Upending Stereotypes About Black Students

Dr. Leslie Fenwick

Andrew Moore from the Institute of Youth, Education and Families just forwarded me an essay by Leslie T. Fenwick, Dean of the Howard University School of Education, as a “must read” for anyone working on youth issues. Ed Week doesn’t let you read much of anything unless you are a subscriber...so I encourage you to listen to her Dubois lecture at the 2013 AERA from which the essay is drawn. It’s a must watch.

In her essay Dr. Fenwick asks readers to participate in a true-false quiz. I’ll jump to the end. Each one of these points that run through our research, news, and culture are false--  absolutely false.

1. Black parents are not invested in their children's education and do not engage in school-affirming behaviors.  FALSE

2. A much higher percentage of white parents than black parents attend PTA meetings and parent-teacher conferences. FALSE

3. Black parents are satisfied with permissive academic and discipline standards in the schools their children attend. FALSE

4. Most urban and center-city teachers and principals are black. FALSE

5. White educators are more qualified than black educators. FALSE

6. There are more black men in prison than in college. FALSE

7. Black kids use more alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs than white kids. FALSE

8. Most black men don't work. FALSE

In her lecture at AERA she calls the stereotypes about black people to be  “outright libelous to black people” and actually defamation.  I know that I’ve used some of these statements myself so I’m struggling with that shame-thing that comes along when I confront white privilege and my own racism.

Dr. Fenwick calls for an interruption of the defamation of black people in research. She asks us to be suspicious about those reports and Powerpoints which reinforce stereotypes of black people. She asks us to tease out the data to see through and understand a lens that fairly represents black people.

I think one data point (that a researcher confirmed for me, but I haven’t yet been able to find a public report to confirm) that really changes our understanding of the graduation crisis is that if you account for income,  African-American young men graduate at higher rates than white young men. 

Thank you Dr. Fenwick.

And thank you Andrew for forwarding the essay.