We Who Demand Better
I am an African American woman who grew up in the south, in a single parent home, with multiple siblings, and a mother who worked three jobs just to make the ends meet. Many would consider this a disadvantage, but this is what drives me every day. Before my abilities or capabilities were even considered, the determination of my ‘societal worth’ was measured and executed. The verdict: she’ll never make it. In the eyes of everyone around me, there were too many strikes; I was in too deep and poverty seemed to be the only garment that fit. Many were ready and willing to accept the notion that I would just become another statistic. The expectations for my life were greatly diminished. Those around me were more concerned with the rivalry between the high school football teams than actual education. Now at 32 and an educator myself, I see a pattern that is both frightening and saddening. I am also a mother of two wonderful boys who have been taught the absolute necessity of knowing who they are and walking in their truth; unfortunately, not all parents or guardians do this. Their warped priorities are being passed down from one generation to the next—complacency in poverty without the drive for betterment.
Education has been a seemingly unattainable part of life in much of the African American community. Being the person in your family who not only finishes high school but dares to consider college is something that is not expected. Why is that? Every member of any community should have the right to an education if they so desire. The standard of simply finishing high school must be raised so the youth understand that their greatness is incredibly valuable. Now, I do understand that there are situations where youth experience circumstances that affect their educational progress. In those instances, any advancement, whether it be educational or otherwise, is a cause for celebration. However, when the minimum expectation is minimum effort, we produce insufficient adults who don’t know their worth. It is time that we stopped thinking of education, good education, higher education, as a “them” thing.
Now, before I get any further in this letter, I believe it would befit me to define the term “we.” This term applies to those who understand that there is a derogation in expectation when it comes to marginalized communities. This first-person pronoun includes the people who believe that higher education should no longer be a surprise, but an expectation. This term includes every single person who believes that education has no race. W.E.B. Dubois was correct when he noted that it is the color line that’s dividing the society. However, that color line is flexible and mobile; it moves throughout and within the different races. Many members of the African American community have allowed themselves to remove the possibility of higher education from their minds and have thus choked even the notion from the minds of their children and the children they influence. Education has become a possibility only for those who are rich or non-minority, and this is wide of the mark. We who demand better must ensure we encourage our youth to reach for those seemingly unattainable opportunities and show just how attainable they are.
There are many avenues of education that are underrepresented because of this low standard of education in marginalized communities. There’s history being taught, books being written, and stories being told about people who grew up in my shoes by people who did not. How is it that any person’s story can be told by someone who never lived it? A man cannot write about what it is to be a woman just as someone of one race cannot write about what it is to be another. More than 80% of educators in the public-school sector of the United States of America’s education system are white. They are teaching the history of communities in which they have never lived. Truth: the right to tell my story lies with me. Dare: take up the charge of allowing myself to be great, get educated, and make sure my story is known. As African American educators, we must ensure we share positivity, motivation, true insight, and support to all children; we stand as representatives of the few; seeing us changes the lives of many. As parents, we must not leave the raising of our children completely on the shoulders of those in the school systems. We must get involved in the shaping of these young minds; we are the construction crew for their foundation. We must require that our children not only know their worth but add tax. This is what I am asking of we who demand better.
I ask that you begin to encourage your youth to reach for more than the status quo; help them to believe that their opportunities stretch past high school; help them understand that education has no race; help them understand the importance of telling their story. Too long have we hidden under the tailcoat of fear. We owe it to our children to shed that coat and adorn the cloak of determination. Parents and guardians alike must rid themselves of any uncertainty and know that their child is worth it. When we fail to believe in the potential of our children or our students simply because of the color of their skin or their income level we have staunched out their beliefs in themselves. We have singlehandedly done to them what we repeatedly blame society for. We have taken away their belief that they can be somebody in this world.
Unfortunately, there are going to be a plethora of people who say that our youth are incapable of excelling, incapable of becoming whatever they wish, or incapable of greatness; children don’t need that coming from the home front. We must ensure we impress upon them that they are capable of success, they are capable of anything they put their minds to, and they are…worthy. We who demand better, it is time that we stand, united, as teachers, parents, guardians and students to raise the standard for those who will come after us. If we believe we can, we can. If we understand we should, we will. No one should be able to tell us otherwise.
Fighting for you,
Fighting with you,
Karen R. Nelson
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Karen R. Nelson is a senior pursuing a Baccalaureate of Arts in English.