Customer Reviews

African American Males in School and Society: Practices and Policies for Effective Education

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This anthology covers a diverse array of topics on black males and their education, including computer classes, gifted program selection, special education courses, etc. It roughly covers elementary school to the university level.

This books mixes academic summaries with personal anecdotes. This may frustrate academics who want something more rigorous or everyday people that want something more chatty. Also, many chapters start with theory and past studies and end with bullet-pointed recommendations. Again, this may frustrate the two opposing types of readers.

There is a very noticeable absence here. The authors NEVER state that black male students would benefit from having more black teachers. The book quotes many black male students who can name black and non-black instructors that they admire. I am sure the contributors did not want to be essentialist and argue that like must teach like. However, I also wonder if there is a resignation here that assumes the teaching pool will remain predominantly white even as public school student populations become more and more black.

This book is fair-minded in its criticism. It does suggest that institutional racism and the racism of teachers may hurt black male students. However, it also covers black male students that do not take rigorous courses, drop out of school voluntarily, start fights or conduct gang activities that get them expelled, etc.. Many will appreciate the coverage of push and pull dynamics that have created this educational crisis.

This book is sure to be helpful for many undergraduate education majors that must write papers. I am almost sure one of the photos on the cover comes from another book on black males and education.