In response to your July 20 article, “Racial gap in schools persists,” as a 49-year-old African-American male, I find it disheartening that we have become an intellectual bastion of excuses. When some of our children do not perform well in school, we blame the teachers. When they drop out, we blame it on racism, poor schools or whatever excuse will do for the moment.
No ethnic group is genetically pre-disposed to fail, so why is the gap between white and black students widening? My answer to that question is an ugly indictment of some parents, but it is what it is. Some of the parents who complain about their child’s grades or the fact that they have exited school altogether, are more popular at the local club or beauty salon than they are at their child’s school. Some of them have never spent a dime on an educational tool for their child, but they have money for beer and nights out at the clubs. Some of these parents allow their children to drop out of school, sleep and watch television all day, terrorize the community at night, then turn around and complain about the blight that their environment has become.
When their child is arrested for criminal behavior, they blame racism. Even if there is a dead body at the morgue as a result of their child’s behavior, they still cry foul. Until parents are held to account for the collapse of discipline in their homes, the gap will continue to widen, and we as African Americans have no one to blame but ourselves.
The time for excuses has expired. No more excuses — a generation is depending on us!
Curtis Sims
Lake Stevens
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