Okay so I was piddling around trying to figure out what to write my next blog about and then it came to me that we should discuss the literacy rates among African American children. Don’t worry! I’m not going to bore you with a bunch of statistics. Instead I want to share with you what I’ve observed. Okay, maybe one statistic. So in 2020 according to wordsrated.com 30% of black children in kindergarten were ready for core instruction compared to 48% white children. Okay, maybe two but this one blew my mind. 23% of American born black children have poor English literacy skills ONLY 3% non American born! Okay, let’s unpack that for a minute……..
I’ve lived in two states thus far. Oklahoma and now Texas. If you know anything about Oklahoma it’s not a very rich state, mainly rural with two maybe three (if you consider the population over 100,000 big) “major” big cities. As far as diversity goes, it’s pretty typical. The more rural the less diverse. You get my drift. When I started teaching, I noticed this pattern with my black students. Mainly they were behind compared to their peers. Of course, I was concerned but even more so at the lackidasical attitude towards it. Not all but the majority, yes. I’m not going to lie. I was frustrated. How did we get like this? Did we lose hope already? Disclaimer: I cared about all of my students, but because I’m Black my expectation for my black students were different. So naturally I’m thinking well, this is my hometown. Median income was 40K. Not a place with advanced employment. You either went to college, worked at Goodyear or go into the military. Not a lot of choices. People like me growing up upper middle class were few and far between.
I move to Texas, a suburb of Houston. I made sure that we didn’t end up in HISD (sorry but I heard it was a nightmare and now it’s even worse, but that’s another blog, maybe two). Immediately I thought man my people are doing so much better down here (in some cases yes). I mean you have TSU, PVAMU. Two prestigious HBCUs. I’m seeing black folk in Maseratis, Bentleys, it’s eye opening coming from podunk Oklahoma. There’s a big BUT to that. Where are the smart, gifted black kids? For the past 5 almost 6 years I’ve been here I haven’t seen a black kid as Valedictorian, Salutatorian in any of the high schools in the area nor have I seen any in the surrounding areas (if I’m wrong someone comment and correct me). Now I’m pretty sure it’s different in Sugar Land area because there are more concentrated out there but here Nada. Why? Okay so one time I for real got my face cracked for assuming. I won’t go into specifics but let’s just say I assumed everyone that went to my kids’ school lived in the neighborhood. Ya’ll I didn’t know they were busing in black and brown kids. This is just like Oklahoma!!! What in the world?!?!?
Being a SAHM really opened my eyes into how different we live. In many cases, I was the only black mom (other than my friend) and of course my son was the only black kid when it came to playdates. I was confused. I mean aren’t we doing better? This is Houston, right? Yes, many black people are advancing but only as two incomes. Not as one. Because of the “black tax” (y’all have to read that book), generational discrepancies, and just out right suppression, we’re still playing catch up. On the other hand, black women are pushing to break more glass ceilings in corporate America, science, military, etc. One income is not an option for many black families. Soooooo where does that leave the kids? As I mentioned, we did playdates, library, children’s museum, zoo, you name it, we did it. And of course I saw no black kids in these spaces. Why? Because they’re in some sort of childcare facility. Now hold up! Before y’all hurt me. I’m not putting down child care HOWEVER we all know quality childcare is expensive and being in this area some of these facilities look like universities and cost like them too! Once again, discrepancy. Y’all I could go on and on on how these moms are living high on the hog but you get it. Nuff said.
Are you seeing a pattern here? Of course, I don’t like to complain without finding a solution. Check out my next blog to find out what can be done to ensure that our kids have the same level of resources and experiences as their white peers.
STAY TUNED to Part 2……………..
BlackTeachingMama2 