Technology
and Its Impact on the African American Male
A
recent study pointed out that male American college students
are on the endangered species list. Black or white, the
situation is the same, but the imbalance is greater at
Historically Black Colleges where the population is 71%
women.
What
can we do in our communities to help turn this situation
around as the need for us to obtain higher education becomes
even more important in an economy driven by technology?
As Philadelphia seeks out and embraces new approaches
to correcting the ills of our education system, technology
will be critical in helping to transmit information and
stimulate critical thinking to improve the educational
achievement of our youth.
But
what about our young males, given their extreme need,
are resources being made available to direct special efforts
toward them? Providing stimulating educational experiences
for young males is a challenge, but one that has to be
addressed both by the public sector and the community
if we are to refute projects made in 1987 U.S. Department
of Labor report which stated that, "Unless specific
policies are made, African American and Hispanic males
will do worse in the 21st century economy than they did
in the 20th century.".
In
the early 90's there still seemed to be a concern about
this which was reflected in a national effort I was involved
in to promote the development of African American males.
This initiative was led by Senator Sanford from North
Carolina, and Philadelphia's own, Senator Arlen Spector.
Whatever happened to that initiative? Maybe we need to
check with Senator Spector, and given that the statistics
for this group have worsened rather than improved, encourage
him, along with Congressman Chaka Fattah, to resurrect
it. Helping these African American men become productive,
tax paying citizens is certainly more beneficial to Philadelphia
than continuing a climate of despair which leads young
men to jail and other anti-social behavior.
Developing
this population is also something that should be done
in tandem with such HB1 efforts as that being undertaken
by Drexel University to bring 900 students in from India
to meet the technical workforce needs of the city. It
would seem to me that a similar effort could be made with
the local colleges and universities to recruit and train
at least half that number of Philadelphia African American
males a year to meet local workforce needs.
As
director of the Workforce 2000 Initiative here in the
city in the early 90's, I convened African American male
symposiums to address issues such as this, each time bringing
together 200 - 300 African American males of all ages
-- something many thought impossible. But they came. This
attested to their interest and desire to progress, to
move forward. And, guess what, there were no major media
there. But, they would have been if something negative
was happening in our community instead of something positive.
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