A few years ago, there was widespread discussion around Pittsburgh, about whether to lower the academic standards for high school athletes. The advocates of lower standards never argued that such lowered standards would be in the best long term interest of the Black athletes; it just made it convenient for them to play sports, without also achieving academically. What these advocates expected those under-educated athletes to do when they found themselves in the labor market without a college degree was never clarified.
Now, thanks to the Feb. 5, issue of the New Pittsburgh Courier, we have another round of lower standard advocates, only this time, with an extra layer of accusations that the Pittsburgh Promise is guilty of institutional racism. The Courier article even goes further, to personally accuse a long-time progressive and civil rights supporter, Promise Executive Director Saleem Ghubril, of deliberate racism! This steps out of bounds.
The article gives as its basis for criticism, a 2011 report and recommendation by the University of Pittsburgh Center on Race and Social Problems and the absence of a minimum attendance requirement and a 2.5 grade point average in the Kalamazoo, Michigan Promise program, as evidence that the Pittsburgh Promise should lower or eliminate their standards. What they fail to tell us is that the Kalamazoo program does require high school graduates to first gain admission into the institution of higher learning of their choice. And they fail to tell us that the students must maintain a minimum 2.0 GPA, while enrolled in college and graduate within a certain time period. If the students drop below 2.0 the grant is withdrawn until the GPA again rises above 2.0.
Where were the Courier editors when this article was written? Was nobody on duty who could put a check on this careless gun-slinging of racism accusations? That’s what editors are for. This wasn’t an editorial; it was supposed to be a news report! We expect better of the proud media institution that was once seen nationally as the standard bearer of civil rights and human rights. It is time for the New Pittsburgh Courier to raise its standards above 2.5.
The accuser is young and in his youthful exuberance, does not fully appreciate the pain and damage that is done when a person who has dedicated his whole life to helping African American youth and other progressive causes is accused of deliberate racism in a mainstream medium such as the New Pittsburgh Courier. The accuser, Joseph Kennedy, will eventually learn to conduct polemics without personal venom and character assassination. But Kennedy is connected in this Courier article with someone who should know better, School Board Director. Mark Brentley, who takes no responsibility for the academic under-achievement of African American students, despite the fact that he has been on the school board, it seems for 20 years! The mission statement of the Pittsburgh Promise is that they will support school reforms, but that does not make them primarily responsible for the academic success of Pittsburgh Public School students. That is still the responsibility of Mark Brentley and the school board. And they can’t hide their failures behind accusations of racism aimed at others who are actually trying to help African American students succeed.
Is the argument of Kennedy and Brentley that more African Americans would graduate from college if they had a lower bar to jump over? How would the Kalamazoo students maintain a passing GPA at the University of Michigan if they did not learn to master the study discipline and habits of academic achievement above 2.5? How many Kalamazoo Black students graduate from college, dragging the bottom at a 2.0 to 2.5 level of achievement? How competitive would the graduate be in the labor market, even if she/he managed to graduate from college with a 2.0 or 2.5? With the level of real racism that exists throughout America, do we really think Black students can be successful with just minimum academic levels and skills? Has Kennedy or Brentley bothered to find out how the college athletes are doing, who have people take their exams for them, or pass them the answers throughout their college careers?
Or is the problem that some of us lack the true belief that our youth are capable of academic performance at a high level? We all know that students’ performance level goes up when the expectations of the adults in their lives are high. We know also, that their level of performance goes down when adult expectation goes down, or when the adults in their lives really don’t believe that all Black children are capable of academic performance at a high level. And what message are we sending to these students and their self-concepts if we tell them they are too dumb to succeed at a C- grade level, so we’re going to lower it to a D grade level, or just throw the requirement out altogether?
The academic requirement for athletes should remain in place. Black students don’t need more time spent watching television or playing Xbox games; they need less time spent. They don’t need to spend less time studying and learning, they need extended time in class, and before class and after class. Asian students don’t out-perform Black and White students because they have bigger or better brains. Their culture and the adults in their lives have high expectations of academic performance and they believe their children can perform at high levels—and so they do. So while our children are watching television and playing video games, Asian children are designing television electronics and learning to write code for apps and video games.
With the right support, Black students can slam dunk the PSSA exams just like they slam dunk a basketball. Announcer: “He gets the ball. He dribbles; behind his back, between his legs. He crosses over and fakes the non-believers out of their shoes (broken ankles!). He jumps. He shoots. He scores. Nothin’ but net. Swish. 4.0.”
RELATED ARTICLES:
Is the Pittsburgh Promise failing in its promise to Blacks?
https://newpittsburghcourieronline.com/2015/02/04/is-the-pittsburgh-promise-failing-in-its-promise-to-blacks/
The Pittsburgh Promise IS making a difference for African American students
https://newpittsburghcourieronline.com/2015/02/12/the-pittsburgh-promise-is-making-a-difference-for-african-american-students/
Just Sayin’…Kennedy is absolutely right about the Pittsburgh Promise
https://newpittsburghcourieronline.com/2015/02/12/just-sayin-kennedy-is-absolutely-right-about-the-pittsburgh-promise/
