On Saturday, Nov. 6, some 200 people poured into the Busch Student Center at Saint Louis University to hear the symposium “Breaking Barriers; Plotting the Path to Academic Success for School Age African American Males,” delivered by Ivory Toldson and a panelist of educators from St. Louis and Chicago.
Toldson, associate professor of counseling psychology at Howard University and senior analyst for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, used excerpts from his book Breaking Barriers to discuss research about educating black males.
He addressed the often-used statistic that 50 percent of black males don’t graduate from high school.
“This doesn’t count the ones who take five years to graduate, go back to school or get a G.E.D.,” said Toldson.
Toldson said the correct statistic is closer to 20 percent.
He said research shows that the black male academic achievement rate actually has been trending up over the last 50 years. In 1940 there were less than 10 percent of black males who had high school diplomas, but after steady increases, the rate flat-lined in the 1990s.
Another false statistic, he said, is that there are more black males in prison than in college. Toldson said repeating a bogus statistic like this reinforces a feeling of inferiority among black males.
“We have to look at what the impact is of putting out negative numbers,” said Toldson.
“These are a group of people who have been told by society that they’re on the bottom.”
More statistics from Toldson: 17 percent of public school students are black males while less than two percent of public school educators are black males.
Toldson said educators themselves need to be better educated about their black male students.
“Black males have a different experience,” Toldson said, mentioning disparate exposure to single parent homes and violent peer groups.
“But what does a white female teacher do with this information?” Toldson said. “They treat black men with more caution.”
Toldson said that by the 4th grade, black males are three times more likely to have been held back in school, which points to an unbalanced education system starting at primary education.
As black males progress in school, Toldson said, more issues present themselves, such as disparities in school safety.
On average, Toldson said, black males feel less safe in school in comparison to white males. He said research has shown a positive correlation between safety at school and academic achievement.
The symposium greatly affected Gateway High School senior Darion Robinson, a black male from St. Louis who wants to be a teacher.
“I didn’t realize that less than two percent of teachers are black males,” Robinson said. “It pushes me even more.”
Even moderator Sylvester Brown Jr., a veteran journalist, was moved to action by the presentation.
“We work in a system that does not work in the success of black males,” Brown said, “but this event lets me know change is still possible.”
The symposium was presented by Educational Equity Consultants.
