Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 19 November 2004 — Page 7

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2004

THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER .

PAGE A7

Left to right: Alan Stephens, retired assistant principal of IPS No. 42; Patricia Mack, retired music teacher; Janet Newsome, principal; and Lillian Rowe, retired principal, attended the IPS No. 42 reunion at the school on 40 th and Capitol. (Photo/C. Guynn)

EDUCATION DOES MAHER Inappropriate behavior can affect school work

By LEROY ROBINSON As I continue to mull over the 2003-2004 ISTEP scores and the poor performance of our thousands of public school students, it is the AfricanAmerican males that I am most concerned about. Overall, the scores for mathematics and language arts f6r our young people hover around a 30 to 40 percent passing rate, with the African-American females carrying a majority of the weight. As I passionately work and attempt to shed light on the large majority of our African Americans lack of success in the classroom, in an attempt to galvanize some sympathy and support, it should be noted that our young male African-American students are not dumb, stupid, or lazy. From my personal experience, I often see a majority of very capable AfricanAmerican male students entering the classroom. There are many of them who have the neatest handwriting, the most complete answers, and the most detailed research papers. But there are two things that are hindering their overall academic and education success and progress. Their inability to be consistent in their efforts to complete each of their assignments to the best of their ability and their inability to exhibit appropriate behavior at all times. If there was a way to get our young male students to focus and be committed to their schoolwork as th^ey are to their sports teams, their clothes and tennis shoes, and their love of hip-hop music, we could have a revolution in the education arena. No longer would African-Ameri-can males be at the top in discipline referrals, suspensions, and expulsions, and at the bottom in the areas of classroom performance and standardized test scores. It is our African-American male students’ classroom behavior that will ultimately undermine their academic performance and success. And it is the inability of us as adults and parents to properly teach them how to act and interact in the classroom environment. Sadly, far too many of

them do not adjust their behavior when they enter the learning environment. This is the time when their inappropriate classroom and school behavior will eventually have an effect on their classroom performance. Often, when a student’s inappropriate behavior is corrected and/or disciplined, many of them feel embarrassed, feel as if they have been singled out, or feel as if they have been treated unfairly. And they begin to shut down and become disenfranchised from the system and the process. With this disenfranchisement, not only does the student’s behavior begin to deteriorate, but their grades begin to decline as well: I often tell the young African-American males that I work with to not allow their inappropriate behavior to affect their grades. I strongly encourage them to use their academic ability and successful grades to improve their behavior. We can no longer afford to sit idle and allow our AfricanAmerican male students to become disenfranchised with the education process and become the face of inappropriate behavior. If we continue to allow this to happen, these young men eventually become statistics in the high school drop out category and eventually they also become strong candidates to Fill the statistics of the incarceration category. Both categories that we can no longer afford to lend our future to. Note: The African-Ameri-can History Challenge study session will be held Nov. 20 fromlO a.m. - noon at the IPS Multicultural Center located at Crispus Attucks Middle School. For more information, call (317) 2262430. Leroy Robinson is author of Voluntary Servitude: Breaking the Chains: Mental and Psychological Slavery, currently on sale at XPression Bookstore and Gallery, located at 970 Fort Wayne Ave., Indianapolis (317) 264-1866. For speaking engagements or education workshops, contact him at: educationdoesmatter(« hotmail.com or write him at: 9701 E. 63rd St., Indianapolis, IN. 46236. His contact number is (317) 502-0272.

More whites attending HBCUs

From BET.com In a few years, the current face of historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) might be just that - history. Black universities - mostly founded in the South in late1800s for African Americans who by law were denied access to white institutes ofhigher education - are now attracting more white students than ever. In fact, the number of whites enrolled in the nation's 117 HBCUs has risen from 21,000 to 35,000 over the past 25 years, a 65 percent spike, according to U.S. Department of Education statistics. , Some campuses, such as West Virginia State and Lincoln University’ in Missouri have even gone from all-Black to majority white. Black colleges have never blocked admissions’based on race. However some are leery about the changes and concerned that historically Black colleges - with their predominantly Black faculties and student bodies; curricula that focus on Zora Neale Hurston and Duke Ellington right along with Emily Dickinson and Johann Sebastian Bach - would lose something vital with a racial transformation. In addition to the allure of Black academic offerings, including often-cheaper tuition and fees, court orders designed to desegregate white campuses are responsible for the demographic shift. In 1992, the U.S. Supreme Court held that HBCUs must meet the same standards of diversification as traditionally w’hite campuses. The United States vs. Fordice decision held that state institutions could not be content with de jure segregation that results when those of one race naturally gravitate to-

