The Problem Of African American Educational Achievement

Throughout history, African American weren’t considered the smartest race on earth. With slavery and being for bided to ever touch or learn to read a book, African American became the race that envy having an education. Education became a prime factor in the African American culture. Having an education to an African is having the one-way ticket out of the terrible streets. They believe that if they don’t know nothing they won’t get nothing. In other word, if they aren’t educated their life would remain the same. Way back to slavery, African American would be beaten if they were to open a book and dare to read it instead of cleaning it.

Another major predicament that plays a large role in the amount of African Americans that do not receive a higher education is once they get to college, they do not have a typical or enjoyable experience once there. In today’s society, it is hard to imagine that there is still racism and segregation in schools and colleges today but the reality is, it still does very much exist. This is especially true when black students attend predominantly white universities. Even though most colleges promote themselves by talking about how diverse their

growing even wider due to a verity of reasons. According to the National Assessment of

Over the years there has been a significant decrease in the percentage of African American male success in higher education. Not only does this effect society as a whole, but more importantly this effects the African- American community as well. The high percentage of uneducated African- American males will result in increased crime rate, shortened life span and overall hard life. However this epidemic can be stopped by looking at the contributing factors of why there is a decrease in African-American male success in higher education and how to change it. Throughout the paper I will be addressing the issues as to why there are not more black men in higher education, by looking at the contributing factors such as environmental

The U.S. Department of Education’s Digest of Education Statistics (2010) compiles data on educational trends and statistics in the United States. According to the digest, in 2009 African Americans earned about 10 percent of all bachelor degrees awarded. Furthermore, about 20 percent of African Americans currently hold a college degree. When compared to the same rates for the white non-hispanic population, African Americans are largely lagging behind. The challenges that African Americans are facing must be met by post secondary institutions if this group is going to continue on the path of economic and career prosperity. This need is discussed in the report Minorities in Higher Education:

In the United States alone, minorities have struggled for centuries to earn the basic rights and opportunities as others. African Americans have always worked harder and been treated maliciously just because of the color of their skin. There have been numerous movements, peaceful protests, and brutal battles by black leaders against whites for equality, justice, and a fair chance at a better life. It is safe to say that in the past, blacks were not allowed to progress or have a mind of their own. In comparison to the past, the educational sector for minorities still remains as an extreme societal challenge. For many years, African Americans have been denied educational advancement opportunities. The higher education area suffers greatly for the black population but very few people will address why this matter occurs. Do black families’ socioeconomic status affect the children’s education? The socioeconomic status is easily defined as an individuals or families’ economic and social rank based on income, education level, and occupation. The socioeconomic status of black families does affect their children’s academic success, however; it does not determine their children’s success. This educational disadvantage for black students needs to be addressed because of the lack of financial and emotional support that minority students receive due to their parents lack of experience and knowledge with higher education. Many black students become a product of their environment because

Today's education is often viewed as failing in its goal of educating students, especially those students characterized as minorities, including African American, Hispanic, and Appalachian students (Quiroz, 1999). Among the minority groups mentioned, African American males are affected most adversely. Research has shown that when Black male students are compared to other students by gender and race they consistently rank lowest in academic achievement (Ogbu, 2003), have the worst attendance record (Voelkle, 1999), are suspended and expelled the most often (Raffaele Mendez, 2003; Staples, 1982), are most likely to drop out of school, and most often fail to graduate from high school or to earn a GED (Pinkney, 2000; Roderick, 2003).

Among the nation 's largest Division I universities, the graduation rate for black students was 44% in 2013, compared with 66% for white students (Marklein). This fact along with the article, A Letter to My Nephew, by James Baldwin from the stimulus material, sparked my interest. I began to research the general topic of African Americans in college. Baldwin wrote about the idea of white americans intentionally hindering the success of black americans. As he states that white americans did not expect african americans to aspire to excellence and made sure that african americans knew in as many ways as possible that they were worthless human beings. Researching more into this idea, I found a correlation between African American success

Historically black colleges and universities, otherwise known as HBCUs, have played an integral role in advancing the education of underprivileged black teenagers since their inception after the American Civil War. They have had students extremely well known in their fields today, such as billionaire entertainer Oprah Winfrey, the first African American Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, and civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. Though their graduation rates tend to be around 1 in 3, they have produced a majority of successful African American professionals. For the continued advancement of African Americans, HBCUs are necessary for offering educational opportunities that their students had been historically denied and presently out of financial reach, while promoting strong family values and equality that may be lacking at traditional schools and displaying positive African American role models in their alumni and staff.

