The Miseducation of African Americans
Too often they have been labeled "children at risk," which can imprint youth with a negative self-image. The term, "at risk" has a built-in contradiction. If you, methodically and routinely deny the non-targeted group the same opportunity afforded the targeted group, in a sense, both groups are "at risk." A member of the neglected group risks a life stuck in cycles of unemployment or in a low-wage, dead-end job, while a person from the privileged group risks losing his or her unfair advantage in the job market over the non-targeted group member whenever efforts are made to level the playing field.
Researchers have documented that many of those in the worst living conditions in the United States somehow find a way to make it out of their impoverished past; however, we must not fool ourselves into thinking that these few who make it are the only ones in our community who possess the wherewithal to achieve. Many individuals who are allowed into the higher track are not there solely based on merit. Were it merit alone, our foremothers and forefathers would have been enrolled at institutes of higher learning instead of working as janitors at these same institutions. Admission policies based on race and the pressure of racially discriminatory laws, not merit are what let only a few of our brilliant, deserving, and capable children onto the road to success. How about the rest of our beautiful young people? Just think what would happen if the non-targeted group as a whole obtained an equal playing field on which to learn. Given how non-targeted students are able to make their way within an unequal and inadequate school system, just think what they could be capable of if they were not denied opportunities--Just imagine!
CARE says we must do more than just imagine. We need your help in making equal and high quality education a reality for our children. CARE members know that all children can learn. Once given the opportunity to learn all children can do so. It is our intention to help public schools make this principle a reality. Public schools must create a school climate and culture, and implement programs and philosophies that speak to all learners and not simply to those 20% at the top. If we continue to design curriculum and learning environments that address the needs of only 20% of our student population, we as a nation are "at risk" of losing our economic edge and losing more and more of the next generation to the state penitentiaries.

What Can Be Done
First, educators must establish a core curriculum based on their recognition of the fact that only a small percentage of the population learns at a genius level and a similar percentage is mentally challenged. In between these extremes, most people have enormous ability and potential. Therefore, opportunity, rather than ability, is the critical determinant of success. We must also consider and address the psychological damage suffered by non-targeted groups. A disproportionate number of youth in these groups suffer because they have been made to accept an inferior status. Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the founder of Black History Month and author of the book The Mis-Education of the Negro stated, "If you make a man feel that he is inferior, you do not have to compel him to accept an inferior status, for he will seek it himself." We owe our future more than complacency. Let us get it together--let no one be at risk! We must take CARE of our future today.

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Links to Other Sites
African American Studies at the University of Alabama