Re: Want a date with an educated black man?? Good
This is a very complex issue with no easy solution.
…education ( for some, not all) has not become valued as a way of getting out of poverty---I went to a high school ( mainly populated by African-Americans) and sports were a huge focus--the advanced classes were usually populated by non-blacks and I remember some of my friends talking about someone and saying they were acting too "white" by being interested in some of the advanced placement courses.
This is true in many communities. I am a Latino with an MBA and an MDiv. I too had people in my community saying that I was turning my back on them by pursuing higher education. I remember a rather rude phrase that says some people want to “fart higher than their ass.” My grandson had problems in middle school because kids who study and get good grades get beaten up over it.
I recently read a political analysis of Sen. Barack Obama that referred to the ‘crab in the basket syndrome’ referring to the attitude prevalent in some minority communities of not allowing members of the community to rise above them. The writer was referring specifically to Jeremiah Wright but, as a long-term gay rights activist, I have seen the same attitude in the GLBT community.
To a certain extent, education can be overrated. I have met my fair share of idiots on their way to getting diplomas or ones who have received them. I'm not saying that one should not get an education, but I am saying that stating a person is smart solely based on his or her educational statistics or background is a stretch.
Formal education does not make anyone ‘smart.’ It does however open doors. Both my grandmothers were illiterate widows who raised their many children in poverty during the Great Depression era. However, they valued education. So my parents and their siblings went to school and were able to provide better lives for their children. When I started in the corporate world nearly 40 years ago, I was a college dropout and got an entry-level job at a large financial firm. I did well and the company paid for me to complete my education through the MBA level. By the time I left the company, those opportunities no longer existed. As a department head, I was not allowed to hire anyone unless they already had an MBA. There were several people I hired over the years who were disappointments and were weeded out but often without the degree you can’t even get an interview.
There are also some very serious problems in the American education system that are racist at their core.
Some schools pigeonhole minority students into educational tracks that do not provide a strong base for higher education. My daughters and several other people I know have had to be super vigilant to make certain that their kids take the right classes because teachers and counselors often steer Latino and African American students away from college track programs. My sister, who is a school counselor, was shocked to learn that her daughter had to take remedial courses in college, not because her grades were bad, but because her high school had not provided her the prerequisites to take first year college courses.
In many schools and communities discipline is different for white and minority youth. I know an African American young man who was expelled from school and criminally charged for throwing a cigarette into a wastebasket and causing a fire. He ended up in a reform school, which was basically prison for minors. Reform schools and prisons are the best places for young people to learn to be criminals and become friends with criminals. This particular young man is now 24 and has spent nearly 10 years of his life incarcerated. The percentage of Latino and African American young men in prison is astounding, not because they commit more crimes but because they are treated more harshly by the system.
black men are disproportionally less educated than even their sister counerparts so apparently it's hard for a sister to get a smart black date. any thoughts??
If 60% of college degrees go to women, then ALL women will have it tougher to find an equally educated partner. In the black community I have read stats where the discrepancy is getting to be 80/20!!, women to men college degrees. You do the math.
Going back to the OP’s point, education and intelligence are very different things and don’t always go together. Also, I think the statistics on education may suggest an economic disparity between men and women that is far from reality. My impression is that more men than women tend to get into vocations that do not require a college degree but may provide good compensation. For example, a social worker may be required to have a master’s degree but her husband can potentially earn substantially more as an electrician.
