr. Now I'm at $60k.





Somehow, black folks are always making excuses on why we are held back and I can't comprehend it because I'm not special, didn't have any privileges, advantages, or luck.

I make over 160K in cybersecurity and offered to coach multiple people over years to do the same. You think any of them took me up on my offer? And I'm literally giving them the answers to the fukking test. You can't help some people it's too ingrained to settle for less.

 

[RamsayBolton]

As per usual, im seeing a lot of posts juelzing about what’s going on right in front of us. Are black kids, either in two or one parent households, are the majority of us taking education and making sure our kids can read proficienctly and do math seriously? The answer is a resounding no.

Contrary to what yall think, school is not where your kids go to get good at this. It’s at home. Doing hw with your kids, making them read, making education a priority. I’ve seen firsthand how seriously immigrants and other minorities drill math and reading and extracurricular educational pursuits into their kids. We’re already at a disadvantage with school and resources, so it’s paramount the homes and community make it a priority.

That’s where we’re failing. The parents probably aren’t that great at it either making this a generational curse. Our scores are shocking and relegating us quickly to permanent underclass status with the quality of overall education.

I think the problem is people acting like government and businesses shouldnt invest in Black communities at all until we "fix the household/two parrent issue." Charlie Kirk argued like this for example.

 

[Guess Who]

Nobody in my family went to college, I went to a cheap community college on my own. In the meantime, I started off as a student worker making $7/hr. Went to Walmart making $9/hr. Now I'm at $60k.





Somehow, black folks are always making excuses on why we are held back and I can't comprehend it because I'm not special, didn't have any privileges, advantages, or luck.

Glad that you’re doing well breh. I think part of the premise of the study is that if you had more resources in the home/community, maybe you’d be making $120k.

Still, it’s good that you have the mentality you have cuz it coulda gone another way if you didn’t.

 

[OneManGang]

I think the problem is people acting like government and businesses shouldnt invest in Black communities at all until we "fix the household/two parrent issue." Charlie Kirk argued like this for example.

This is obviously asinine as well. (Not you just that line of reasoning)

The reality is govermeny alone even with investment will never be the solution. It would be helpful 100%, but the old saying comes to mind. You can bring a horse to water but you can’t make him drink. The homes is where real progress will be made. That’s hands on learning and personal investment into your kids education.

The government literally ignoring poor minority communities just exacerbates the problem. It’s also evil, depend on a poor tax base to uplift themselves by paying taxes

 

[IIVI]

I think it's interesting that we have the most literate and educated American Black population to date, and yet "we're so behind". Black Gen Z has higher rates of college enrollment and higher college graduation rates than Millennials at the same age. And African American Gen Z is on track to surpass previous generations in the number of individuals with bachelor's degrees or higher. The kids today are doing math in middle school that their parents weren't even doing in high school.

Just to make sure, I asked AI and it said:

Over the past few decades, graduation rates for Black students have steadily increased:

1. National Improvement: According to data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the graduation rate for Black students improved significantly.
   • In 2010, the graduation rate for Black students was approximately 66%.
   • By 2020, this rate had risen to over 80%, narrowing the gap with White students.
   • Over the last few decades, the number of Black students enrolling in college has increased significantly.
   • Math scores for Black students have steadily increased at both the 4th and 8th-grade levels:

I feel like every time we meet a standard, the goal posts move. New standards often introduce more complex concepts and require deeper engagement with the material than previous benchmarks. In terms of assessing progress, the methods used to measure understanding also change.

This is definitely a part of it. I don’t think it’s only for Black folks either that are feeling the moving goal posts, all these kids are seeing it.

The floor and especially the ceiling has raised absolutely. It will continue to do so. People got no idea what these kids do today to get into the best schools. They practically go to Olympiads, Academic Competitions, Science Camps, take University Math/Physics courses (seen them in a University class myself) and now intern during High School. Yes, there are HS kids on YouTube talking about internships at Engineering firms for their college applications.

