The Dilemma of Black Males Teaching Black Males

I'm going to get a lot of flack for this but I really just want you all to feel me on this. As a black person in any environment where other black people are the minority, I'm going to notice and be drawn towards other black people that I may cross paths with. Whether it involves me only saying hello or progresses further than that, those moments are significant to me. As an educator, I look for opportunities to mentor young black males and help them along the path. With that said, I'm going to naturally flock or pay special attention to any black students, particularly black males, that I may have in my class.

So naturally that has happened but not in the way that I would hope. I have a young black male in on of my 8 week courses. Let me preface this by saying that I have yet to sit down and speak with this student. He portrays a demeanor as though he does not want to be in my class. I get a very deliberate lack of participation when it comes to him-- mind you this is a communication class where interaction is key. If there is group work he is off in the corner texting. When it comes time to present he leans on the desk when I ask him to stand and face the class. So far, I'm interpreting this as a lack of interest, which in my book is his personal problem. The problem that I am having is what do I do with a student that I want to see succeed--a black male student that I want to see succeed--but portrays behavior that demonstrates a lack of interest in even putting forth an effort.

This is all wishful thinking right now. The only thing I'm thinking in my mind is to really pull him to the side and express my sentiments, but I'm wondering if that is even warranted. If you pay for a class and want to be half ass with it then that is on you not me. I'm not here to be anyone's cheerleader who does not want to put the effort in. So I'm torn between those paradigms. Allowing him to step up and be an adult or taking it upon myself to try and guide him. You can almost say that my motivations are selfish. I mean you can call me out for putting all these assumptions upon the poor fellow just because I interpret his body language as saying "I don't care." Let me say his papers so far have not measured up to the professional level either. I don't know.

So family what do you think about this? This is the dilemma of being a black male educator and working with young black boys or young men that don't give a what. This is the college and professional level. At that point if you don't want to be there, why be there? This level requires much more personal involvement and investment. Not sure if I should leave dude alone or lend a helping hand out of concern.

When I think about how I succeeded, it was normally because I was proactive enough to seek out people to assist me. One point is that there are students that lack the confidence and self discipline to even reach out when necessary. Like I said family: I don't know.