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Prisca Abraham

Honors 3000
Monday, December 14, 2015
The Black Identity and Ideological Influences

Ideology is one of the most powerful and influential tools that impact mentality. My
inquiry has allowed me to explore a diverse range of mentalities and has allowed me to ask the
open question: what role does race play in personal perception and how does that affect the
educational sphere? Volunteering at Barnabas Youth Center and Grand River Academy has
allowed me to explore this question; it has opened my eyes to some of the interesting factors that
play into service, at least at the youth level. Before I delve into the experiences, I will describe
the youth center and my experiences at the site as well as at Grand River Academy, respectively.
The Youth Center was originally created to keep youth engaged and off the streets. Their
mission is to encourage and promote the development of youth within the community by creating
positive, meaningful work, learning and recreational opportunities. Mostly it is alternative
solution for youth as a viable option as opposed to crime, substance abuse, destructive behavior,
and the like. The Barnabas Youth center began June 1, 1983 as a program of the Presbytery of
Detroit. Their mission centers around creating a mentoring-type relationship between the
volunteers and the youth at the Youth Center (Barnabas Youth Opportunity Center).
I have noticed a certain dynamic in this particular youth center that revolves around race
and affects the individuals that go there. The vast majority of the children that come to the Youth
center are African American. There are seldom kids that are a part of Barnabas Youth center of
any other race or culture. I have also observed that recently, not many children come to the Youth
center anymore because of the recent openings of new after school programs in Detroit.

Stan Edwards, a 64-year-old African American male and the owner of the Barnabas Youth
center, has expressed his concerns about the new after school programs that have been opening
around in the area and as a result, the low matriculation rate of youth into his facility. The lack of
youth can become a major problem for the sustainability of the Youth Center. The after-school
programs that have opened up in the area are mainly run by Caucasians which begs the question
if race is the underlying factor for the low matriculation rate into the Barnabas Youth Center. I
interviewed Mr. Stan Edwards to investigate the cause of the low matriculation rate and whether
race has affected his ability to compete with other after-school programs.
Right now, Barnabas Youth Center is struggling to keep a strong youth base apart of the
institution. Not many renovations are being made to the Youth Center. It remains stagnant in
terms of development.
I conducted an interview of Stan Edwards, the owner of Barnabas Youth Center, to
understand his take on race relations and what its role is in respect to competition between afterschool programs that are hosted in schools versus centers like his. At first I asked him about the
demographics of the students that come to Barnabas. He replied, The kids that come here are
85% African American, 5% white and 10% other (Edwards). Pondering these numbers, I asked
him what truly affected the high amount of African American students. Unsurprisingly, he said it
was mostly attributed to the neighborhoodthe type of students in the area. Although I may
have been disappointed to receive this answer, because I had my own preconceptions on the
matter, the revelations he made thereafter were eye-opening. My original hypothesis for the large
number of African American students coming into Barnabas centered around the type of
management of the facilitythat the majority of the employees at Barnabas are African
American. Although this was my original hypothesis, what he did share about how his race

affected mindsets of students and parents alike, were jaw-dropping. When I asked Mr. Edwards if
African American people would prefer to be mentored by those of their own race, he responded,
They would rather have mentors from their own race because mentors know what the
kids are up against. The mentors would be able to challenge them or encourage them
towards life. There might be trust issues with someone who is white per say race
relationships and the sincerity of someone outside of their race to help them. (Edwards)
He also went on to say,
With most programs and research, Ive seen, the after-school programs are more like a
babysitting service. But, we try to deal with them about life and realistic issues as they
come around up. We teach them hands-on crafts that can take them paths that regular
classroom understandings would not give them. They can be creative and learn to use
their hands in a different way. We have the woodshop--which is something that a lot of
after school programs dont have; it is just one example of how we engage our kids.
(Edwards)
Although this may be true in the hands-on applications of life, he believes that African
Americans have a different take on this when it comes to education. He states, Even black
parents would prefer to send their kids to after-school programs run by white people because
they think they have the privilege (Edwards). By this, he meant that white people have the
education, financial resources, and the other amenities that simply come along with being white,
otherwise known as white privilege. I found this interesting because although some African
Americans would prefer to have their children to be trained in lifes tough situations by people of
their own race, some do not believe that people of color are competent enough to excel in other
crucial areas. Edwards states, There is an inferiority complex that perpetuates in the African

American community which emulates around the fact that whites are betterthat their ice is
colder. History in this country has plagued the mentality of black people. We [African
Americans] have all been brainwashed. Ive come to realize as Ive gotten olderthat some have
taken to that mentality (Edwards). When I asked him if these was a type of internalized racism
of sorts, he disagreed with me stating firmly that it is an inferiority complex that African
Americans have within themselves. Mr. Edwards digressed for a bit and asked me if I ever had
heard of the Willie Lynch Letter. I replied saying that I had not and so he walked over to his
bulletin board, picked off a piece of paper that had been hanging there (which later I find out sits
there as a reminder and a symbol for what he stands forwhat his youth facility is built on). He
read the entire letter out loud to me and at the end of the dictation, he said to me, That put a
system in place to create dissention among the individuals based on color; it pitted them [slaves]
against each other where people [slaves] who had more white-like traits were better off and
received better treatment (Edwards). I understood that what Mr. Edwards was implying is that
inspiration to be like white people started back in the slave ages, a mentality difficult to break
because that is accepted even amongst some African Americans. The desire for some African
American parents to want to send their kids to white-predominant school or after-school program
has to do with this long-standing mentality of Caucasian traits and other amenities that are
associated with them to be held on a pedestal simply because of the way white people have been
viewed for so long.
What I found to be even more intriguing than this revelation was even more astounding.
He stated, I had a program where white people were teaching black kids skills and the training
was inferior; they werent training them to be successful. White people give a subpar education
to anyone who is not white. They are not going to teach others their ins and out and their tricks

