For decades, the voices expressing dismay at the sorry state of black and Hispanic America were met by deaf ears. From the furor swirling around Dick Lamm’s recent remarks, it’s clear it takes a Lamm to grab the crowd’s attention. Given this opportune moment, I hope we can overcome our inertia and cultural forgetfulness to work towards a better future for America’s poor minorities.
Lamm agrees that racism has been devastating, but it’s not the only cause for blacks’ poor achievement. In his book “Two Wands, One Nation,” he wishes for either a wand to end racism or one to wave “across the ghettos and barrios of America and infuse inhabitants with Japanese or Jewish values, respect for learning and ambition.”
He points out that black and Hispanic students do half the homework and get half the grades received by Asian and Jewish students. The key is a culture of endeavor.
The same people who took umbrage when Bill Cosby exhorted poor blacks to aspire to be more now protest Lamm’s statements. Sadly, the debate is more about semantics, not about solving problems.
We should be discussing minority poverty, fatherless children and pointless violence, always mindful that many work very hard, raising children as best they can, but are pulled back into the morass by people who can’t stand progress. Today’s racism will not end for generations. Poor minorities must change, for only they have the key to their hearts.
No amount of Lamm and Cosby bashing is going to change the sorry state of the black family or the dropout rate of Hispanic kids. Blacks and Hispanics must start saving themselves and their neighbors. The idea that it takes a village to nurture children and to give them hope and direction must be rekindled.
Without calling Lamm a “hard-core racist,” as some have, we should wage a muscular, proactive fight to:
Reduce teen pregnancy through sex education and birth control.
Empower minority girls and young women to say no to predatory older men.
Teach young men a sense of responsibility and the value of active fatherhood.
Change kids’ attitude towards academic excellence. Students on the honor roll aren’t sellouts, but should be admired.
Reduce the numbers of incarcerated youth, by reforming drug laws and sentencing guidance, to reduce the coarsening and death of kids’ souls.
Change the BET mentality. The 24/7 sexual videos depicting boorish, grinding sexual images should be protested, and Viacom boycotted.
Education and hope are twins. Without hope, there’s no possibility of the former. Asians and other foreigners to this country have hope for the future, while many black kids don’t expect to see many tomorrows. Theirs is a hopelessness that’s hard to describe. All of us, especially the Lamm-bashers, must endeavor to reverse this. Children should be convinced they are invested in America, their home.
Black America has failed miserably those at the lowest rungs of the ladder. Every concerned American must step forward and give the poor a hand. It’s the function Lamm is performing, enlisting the help of every man and woman of good will, shining a light on the dark corners of our divided house. The minorities’ and our own fate are joined by our humanity and our citizenship.
And yes, culture matters. Our culture of avoiding inconvenient truths, of easy forgetfulness, of a universal blame game sinks us all, but especially blacks and Hispanics.
The New York Times’ Nicholas Kristof reports that Oriental filial piety nurtured by Confucianism for 2,500 years helps Asian kids. Although it is exasperating, these kids always finish their homework. Their families tend to be intact and focused on their children’s getting ahead. Confucianism encourages a reverence for education. In a Confucian culture, it is intuitive that the way to achieve glory and success is by working hard and getting A’s.
The trick for all is how to infuse hope and self-confidence into poor, young children’s minds. It’s a hard task, as can be seen from the vituperation aimed at Lamm. And yet, it’s a job that we must engage in if we hope to have left this debate behind us 50 years hence.
Pius Kamau of Aurora is a thoracic and general surgeon. He was born and raised in Kenya and immigrated to the U.S. in 1971. His column appears on alternate Thursdays.