African American males in higher education have captured the attention of researchers; sadly, exhausted amount of research has focused primarily on the failing black male, while little has been done to address the problem. This paper focuses on factors that influence the perceptions and self-esteem of African American males in higher education, and explore why their educational achievements are overwhelmingly lower than any other racial/ethnic group. Specifically, this review focuses on how research in education or the lack thereof has contributed to this particular issue. The review of literature in this paper leads to two research questions: (1) What efforts if any have been directed to address the negative outcomes of black males in higher education? (2) What other external factors have prevented black males from achieving their objectives at a lower rate than any other racial or ethnic group? The following 10 reviews attempt to answer the above questions.

African-American women have not received much consideration in the literature although they are a rising presence on college campuses (Strayhorn & Johnson, 2014). In fact, nationally 4 million women are enrolled in community colleges, 36% are African-American raising children alone, in which adds additional challenges in improving persistence and graduation (Goldrick-Rab & Sorensen, 2011, Institute for Women’s Policy Research, 2013, American Association of Community Colleges, 2016, Shapiro, Dundar, & Huie, 2017). More specifically, female, single heads of households, lack consistent and affordable daycare, have problems balancing their family and work responsibilities, and are more likely to drop out due to financial issues (Kuh, Kinzie, Buckley, Bridges, & Hayek, 2006, Goldrick-Rab & Sorensen, 2011, Rose & Hill, 2013). Furthermore, in an examination of six-year completion results from the fall 2010 cohort states, over 58% of black women have attended college, however, only 29% graduated with a degree or certificate

In the early colonies of /Eastern America, education was vital to the civilization of their new world. As immigrants from Europe, they heavily relied on their own intellect, or the common knowledge of their own country. All the ideas and intellectual knowledge of their home country was typically the only education they can fully trust as they begin their journey to a new civilized country.

One of the biggest problems Africans Americans faced in America is Segregation, discrimination, racism, prejudice, rebellion, religion, resistance, and protest. These problems have helped shape the Black struggle for justice. Their fight for justice marks a long sequence of events towards their freedom. Provisions of the Constitution affect the operation of government agencies and/or the latitude chief executives and legislatures in the creation and implementation of policies today. The rights and passage of Amendments granted to African Americans in the Constitution serve as a source of “first principles” governing the actions and policies of elected and appointed public servants across the United States. The 15th Amendment Equal Rights: Rights

The United States has a history of denying people of color, women, immigrants, and indigenous people an equal and equitable access to the civil rights and liberties bestowed upon other citizens of this country. This sentiment rings especially true, as it relates to education, as these groups have all been disadvantaged and disenfranchised at different points in American history. The disservice that the United States has constructed against the success and progression of African-Americans, should be more duly noted, as they are the diversity group the most in need of pedagogical attention. Consistent with the structure which exist in the political, economic, and social systems of the United States, African-Americans, continue to have the

In a publication titled ‘Black Women in Academe’, author Yolanda Moses describes how “isolation, invisibility, hostility, indifference, and a lack of understanding of the Black women’s experiences are all too often part of the climate Black women may face on campuses” (Moses, 1989). The detrimental environment surrounding these women frequently results in sullenness, lack of social assertiveness, and belief that they are less competent than male students. Even if time spent at an academic institution is minimal, with this kind of prejudice faced at an early age, any woman- black or otherwise, would suffer the rest of their life. In response to the discrimination faced at universities, some have created programs to aid black students and other minorities; these programs tend to generalize the needs of all its black students and do not fully support black women specifically.