Education & Economics in Black America
As the turmoil and disruption in black inner city neighborhoods reaches unparalleled levels, and mass incarceration continues its exponential explosion, it is becoming increasingly impossible for African Americans to ignore the direct correlation between the under-education and mis-education of our youth and our pending demise. When I was approached by “Ettelloc” Publishing and asked to take on the responsibility of addressing this book in a single volume, I jumped at the chance — primarily because I am immensely passionate about the need to holistically educate our youth. Secondly, it was an opportunity to work with a black business.
What I love about the process of writing a book or dissertation is the fact that no matter how much you think you know, you will uncover so much more through the diligent research that is necessary to present an accurate and well-organized thesis. When I sat down to write The Mis-education of Black Youth in America, it was clear that the task would be a daunting one. One of the first things that I knew I had to do was to elucidate the point that education is not simply the acquisition of academic skills. Because of the manner in which the term ‘education” is often used, it has become synonymous with academic achievement; however, authentic education is much more.
Authentic education should be viewed as the holistic experience through which a person, beginning at the point of self-awareness, starts to accrue knowledge, skills and assets through which they will successfully engage the challenges of life. In other words, an education is every experience that a person engages that prepares them for what lies ahead. Education begins with the discovery of self, and this is important to understand, because the lack of identity is one of the greatest impediments for blacks in America.
When a person does not have a lucid perspicacity of who they are, it will lead to multitudinous other deficiencies, including a low self-image, low self-esteem, self-hatred, an inferiority complex and more. A person who is not clear about who they are, where they come from and what they are capable of can easily be misguided and misinformed. The lack of identity can lead to the proclivity to seek acceptance from others, even when others are inherently hostile toward blacks. In fact, there is empirical evidence that reveals that the lack of identity tends to lead to an innate need to be accepted by others, at all costs — even at the sacrifice of dignity and power (Rick Wallace, The Influence of Cognitive Distortions on the Social Mobility and Mental Health of African Americans, 2015).
Because self-discovery, by way of identity, is the first phase of the educational process, and arguably the most important, it is paramount for black parents to play a major role in ensuring that their child is cognizant of who they are. Psychologist, Guy Greenfield, refers to parents as the primary label givers (Greenfield, 1988). What this means is that parents have the greatest influence on how a child views themselves — their self-image. Through what is known as reflected appraisals, parents have a major influence on what a child thinks of themselves, as well as how they view others.
When I observe many of the conversations that take place on numerous platforms concerning the mis-education of black youth, one of the common themes is the interpolation of erroneous ideas and concepts by “experts” that present poorly researched postulations. This only further exacerbates the confusion around this issue. It must be understood that the systematic enigma of mis-education is, in itself, a highly complex dynamic that functions as an integral part of a much larger machine that is focused on achieving the complete subjugation or annihilation of the black race. There is no quick-fix to this problem. This does not mean that there is not a viable modality through which this challenge can be engaged and overcome — there is. However, the solution to the problem of our youth being mis-educated requires in-depth thought, detailed planning and an uncompromising commitment to see the plan through in its entirety.
Throughout The Mis-education of Black Youth in America, I present some thought provoking concepts that have the capacity to assist in ensuring that our children are adequately educated, preparing them to go out into the world of enterprise and compete — not as an employee, but as a business owner, private contractor and personal investor. Ownership and the practice of black group economics is the only way that blacks will be able to develop generational wealth, which is an essential element for the elevation and empowerment of our race (Rick Wallace, The Mis-education of Black Youth in America, 2015).
While Capitalism provides opportunity for individuals to build wealth, there is a dark side of capitalism that most experts and politicians do not wish to discuss. The simple definition of capitalism is:
- Having ownership of the necessary resources and tools, while using the labor and efforts of others to enrich oneself.
Dr. Claud Anderson, one of the greatest champions of black group economics in America, has been quoted as saying,” Blacks are trapped in the lowest level of a real life monopoly game (Anderson, 1994).”
Anyone who has ever played the game of monopoly understands that everyone starts off with an equal amount of money, which levels the field of competition. At the point of emancipation, blacks owned less than one half of one percent of the nation’s aggregate wealth, and we were never given a genuine opportunity to complete, and when we did begin to develop ownership, we sold it out for the opportunity to integrate. Today, 150 years removed from legalized chattel slavery, blacks still own less than one half of one percent of this nation’s wealth.
Basically, the fact that capitalism demands the presence of a working class to be used to leverage the efforts of entrepreneurs, means it intrinsically requisites the perpetual existence of poverty — generally involving a specific and identified group of people. In America, this group is the same group that was chosen as free labor from the inception, although others will find themselves being a part of the impoverished.
If we are ever to rise up out of our current situation, we must empower ourselves, through black group economics — practiced vertically — and we must empower our youth through holistic education, so that they will be able to take the resources generated through black group economics to successfully compete against the youth of other races for an increasing piece of the pie.
The term “race” comes from the idea of an economic race to industrialize the America, it is directly and inextricably bound to the idea of competition. While the term has become synonymous with ethnic identity, we must not lose sight of its origin and the significance it bears. We must own and control resources in order to compete in and win the race. To this point, we have simply been used as pawns to facilitate the advancement of other races, but the time to actually become engaged in the race is now! ~ Dr. Rick Wallace, Ph.D.
