I agree with the conclusion of Eugene Kane's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel column, "Black boys stuck at bottom of the class."
Sometimes, the only answer why so many black boys don't do well at school isn't poverty or bad teachers but lies in the way they are raised and the households where they grow up. It's about a failure of parents to make education a priority from the time their children are young.
Kane calls that a "tough truth to admit."
Actually, it's very simple. It's obvious that the lack of parental involvement is at the heart of the academic failure of black boys.
When one is looking for solutions to a problem, it's important to be honest about what's going on.
It's simple to admit the truth. It's just that sometimes it hurts.
I have a problem with the title of Kane's column, "Black boys stuck at bottom of the class."
The words can be interpreted differently, but to me the title sounds so defeatist.
The black boys are "stuck" at the bottom academically.
No, they aren't "stuck."
They're there because they aren't doing what they need to do to be at the top. Their parents aren't doing what they should be doing to monitor and encourage their sons.
The failure to admit the truth and to avoid responsibility is unconscionable.
The fact is there's an epidemic of bad parenting in the country.
It's sad that so much potential is being wasted.
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