If you think 12 years a slave is bad, 12 years a student can lead to prison

Last week I wrote about seeing Twelve Years a Slave. If you haven’t gone to see it yet, please do. Not only is the movie told from a slave’s point of view, several scenes in the film are historical explanations as to why, as a people, we do some of the things we do.

For example, the scene where Solomon Northup is hanging from a tree struggling to keep his toes on firm ground. All the while, other slaves walk about doing their chores just feet from his struggle. Their indifference to his possible peril is a direct result of the slave master’s ingraining that kind of uncaring mindset into our psyche.

It is also the reason so many perils continue to go on right now in 2013 under our very noses and we don’t acknowledge them. We as a group have mastered the “I don’t care behavior” to a doctorate degree level. That is a behavior we must conscientiously reject because the failure of one of us affects all of us.

This past Saturday, a Black Parent Expo was held at Spencer School. The auditorium, which could have held over 500 people, barely had 100 people in attendance. The main speaker was Dr. Umar Adullah Johnson, a clinical psychiatrist. His speech was on how the school system is systematically targeting black boys. Their weapon of choice? The labeling of black boys by putting them in “special education” classes, often with the help/agreement of their mothers.

That is the first step that helps to mis-educate black boys. Parents think their child is learning because the boy is getting good grades in special ed. But those “A’s” and “B’s” are based on their behavior as opposed to their gaining knowledge. Then at the end of 12 years of schooling, the child gets a certificate of completion as opposed to a diploma.

Worst are the mothers who are urging that their child be placed in special education so they can get an SSI check. They are complicit in a master plan to make sure black boys end up being black men in prison. Prison is the 21st century’s institutional slavery. And just like in the movie, black people go about doing their business, paying no attention to the peril going on right under their noses though they have the ability to do something to save the victim.

An additional point Dr. Johnson brought out is that as of Jan. 1, the GED test will be three times harder. This country is moving toward a standardized nationwide test for graduation from high school. With no regard for the mis-education of a child, kids who got a poor education will have to pass the same test as their better-educated counterparts. To prevent those who might fail that test from going for a GED, the GED will be as hard as the standardized test.

Now we will have a multitude of black boys who won’t have a diploma or the GED. And if the first black president legalizes millions of illegal aliens, they will be the working class leaving black boys/men to fill the cells of private prisons. Those prisons have already told the government they won’t build any new facilities unless they can be guaranteed bodies to fill it. And if you don’t believe it’s happening, think back 20 years ago when folks didn’t believe the government would get rid of hundreds of thousands of CHA residents by eliminating the projects.

If you know anyone who needs to get their GED, have them take the test now! If you have young people who have dropped out, get them back in school at an alternative high school. Black people are the only people who were brought into this country to work for free. If you’re not in prison to see that “free” labor going on there, then you are oblivious to it.