Think how much a potential NBA prospect goes to camps, tournaments around the country, etc. during Jr. High and High School. That’s comparable to how much the best students do when it comes to getting their applications ready for Caltech, M.I.T, etc. Now, not all these kids are doing that, but the next tier down are still doing pretty advanced/extreme things as well.

It’s competitive so it’s only going to get much more wild as time goes on. The thing it won’t do is get easier. That’s how progress really goes. I got two Bachelor’s degrees: one in Computer Science and another in Electrical Engineering. It’s most likely some of these kids would kill me in an academic competition for Math and Science. That’s how crazy their educations and experiences are getting.

 

[In The Zone '98]

Plenty of intelligent blacks graduate every May

Need more career/promotion opportunities

 

[Tair]

Riddle me this…. How have first generation Mexican//South American babies been learning how to read over the last 20 years in these United States, when a strong percentage of their parents can barely speak English?

I don't care for this useless back-and-forth.

 

[Gloxina]

As per usual, im seeing a lot of posts juelzing about what’s going on right in front of us. Are black kids, either in two or one parent households, are the majority of us taking education and making sure our kids can read proficienctly and do math seriously? The answer is a resounding no.

Contrary to what yall think, school is not where your kids go to get good at this. It’s at home. Doing hw with your kids, making them read, making education a priority. I’ve seen firsthand how seriously immigrants and other minorities drill math and reading and extracurricular educational pursuits into their kids. We’re already at a disadvantage with school and resources, so it’s paramount the homes and community make it a priority.

That’s where we’re failing. The parents probably aren’t that great at it either making this a generational curse. Our scores are shocking and relegating us quickly to permanent underclass status with the quality of overall education.

Agree

 

[Wiseborn]

marking my place.

 

[Gloxina]

Yeah I think seeing white people as a monolith in this instance leaves our important data.

Culturally this makes sense for us. But Non Wasps have different family structures.

Yes! You’re right about that.

 

[Ezekiel 25:17]

Glad that you’re doing well breh. I think part of the premise of the study is that if you had more resources in the home/community, maybe you’d be making $120k.

Still, it’s good that you have the mentality you have cuz it coulda gone another way if you didn’t.

Oh at my experience in my position I should be making $85k right now. I've been on a job search and shyt aint easy. But that has nothing to do with being black. If we look at the states, wages are low across the board.

 

[Neuromancer]

As per usual, im seeing a lot of posts juelzing about what’s going on right in front of us. Are black kids, either in two or one parent households, are the majority of us taking education and making sure our kids can read proficienctly and do math seriously? The answer is a resounding no.

Contrary to what yall think, school is not where your kids go to get good at this. It’s at home. Doing hw with your kids, making them read, making education a priority. I’ve seen firsthand how seriously immigrants and other minorities drill math and reading and extracurricular educational pursuits into their kids. We’re already at a disadvantage with school and resources, so it’s paramount the homes and community make it a priority.

That’s where we’re failing. The parents probably aren’t that great at it either making this a generational curse. Our scores are shocking and relegating us quickly to permanent underclass status with the quality of overall education.

You're going to get called a coin for saying this.

 

[Gloxina]

Interesting however my only pushback is on the academic view of whiteness as some culture-less blob that only works one way. Go tell Italian Americans they don't understand social connections or Sunday dinners. Or Irish Americans. Or southern white people. I notice a lot of black academics keep doing this when it comes to whiteness and it's rather weird to me.

Great point, and that is where she faltered, for sure. She did the same thing we accuse others of doing: seeing “white ppl”’as a monolith. As someone else noted above, those who aren’t “WASPs” have different cultural norms and probably have family norms that are similar to ours.

 

[The War Report]

It's all about access to me.

 

[Field Marshall Bradley]

Plenty of intelligent blacks graduate every May

Need more career/promotion opportunities

This guy gets it….