merica
c ildr n living i
rican
clothing. hairstyle, etc. - every-
thiDg • • cal except the
color of their · said Mar­
garet Beale Spencer, Friday
� keynote speaker.
But tile girl chose the
female convincccl she
prettiest of the two.
She along with r African
American children were a part
of20-year research r� on
a nationally televised sho ,
Blacks in White Americ ,"
DSTRorr - S ran
thr the of African-
AlDene:a after a little African
erican girl chose bite
female over of her own kind
ed ·ch oae i pre-
the same
depidiDg the effects on African
Ameicans living in a
predominantly white society.
"We ha not come very far
a people: said Spencer, At­
lanta, Georgia Emory UniVer­
sity Profe or, adding, wh t
these children eipressed fol­
Io a SO-year pattern of
African American children
which proved, children in­
directly absorb societal norms.
B if a child is exposed to a
o positive environment such as
one which is Africancentric
they are able to make up their
min for themselves.
One little girl featured in
-Slack in White America" who
attended a pre-school that rein­
forced cultural values not only
told peacer the African
American female was the more
attractive one, e lso said,
"She' Black and ' beauti­
ful."
All children re born
egocentric and with high leVels
of self esteem, Spenccr . d, But
they grow older they become
more socialized and cognizant
of how they are perceived.
Poe example, Spencer al-
Black
. "Being AfriCan h always
meant being hi-tech: said
renowned Profes or, Educa­
tional Psychologist and His­
torian of "Georgi State
University in Atlanta, Asa Hil­
liard, IU, Ed.D.
Hilliard, addressed the
Detroit Bo rd of Education
and an audience of ap­
proximately SOO, ,at the third
annual African-American
Child Placed In Crisis Con­
ference on Saturday, January 20
t Cobo Hall's Conference
Center.
He said, "Contrary to
popular opinion, there is such a
thing African culture, notice
. I didn't ay Blac as I didn't
want to emph ize race, just
culture. "
Hillard aid, "I id nothing
about poverty, even though a lot
of peopl think th t we are our
cl .1 didn't y nything bout
being oppressed.
"Many people think that our
ide .ty is our condition .. " He
. d, "I might be oppressed but
I'm not the ppressed, said Hil­
liard. My identity is not my
cia s, I might be poor, low
cw.seo but .. who 1 .
th . r merely the condition you
. migh find me in.
- Even y race ot my
identity, my culture i my iden­
tity, that which we created.
together as people' through
·t struggle. "
,.13
Ame ica -
DETROIT - Words can hit a
child hard a tis ,said ora
'U\'lDQJlOn, workshop consul­
ant.
Livingston, te cher from
Crock t V tional/Technical
Center told crowd of con­
feree when de ling with " t.
risk" c ildren ctions don't
nece arily pea louder than
w rds.
M ny children in the . t1
'public .school y tem h ve
younger paren than on in
past gener tions, Livingston
said. -
"You have young mother
with no p renting kills,"
Livi on said, ddin ho
abu their children me tally
1··. r: and ph j. Uy.
o neverate chertells
child, t ey nev r do anything
right i�ChOOI. it becomes
"self-ful ing prophecy."
The hild begins to int rnal­
izc the neg tivi m and is condi ..
tion d a f ilure, he aid.
Livin ton cited an experi­
m nt performed with fleas.
Flea have a tendency to
jump, she aid. 0 if a group i
put in ide of j r,theywilljurnp
and hit their he d . But aft r a
while of jumping nd hitting
their he d they top, hid.
Fin lly th ex - rimenter can
put the fie in a "petri dish"
which i ab ut one inch in
height and the fleas will n t
jump.
This exanipl demonstrates
"at ris "children, sh aid .
If the children re con t ntly
beaten up mentally as welJ
phy ically they begin to 10 e the
will w 'r alJ born with.
In te d of teacher neg ti ",­
ly di ciplining youngster , po i­
tive reinforcement can be sub­
stituted, he aid.
Children of all ge and .
sizes, especi By African
American male like to be
praised and rewarded for ac­
complishment , she aid, d-
ding even if all the teacher doe
. mile, p th m on the b ck or
ut a ic er 0 their hirt .
"Te cher can m e dif­
erence ne mind at a time,"
ivin too aid. "I dare you to
o b c to y ur ch I t mak
difference."
luded to the Atlanta child mur­
ders in.the early 198Os.
"This wa a horrendous
period for African American
children," said, pointing out,
ho ever th who were a little
more �cancentric, the were
b e to p,pe better.
"Children really eed
African Americanism infused
in their lives," Spencer . d.
"The majority of African
Americ n parents are not
teaching their children African
Ameri history. We can no
give African American children
Eurotentric material and say
learn toyour maximum level.
Black bo are especially at
ncer continued. "The
of spontaneous bor-
tio infants who die in the
• first yc;ar of life are male.
Afri . bqys eed
prot .
Co trary to the myth of
mothers raising daughters and
justloviOg sons, parents need to
discipline nd provide models
for both gender , Spencer said.
"(Women) need to learn ho
to be women not only from their
mother but from men {too),"
o
. �
due or
conv ne to aid
cool
ra
. \
. she said.
African Americans Iso
need to get away from being
co umer oriented . ety and
become more cademically in­
clined from the cradle to the
coffin, Spencer said.
e have to celebrate our
culture everyday," Spencer said.
"African American children are
blessed to be African American
everyday.-
e
pO
i ive!
• RIGGS