A smart man once said, “be the change you wish to see in the

world.” However, it is a shame that so few of us want to be the

change that is desperately needed in today’s society.

A smart man once said, “be the change you wish to see in the world.” However, it is a shame that so few of us want to be the change that is desperately needed in today’s society.

This past weekend I traveled to Durham, to take the Praxis II exam. This is a test all potential teachers must take in order to become an educator. There were roughly 60 people at my site. Of those 60, there were roughly seven males. Of those seven, only two, myself included, were men of color.

The lack of men willing to help the future generations disturbed me, but most importantly it showed me how desperately we need educated black men to step up for future generations.

Voting is not the answer, nor is telling our kids to go to school. Because in both of those situations we still leave our future’s fate in the hands of professionals that are not people of color.

Black Americans make up approximately 9.2 percent of teachers in America. We send our kids to school where 90.8 percent of the time they learn from people who have different cultural, ethnic, and educational backgrounds. Thus, many times our students feel the educational system is not for them.

This is not saying white teachers cannot do a great job instructing our kids. But when considering things such as high school dropout rates, lack of blacks in leadership roles, and a system that builds us up to be followers and not leaders, it is hard to ignore that the lack of black educators has a direct effect on the educational struggles we face today, especially among young black males.

It is a shame that we see more black males in our repeater world history class than we do in our advanced placement history class. And it is even more shameful that in many of our minds, that has become the norm.

In a survey I presented to the high school class I teach at Eastern Guildford High School, 25 out of 26 of my students told me they have had two or less black male teachers in their lives.

It was sad to hear that from white students, but to hear that from black students simply broke my heart. Have you ever wondered why black males are falling so far behind in education?

We are losing far too many black males. Not only are we becoming ghost in the classroom, where black male students are less likely to graduate than their white peers and more often suspended and expelled, but we are also losing them to the streets, where they face more incidents of violence and incarceration.

Maybe it is because too many men do not see the importance of the classrooms. For many black kids who spend more time with their teacher and coaches than their own parents, this has a lasting affect that says, “Education is not for me.”

I will be the very first to admit that teachers are highly underpaid. However, it is interesting how we have so many problems in our society, yet so few black male teachers to help solve these problems.

Sadly, only 47 percent of black American males graduate high school, according to a 2010 report by the Schott Foundation, a Cambridge, Mass.-based organization that funds programs to help public schools.

Also, black males are twice as likely to face suspensions or expulsions than white and Hispanic males, a Tampa Tribune analysis found.

In addition to that, black males are three times more likely to be suspended from school than white males and five times more likely to be expelled.

With stats like that, it is no coincidence that black males lead in prisoners and future prisoners yet are at the bottom of teachers and future teachers. While many politicians, businessmen, and journalists tell our kids to get an education, many of them are less than willing to get involved in the field because the pay sucks.

Well I present this question to black men; how much money do people have to pay for our black men to play a larger role in our kids lives? Since when are personal economic advances more important than investing in the future generation’s education?

To be honest, in this day and age the problem is not raising your child. The problem is raising these children.

We talk about the need for black male role models and never look at the need for black teachers, especially black male teachers.

Do you think black males do not know enough about our history? Well when was the last time you saw a black man take the initiative to teach it?

CNN tells us about the lack of black technology leaders. However, they forgot to mention that many black students grow up never learning about their leadership potential because many of them never had black teachers teaching them about black leaders.

We need to be the image so many of us rarely saw.

That image is a black male commanding a class and building the future generations up to know that being an educator is an important profession for black males.

If we continue to fail as educators of our future, then imagine the lasting impact it will have on black kids for generations to come.

[email protected] And follow him on Twitter @TrumaineWasHere

 

• Trumaine McCaskill, Opinion Editor