Oakland Helps African American Youth Focus On Education

African American boys in Oakland don't have the easiest road, if you go by these statistics. Two out of three of the young people being held in juvenile detention centers in August and September in that city were black, and 50 percent of the new detainees were black boys. (The total population of African Americans in that region is just 13 percent.)

Unfortunately, numbers like this are reflective of inner city communities across the country. Story after story highlights the downward spiral of black youth, specifically black males. But here's where Oakland is differentiating itself. They're addressing the problem.

This school year, Oakland's public schools superintendent, Tony Smith, created a privately funded Cabinet-level office with one major focus, to improve the lives of black male students. Chris Chatmon was audacious enough to take on this challenge.

The goal of the Oakland's African-American male student achievement initiative is ambitious, but doable. They are giving themselves four years to cut the incarceration rate of African-American boys by 50 percent. The also want to raise the average attendance of black males by 75 percent, double their high school graduation rate, eliminate the racial disparity in school suspensions, and close the literacy gap in fourth-grade.

This plan demonstrates a new use for academics. It's basically trying to show how education can take a bite out of crime. But it's not just the schools and educators in this fight, they are calling on the community. The role of community activism seems to be two-fold. The city is leaning on its grassroots volunteers, not only to educate but to self-police. Oakland's Police Chief Anthony Batts is supplementing a police force hobbled by budget cuts with community activists, those who know and care about their immediate neighborhood.

Officials have realized that community support and academic advancement can and do go hand in hand. To that end, Batts and Smith selected four schools for a pilot program aimed at increasing mentorship and policing around school campuses.

According to Batts, middle school students are most likely to be truant and become involved with criminal activity. He maintains that early intervention and mentorship can have a positive influence on a child’s adolescence and break cycles of generational crime.

Oakland is not the only city to address these problems. But its unique approach, although met with some criticism, deserves a chance. These pilot programs aimed at molding the minds of impressionable young black males should be championed and if successful, emulated. Many school districts and cities are good at identifying the criminal, but neglectful of honing in on their potential. And while Oakland's initiatives are in their infancy, others should help them grown and be opened to embracing this new philosophy for change.

Photo credit: Iris Shreve Garrott via Flickr