ward each other. The court said that HBCUs had to make an effort to integrate Black schools in the same way white schools were forced to accept Blacks. But some critics contend that court mandates requiring Black schools to “recruit" more nonBlack students is unjust because HBCUs have always been open to people ofall races. In contrast, traditional institutions only opened their doors to minorities after Brown vs. Board of Education. For state schools, such as Tennessee State University in Nashville, the government and courts are playing a major role in altering the demographics of the student body. In 1984, Tennessee State University was issued a court order to increase its non-Black enrollment by 50 percent. Wendy Thompson, a member of the Tennessee Board of Regents, told BET.com that the order was lifted because the universityentered into an agreement to design and implement programs and academic offerings aimed at attracting a diverse student body. The point, Thompson said, is that a state cannot have public institutions that mirror the days of separate but equal. “We signed a consent decree, and it talks about specific things that each school must do to make sure people attend because of programs and not race, “ she said. Although the argument continues over whether court mandates are fair, Black schools are obeying them and improving their offerings to attract all those in their communities, regardless of race, according to Black-col-lege officials. In reference to Tennessee State, Thompson said: “It’s no longer about white and Black. It’s about fulfilling its mission as the urban institution in Nashville.”

River’s Edge INmls Sturtiuj’I roni lhi - S>(H's M.iintt n.im c I rc«- I i'iuj; Aw Down I'.iwnent I’murani \\« w.riiiruhuildt'rvumi

Townhomes 925-2168 Located at: 30th Street at White River Pkwy.

isiM' Deliberately scaring me is abuses Stop it. For help with domestic abuse, call 317.926.4357 www.domesticviolencenetwork.org

¥

7- Day Hawaii Get-A-Way September 1-7, 2005

PRICT:

SlbOO.OO PI R PI RS0N/D0UB11 ()( ( PP\\<) (All INUHSM, ROUND IRIP MRI \RI. lOPRS, \NI)ORIINTUI()N|\MIH ONI Mil

BRI \kl \SI) * I

id 4t

I OR MORI INI ORMMION PI I VSI ( \11

(117) 019-1201 OR (117) 879-804(L

irs YOUR RIGHT AND WEIL HELP YOU FIGHT! CALL TODAY — INDIANA CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSION (866) 3 FAIR 4 U OR (866) 332-4748 TTY (800) 743-3333

Sandra D. Utfc, Es^i Eucitftw Mrtctor •ww* Mwai tuwta by MaSona AflordaM* Howtof Act d ifM m mwMU, Ming HOME MihMimi Pwwmhp frogmw haMi MocaMd by HUD

Register for a chance to WIN tickets to Disney On Ice” presents Disney I Pixar*s Finding Nemo! Just like Nemo and the Tank Gang, you and your friends have probably shared in some fun adventures! Just tell us, "What is the most hilarious time that you have ever had with your school friends?", in 200 words or less. Then mail in your entry, and you could WIN one of 10 Family Four-Packs of tickets! Mail entries to: Finding Nemo Essay Contest 2901 N. Tacoma Ave., Indianapolis, IN 40218

Appearing: DEC# I *5 rii^toust^ For full show schedule and ticket information visit www.disneyonice.com

First row, left to right: Clarence Scarborough, Doug Smock, Carl Weidner, Howard Risley, Jim Kick, Bryan Matthews, Mike Goldsworthy, Ralph Stacy, Earl Carter, Ken Gauze, Josh Schofner, David Goins, Bill Cooney Second row, left to right: Jason Wedmore, Michael O’Brien, Fernando Roman, Kevin Howard, Jim Robinson, Brian Nail, Ozzie Mohamed, Rob Wolf, Craig Lahrman