.'
Reverend Jesse Jac on,
recently returned from a trip to
Africa, is urging us to put aside
the word I"Black" and call oursel
ves "African-American." I see
nothing wrong with this term as
a way to describe peoples of
African heritage; I often use it
myself when writing or speak
ing.
But we need to be careful not
to misuse it. Often the folks who
advocate using the term
"African-American" sound very
militant. They emphasize the
African part of African
American, and say that using it
will m e us remember who we
are and where we come frotn.
But in fact e term is often to
make a statement about as
similation - the real emphasis
being on American. The mes-
Educati
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sage is that we're exactly like all
other Americans, except for the
fact that we just happen to be
African-Americans.
Historically, such "integra
tion by hypenation" has been
used to dilute the identity of op
pressed people. When Jews in
this ��try, for example, began
calhng themselves "Jewish
Americans" after World War IT
it wasn't to call attention to their
Jewish identity but to downplay
it - to give expression (0 the
myth that anti-Semitism would
go away if Jews would only for
get that they were Jewish and
look, talk and act like "everyone
else," meaning middle class
white Americans.
.
Thl Way or Black
Empo ent
By Dr. Lenora Fulanl
Similarly, there are attempts
to bamboozle people of African
heritage into believing that
racism in this country would go
away if only we all turned oursel
ves into members of the Cosby
family. They're asking u to
make a deal; call yourself
African, but don't make any
demands; glorify the past, but
deny the present and ignore" the
future; do "culture" but f get
about politics - unless it's the
tweedle-dum or tweedle-dee
kind of politics which doesn't
challenge the white supremacist
bi-partisan political monopoly
Time to discard 0
By W·
The first grad ting class of
the 21st century is now in the
first grade. We cannot prepare
them to compete in the future if
our id about education are
rooted in the past. It is time to .
discard the following outdated
ideas about educating our
children, and rep ce them with
an approach to education that
reflects today's - tomorrows
- realities.
Outdated Idea #1: "A child's
education begins at age 6 and
ends at age 18: WRONG. Every
child needs a strong early
childhood esxperience, to lay a
foundation for later learning.
And to compete strongly in
today's economy, adults need to
continu their education after
high school - at college, voca
tional or technical schools, or
extra classes to develop new
skills.
Outdated Idea 2: "Educa
tion is just reading, writing and
artimetic." WRONG. Our
young people have a range of
other learning needs that
schools must help meet, from
family life education to posjtive
involvement in thecommunity.
Outdated Idea #3: wEduca
tion on Iy happens in schools, in
classrooms, ,at desks."
WRONG. "S I business and
school community partnership
have shown us that young
people do some of their most
important learning in hands-on,
active projects and tasks.
Outdated Idea #4:. "Educa
tion happens when teachers
talk." WRO G. Education hap
pens when students listen. Stu-
dents listen when teachers care.
We need to show our support
for .m<?re committed, caring
teachers.
Outdated Idea #5: "Going to
s.chool ensures a young person
an education." WIRONG.
Schools cannot do the job alone:
they need the active involve-
that runs this country. What it
all comes down to is that you can
talk Black (" African"), but
you've got to be white
("American"). .
One way to tell that caJ1ing
ourselves "African-Americans"
�'t a threat to the racists is that
the powers-that-be don't mind i
at aUl The New York Times and
the rest of the corporate media,
for example, don't have nearly
. as much trouble with the term
"African-Americans" as they do
with the work "independent."
Believe me, I know!
We can never forget that the
vast majority of us have not been
assimilated and are not going to
be in an America that made its
fortune from the enslavement of
African �omen and men and
continues to profit from our un
employment and poverty - an
America ruled by a white cor
porate elite through political
parties which exclude us, ignore
our Agenda and insult our
leaders, an America in which we
and other people of color are in-
deed second-class citizens. I
The most recent upsurge of
rage in Miami was not a "riot"
but the-latest batte in a war being
fought by poor people facing an
occupation army and who -like I
the Palestinians - have nothing
else for weapons except stones
and bottles. j _
This eruption of anger repre
ents the growing recognition on
the part of the poor and working
class Black community that
Continued on Plge 11
I I I
dated ideas
ment of parents, businesses,
churches and other government
agencies in helping our young
peop to learn.
Outdated Idea #6: "Educa
tion is from Monday through
friday, and begins at 9 and ends
at 3." WRONG. Our young
people need opportunities to
learn and grow afte school
hours and on weekends. They
need to write, stage and act in
plays, to be in the school band,
to practice sports and attend
dances. This is learning too.
Outdated #7: "Education
begins in September and ends in I
, June." WRO G. Studies warn f
us of "sumer decay," learning
losses ¥oung people suffer
during the summar months if
they get no educational
sitimulus at all. We ought to
offer our young peop e more
summer progams that combine
learning and fun.
Outdated Idea 9: "Some chil
den cannot learn. WRO G. AU
children can learn. We have to
set achievement goals for our
schools, pearents, churches and
communities and pass them
before we give up on a single
student I
"Let the freedmen be emp ad into the West. Give them
land and something to start on. Teach them to read and
rite. Then they . I be somebody.·
. - Sojourner Truth
"If you can't fly, rU{l. If you can't run
waJk. If you can't aJk, crawl. Su by ali
me¥s keep movi ..
- Dr. rtln L. King, Jr.
,-.
CARTER
G. ¥.OO050N
I
"The achievements 0 the Negro pr perty
him as a fac or In
and a maker of