The Inversion: African Americans and Education (Part One)
African Americans, particularly in North Carolina, sacrificed more to build schools than any other group. Despite this, many educators accept the myth that African American families are less interested in education than others. Historically, nothing could be further from the truth. I call this damaging stereotype “the inversion.”
If you teach in Title One (high poverty) schools as I do, then it is likely that you have endured many workshops focused on student deficits. Title One schools are likely to have a higher proportion of students of color than their wealthier counterparts. At one point, I taught in a school where the student body was over 95% African American. Cue the professional development on the achievement gap, complex PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) schemes, and using pictures of Beyonce’ to teach Shakespeare because “they” (meaning African American students) “like pretty pictures.”
No one suggested that our well-intentioned but largely European American staff might benefit from knowing the students better. The school where I attended those workshops, like others in North Carolina, had a large and growing divide between the racial makeup of the student body and the racial makeup of teachers and administrators.
