For decades, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan has referred to public schools as the “killing fields,” particularly for Black boys. Some may think that’s a harsh assessment of the system whose purpose is to produce productive citizens in society.
But the evidence is clear. Studies show that interest in excelling in school for Black boys begins to wane by the time they reach the fourth grade. The late prolific educator Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu coined the phrase “fourth grade failure syndrome” to describe this “killing” effect on Black male youth. It’s attributed to suffering unfair treatment and disciplinary actions, often “unconscious” low expectations of the Black boys by mostly White female teachers, and having few positive role models like Black educators, among other factors.
Social scientists and scholars offer other reasons for the phenomenon—poverty, poor parenting, racism, etc.—but the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and his teacher, the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, Eternal Leader of the Nation of Islam, point to the lack of self-knowledge as the problem’s root.
Minister Farrakhan’s book, “A Torchlight for America,” published in 1993, is a prescription to cure America’s ills that have been neglected by leaders of government. Chapter four explains the problem in education: “The current study of American history is nothing more than the indoctrination of Americans in the idea of White supremacy and Black inferiority. You can’t bring a Black child into that kind of educational environment and produce a child who loves and respects itself.
“It’s imperative to teach people about themselves, their history, their bodies and their nature so that they can become self-masters. … Once we have a mastery of self-knowledge, it’s important to be taught the true history of other people who make up this country. This promotes mutual respect for the members of the human family, leading to a peaceful and productive society.”
In his book “Message to the Blackman in America,” the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad writes: “God has said that we are members of the original people or Black nation of the earth. Original means first. … From him [Black man] came all brown, yellow, red and white people.” Teach that to the Black first-grader as the foundation for his or her journey in education.
The germ of White supremacy is prevalent in every institution of America. It seeks to maintain White male dominance over all aspects of life, especially in education. Public education and every other system in this society incorporates a “denial objective” to prevent forces from challenging White male dominance. That puts Black male youth in the crosshairs.
Public school curricula do not teach Black children about the great civilizations their ancestors built, even prior to the advent of the Caucasian race. The people of those great civilizations are made to appear other than an original Black people. Black children are not given the truths of how their ancestors taught math, science, engineering, agriculture, architecture and other civilization building sciences to Whites in Europe.
Black and White students are taught to view today’s Black population as ancestors of slaves who toiled in the fields and served their masters. They are not taught the true impact on today’s White wealth that resulted from free forced Black labor or the inventions by Black people that were stolen by Whites that today’s technology is based upon.
Such indoctrination leaves a lasting impact on the thinking of the student, even into adulthood. There is no appreciation for the contributions of Black people; therefore, today’s Whites feel no reparations or respect are due.
The attack on “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DEI) launched by the Trump administration is the latest iteration of the denial objective. One goal is to outlaw teaching Black American history or the accomplishments of Black people in world history.
Attacks on DEI and the threat to deny federal funding are causing a chilling effect on educators who would teach truths about the brutality of slavery or how racism is inherent in American institutions. While studies show Black students benefit from having Black educators, the DEI attacks and other systemic pressures put on Black educators are creating a decline in Black teachers and principals, a number already critically low.
In the 2020-2021 school year, 1.3% of the public-school teachers were Black men, according to the National Center for Education Statistics’ National Teacher and Principal Survey. The results for Black male principals are even worse. Black children in public schools are mostly taught by White female teachers, whose views of the Black male population have been tainted by stereotypes and the criminalization of Black youths in the media.
“When they (we) teach Black students, our lenses are necessarily clouded by many of the same stereotypes and negative messages that Black boy students have received about themselves,” authors of an article on Corwin-Connect.com, a support tool for educators, aptly note.
Those perceptions have perpetuated the school-to-prison pipeline where boys are steered toward prison by being over-disciplined and punished, suspended or expelled.
The case of Brother Abdul Muhammad, an award-winning high school principal, demonstrates the institutional aim to subjugate Black students. Winner of the Illinois teacher of the year award in 2003 and a two-time Golden Apple Award nominee, Muhammad has a track record of producing positive change among students and in the culture of the schools he has led. Muhammad was fired for alleged “mismanagement.” (See The Final Call, Vol. 45 No. 10).
He has been cleared of wrongdoing and has filed a lawsuit to expose systemic racism and abuse in the upper echelons of Chicago Public Schools. The threat to the system he posed was his affiliation with the Nation of Islam, his deep love for students he serves, his understanding of how their lives have been impacted by racism and his ability to unlock a door for the Black students to see themselves in the education they are receiving.
School systems that include Black children, whether public or private, must have educators like Brother Abdul Muhammad, who are not afraid to incorporate truth and the knowledge of self into school curricula in order to build self-pride, knowledge and respect for contributions of others to the advancement of civilized society.
As Minister Farrakhan notes in his book, “As we have developed a respect for White people by knowing their history and great accomplishments, Whites will develop a respect for Black, Native American and Hispanic people and all the peoples of the Earth when they know the histories and contributions of others.”
Only then will the “killing fields” become productive gardens for Black students.