sure that students of color are getting the same treatment as white students when it comes to suspension in their schools," Crossman begins. "Black children are suspended ten times more than white students and she wants to make sure that changes. In order to do so she has come up with new guidelines for her schools" (Crossman). For example, when a school in Johnson’s district requested the suspension of a student in which the student's actions did not result in harm or violence, principals and other disciplinary administrators had to have Johnson's authorization before doing so. "The guidelines that were set out by Johnson were part of an agreement with the Civil Rights office at the U.S. Department of Education... Johnson is setting an example for school districts all over the nation in showing that the suspension rates for students of color are far too high and something needs to be done about it," Crossman continued. "Some students never recover from these punishments and end up feeling like they are already labeled as bad kids, so why not continue with the bad behavior. This lands them in prison at early ages." (Crossman).
According to a report in the New York Times, young African-American males are almost certainly destined to an economic reality in which they will earn less than their white counterparts, even if they come from wealthy families and well to do neighborhoods. In their article, "Extensive Data Shows Punishing Reach of Racism for Black Boys", journalists Emily Badger and her colleagues from the Times revealed the stark economic futures facing Black males in America. "White boys who grow up rich are likely to remain that way. Black boys raised at the top, however, are more likely to become poor than to stay wealthy in their own adult households. Even when children grow up next to each other with parents who earn similar incomes, Black boys fare worse than white boys in 99 percent of America. And the gaps only worsen in the kind of neighborhoods that promise low poverty and good schools" (Badger).
As sociologists struggle to explain these persistent economic gaps, they have also been startled to discover that the social gulf of acceptance for Black males puts them at a distinct disadvantage from nearly every other group in American society, to include African-American females. “One of the most popular liberal post-racial ideas is the idea that the fundamental problem is class and not race, and clearly this study explodes that idea,” said Ibram Kendi, a professor and director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University. “But for whatever reason, we’re unwilling to stare racism in the face (Badger)." In fact, in an effort to disprove the notion that there are areas in America in which poor Black boys do as well as whites, researchers sought to pinpoint neighborhoods in which this is, indeed, the case, but this proved to be a nearly impossible task because said enclaves are few and far between. "The few neighborhoods that met this standard were in areas that showed less discrimination in surveys and tests of racial bias. They mostly had low poverty rates. And, intriguingly, these pockets — including parts of the Maryland suburbs of Washington, and corners of Queens and the Bronx — were the places where many lower-income Black children had fathers at home. Poor Black boys did well in such places, whether their own fathers were present or not (Badger)." The data went on to reveal that, while African-American females also face the persistent negative effects of racism, African-American males experience racism differently and, oftentimes, in ways that are more violent and intrusive. "As early as preschool, they [Black males] are more likely to be disciplined in school. They are [also] pulled over or detained and searched by police officers more often" (Badger). In fact, the research lays bare the fact that there is a significant and material difference in the level of challenges Black males face. “It’s not just being Black but being male that has been hyper-stereotyped in this negative way, in which we’ve made Black men scary, intimidating, with a propensity toward violence,” said Noelle Hurd, a psychology professor at the University of Virginia (Badger)."
In a study produced by the University of Iowa, researchers have affirmed what African-American parents have decried for generations: Black boys are seen as an inherent threat to nonwhites. According to the study, people were more likely to associate threatening words and weapons with the images of young Black boys. The results were similar to that of the first experiment; participants were more likely to associate images of guns with Black faces - regardless of whether the faces belonged to an adult or a child. What is more, subjects were more likely to mistakenly identify tools as guns after seeing an image of a Black adult or child. According to Matthew Lynch, in his article for The Edvocate, "Black Boys Are Seen as More Threatening Than White Boys", white males, in particular, may tend to be triggered by the very image of Black males, even as young as preschoolers. "The team enrolled 131 white college students in a second experiment, in which participants were shown faces of Black and white adults, alongside the images of tools or a gun" the study observed (Lynch). "Further analysis using a process-dissociation procedure revealed that it was unintentional racial bias that drove participants to associate threatening objects with Black faces," it continued. "Our findings suggest that, although young children are typically viewed as harmless and innocent, seeing faces of 5-year-old Black boys appears to trigger thoughts of guns and violence." It is important to note, however, that this less than earth-shattering empirical research also revealed that, when scratching deeper beneath the surface, an even more disturbing revelation emerges. "Their research also revealed that the racial prejudices we show against Black men really begins much earlier. The study found that racial stereotypes are first felt by Black men when they are just boys (Lynch)".
During the experiments conducted amongst the participants, pictures of small children were displayed, one Black, the other white. Next they were shown a picture of two items, one being a gun and the other a toy. Finally, they were asked to associate either object to each of the children in question. As they were shown the images of the children, the students were also given pictures of a gun or a toy. The results revealed that the participants were more likely to associate the gun with the Black boy and the toy with the white boy, indicating an inherent bias that the subjects may not have even been aware they possessed. What's more, however, the lasting impact that these underlying biases have on Black males is one that impacts them, more often than not, their entire lives.
Perhaps the most persistent fear that African-American parents of school-aged children have is the gnawing sense that the "system" is always a step behind them waiting for their children to make a misstep, so that they can swoop in and make free labor of them as a critical component of the American penal system. As a teacher that steadfastly held the interests of all of his students as a high priority and a personal commitment, Gregory Diggs knew heading into the educational field, that the cards were stacked against his students of color, particularly African-American boys, regardless of what he did to help stem the tide. "The education of our children does not start at school; it starts at home. We are now starting to have more and more early childhood education programs that are aligned with school curriculums and that's good, but as soon as your child can walk and talk you should be engaging them in education and learning activities even before they come to school, and then we definitely should be involved as soon as they're going to school." The challenge, however, with this philosophy is the fact that, even when African-American parents do their best to steer their children in the right direction, there are systemic obstacles intentionally designed to funnel them into the grips of the government, regardless of their efforts.
Notwithstanding the fact that race plays an integral role in the life challenges faced by Black boys in America, the issue of economic inequality, often experienced at birth is one that cannot be understated. According to Emily Badger, in a Washington Post article chronicling another extensive report on the lives and experiences of inner city Black youths entitled, "What Your First Grade Life Says About the Rest of It," young Black boys have very little opportunity to break out of the cycle of poverty, incarceration, disenfranchisement and early death that they are confronted with from birth. In a twenty year longitudinal study of nearly 800 Baltimore public schools entitled "The Long Shadow," researchers Karl Alexander and Doris Entwisle uncovered an unsettling dynamic that impacted the vast majority of these students their entire lives: if you are a poor Black kids, chances are you will become a poor Black adult--if you make it to adulthood, that is. In fact, the students of the study weren’t just faceless subjects, as the researchers became emotionally invested in their individual wellbeing, having closely followed their life's trajectory over an extended period of time. "In a typical survey project, you knock on doors, you make calls, you ask questions, you get your answers, and you go away.