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Title: Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb: A Study of Academic Disengagement by John U. Ogbu, Astrid Davis ISBN: 0-8058-4516-X Publisher: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc Pub. Date: April, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $32.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.33 (3 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Truly interesting but sometimes looks in the wrong direction
Comment: Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb, by the late Dr. John Ogbu, is an interesting attempt to explain the educational gap between two races: black and white. The fact of the matter is that Caucasian students do significantly better than African-American students in every aspect and level of education. John Ogbu's intentions are to help the reader understand nearly every aspect that attributes to this discontinuity, and he is successful at his attempt to do so. Even though I don't agree with every point he argues (blacks are lazy), I must say that the amount of time and research that had to have went into this project is truly amazing. He spent a considerable amount of time in the Shaker Heights Community doing countless interviews and research. The statistics that he imparts on the reader are truly overwhelming in the sense that this problem is so obvious, but isn't being immediately addressed. Being an African-American student in a suburban school, I walked into this book with certain views as to why this gap exists, but after reading it, I have come to the realization that this educational gap is a huge problem that exists everywhere and needs to be addressed before blacks continue to fall behind. It raises the question, "Is education integrated but still not equal?"
Rating: 4
Summary: Much more than "BLACKS NEED TO CHANGE THE WAY THEY ACT..."
Comment: I was a student of Dr. John Ogbu's and worked for him as a research assistant. Dr. Ogbu was the foremost specialist on educational issues of social and ethnic classes, focusing on inner-city minorities. I say "was" because Dr. Ogbu passed away on Thursday, Aug. 21,2003.
Just because some might say, "Ogbu didn't blame the achievement gap on White racism..." does not mean racism and cultural and class privilege has nothing to do with the educational disengagement of people of color. Dr. Ogbu fought for social justice issues and cultural understanding. He never taught where to place blame but rather, inherent in the discipline of cultural anthropology, he forced us to look at history, political economy, classism, racism, structures of cultural power and propagation, sociology, etc. Thus, from the breadth of Dr. Ogbu's work in general and this book in particular, one should conclude that the educational disengagement of minority youth (particularly Black youth) in this country has unique characteristics that are founded on various historical situations, many of which have been systematic, intentional and clearly Euro-centric and racist. Having said this, I implore the reader not to simplify Dr. Ogbu's work into a blame-shifting issue. Racism exists and race matters. This does not mean "every White person is racist." People of all colors can be racist. Cultural understanding is paramount in becoming an empathetic society. Dr. Ogbu dutifully accomplished this in his teaching and also encouraged us to fight against social and economic power structures that all too often exacerbated the disenfranchisement of certain classes of people.
Rating: 5
Summary: Objective Study
Comment: Any open minded person that reads this book will quickly discover the obvious; The Black community in Shaker Heights, Ohio is in deep need of Dr. Phil McGraw's "Self Matters." Ogbu produces page upon page of community respondents culturally brainwashed to focus their intellect on a history they have not lived, and an available future that they cannot fathom. Ogbu's tone is harsh. His main argument: The Black community's cultural beliefs and practices are not conducive to success in academics. This is where the controversy lies. Because the book doesn't blame the testing gap on White racism, his analysis must be wrong. Simply read what students themselves are saying and draw your own conclusions.
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Title: No Excuses: Closing the Racial Gap in Learning by Stephan Thernstrom, Abigail Thernstrom ISBN: 0743204468 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 14 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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Title: The Black-White Test Score Gap by Christopher Jencks, Meredith Phillips ISBN: 0815746091 Publisher: The Brookings Institution Pub. Date: October, 1998 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Young, Gifted, and Black : Promoting High Achievement Among African-American Students by Theresa Perry ISBN: 0807031542 Publisher: Beacon Press Pub. Date: 17 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Learning While Black: Creating Educational Excellence for African American Children by Janice E. Hale, V. P. Franklin ISBN: 0801867762 Publisher: Johns Hopkins Univ Pr Pub. Date: December, 2001 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: Bridging the Achievement Gap by John E. Chubb, Tom Loveless ISBN: 0815714017 Publisher: The Brookings Institution Pub. Date: November, 2002 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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