I am sorry WT but this might be one of the most backwoods, red-neck, hillbilly ignorant statements I have ever seen ... and my family comes from the hollers of Knott county Kentucky. Really, VERY racist. I don't even see how you could type that with a straight face - and, frankly, I don't give a damn if you "formed an opinion". If this is how you feel then it was a jaded opinion and you are one of those lethargic old dudes we are waiting to die off so our country can move forward socially.
To be quite honest you should be ashamed of yourself for even thinking that claptrap much less putting it to paper (or computer screen).
Ignorance is bliss..... it fuels racism.
Plenty of educated discourse is out there, beyond random Oklahoma Sooner fans expressing their sad biased opinions. Of course I know you know that CoolM...
I love seeing this type of report. Small, baby steps, but progress. I'm including the link because the entire article about blacks in college support many of the statements made in this debate.
The article starts with this:
Black Student College Graduation Rates Remain Low, But Modest Progress Begins to Show
Nationwide, the black student graduation rate remains at a dismally low 42 percent. But the rate has improved by three percentage points over the past two years.
More encouraging is the fact that over the past seven years the black student graduation rate has improved at almost all of the nation's highest-ranked universities.
Link:
http://www.jbhe.com/features/50_blackstudent_gradrates.html
More good info:
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmcensus1.html
College & University
Prison or College?
This has been a phrase used by many in the media and with organizations who are both for and against black interests. It has become one of those quotes which has ingrained itself in the memories of Americans so much so that it is assumed to be fact. This is one of the most misleading phrases used in reference to black men.
College vs Prison
According to government figures 1,034,000 African American men were enrolled in a degree granting institution in 2009 compared to 841,000 who were counted in the nations jails and prisons during the same year. And of those Black men in jail and prison only 164,400 are of typical college age (18-24). In fact even a decade ago when overall numbers suggested there were Black men in jail than in school, college aged Black men enrolled in a degree granting institution far outnumbered their peers who were incarcerated.
Another interesting read:
http://blackdemographics.com/education-2/college-university/
Black Men in College: Is There a Crisis?
Recently, several news sources documented the abysmal underrepresentation of black males in colleges and universities in the United States. Earlier this year, many people interested in black male achievement forwarded online the Observer-Dispatch article from which the "dying breed" characterization came: "Report: 4 Percent of College Students Are Black Males." The article covers the laudable quest of Utica College to recruit more minority and low-income students.
In an apparent attempt to draw in readers, the article's title was derived from a 2010 Council of the Great City Schools report, which, according to the author, found that "only 4 percent of college students are black males." The number given by the CGCS is actually 5 percent (pdf), as reported by Trip Gabriel of the New York Times. Nevertheless, the Times issued a correction for saying that it was "just 5 percent," which implies a deficit.
Here is why a correction was in order: IPUMS data show that today, the nation's 12.7 million black men 18 years old and older make up 5.5 percent of the adult population in the U.S., and the 76.4 million white men in the same age range make up 32.7 percent. According to the 2010 census, 1.2 million black male college students make up 5.5 percent of all college students, while the 5.6 million white male students make up 27 percent (or should we say "just" 27 percent?) (Ruggles, et al).
http://www.theroot.com/articles/cul..._statistics_separating_fact_from_fiction.html
As much as media sensationalism would like for society to believe he does, Little Wayne does not represent most of black America. While inner city America certainly has a huge problem, well documented by many here, there are plenty of hard working, education seeking blacks who are progressing against some pretty steep odds.