for being successful (Edwards). This was a conundrum to me: black people would prefer to
send their kids to after-school programs run by Caucasian people only to have them taught a
subpar education which they thought they would have received being taught by members of their
own race? It almost seemed to be that there was no hope in either direction for African American
students to get the quality of attention they deserved towards their learning. On the one hand,
they believe their kids can get a better learning amenities at an after school program run by
Caucasian folks and on the other hand because their kids are not white, they will receive a subpar
education anyway? This was quite ironic to me.
Corrin Pinkney, the author of The Effects of Internalized Oppression on the Black
Community, agrees that there is an internalized racism within the black community (although
Mr. Edwards preferred not to call it internalized racism probably for personal reasons). One of
the studies that he quotes in his paper studies the effect of self-hatred within the black
community starting even at the young age of three. Black children were given the choice to play
with either a white or black doll and instinctively chose to play with the white doll claiming that
it was nicer and prettier. However, this internalized racism goes beyond childs play. Black
peoples standards of beauty are aligned with European features. Straight, long hair as opposed to
a nappy texture is held at a higher standard of beauty just as lighter skin is to darker skin within
the African American community. Standards of beauty are just the superficial corroborations that
African American people believe that Caucasian is the standard to live bynot just in beauty but
in every respect: education, family expectations, and the like (Pinkney 90-96).
While investigating what issues were facing Mr. Edwards in terms of competition of
after-school programs run predominantly by Caucasian individuals, we get to the root of the
problem. The race of his employees does affect the amount of students that matriculate into his

center. Demographics is not much of a factor because the majority of students in the area are
African American regardless. And yet, they would prefer to go to after-school programs run by
Caucasian people, not only because they think it is better, but to a certain degreetherein lies an
internalized hatred that perpetuates through the heart of the community and affects the way they
see the people of of their own raceCaucasian-associated amenities and characteristics are the
accepted standards not just in the white community but in the black community as well.
My investigation did not stop there. While it was difficult to interview a mentor and
student at Barnabas Youth Center, I went to an after-school program run by Grand River
Academy, whose student body is majority African American, many of which commute from the
Detroit area to Livonia. My first interview was with an after-school mentor, Keeba Akachi, a 28year-old African American male. Keeba lived in Detroit from 2001-2009. After asking about his
background, my first question regarding the issue was if African American students would prefer
to be educated by Caucasians.
Most [African American] kids would rather be taught by a Caucasian. Ill say that for
one, there arent a lot of black males that go to school. Most African Americans dont go
into education. They would prefer Caucasians because they have more credentials than
we do honestly. Its going to stay that way for a while too. Most of the time when they
hear as people of color, they dont look at them as teachersthey see them as rappers,
athletes, or actors. When I ask them what they want to be when they grow up, most of
them want to be celebrities or the like, there arent enough black mentors to look up to
anyway. (Keeba)
I told him that I did not think it was so bad that African American children aspire to be like their
role models portrayed in society. He said, Youre wrong. Black kids feel like they have more

pressure to succeed; most of them think they cant do it. Too many obstacles in the way. They
think they will end up in jail. And I say jail because thats what they think usually happens to
black peoplejail, drugs, whatever (Keeba). When I asked him if African American parents
would rather send their kids to a school taught by Caucasian folks he said, Of course. I feel like
they have been molded by other people of color just to have a negative image of themselves
(Keeba). We digressed a bit from the educational stream of things and talked more so on a deeper
level about what is possibly felt on an African Americans subconscious in terms of skin color.
Most people I know, and some kids tooa lot of them bleach themselves. If you go to
African shops, they will have bleach creams, bleach lotions, bleach soaps I feel like
when other black people look at a light-skinned personthey feel safer, not just that they
more beautiful. The darker you are, the more of a threat you are. If you are light-skinned,
people will think you are nice and soft. If you are dark-skinned, you will look like a
criminal or a trouble maker, even to other black people. When it comes to females, most
of them want to bleach their skin. When they look at white girls, they see long hair and
light skin and that is more attractive to black males. This phenomenon is predominant in
elementary schools too, where young black girls want to look more like white girls.
(Keeba)
Keeba also elaborated on how skin tone plays a role in the dating situation among African
Americans. A lot of black women they are upset because they [African American males] go
for Caucasian rather than light or dark skinned black females. They [African American males]
just feel because you have nappy hair, youre harder to deal with. The association between the
texture of your hair and your personality makes no sense, I know. But, its true (Keeba). It was
the first time I had heard of something like that. Somehow, a physical attribute such as your hair

and how much of the nappy factor it had, would give a concrete basis to judge a persons
characteristics and compatibility for dating. He went on to say, If you are a black woman you
are perceived as a how am I going to say the word? Hoodrat. The women dont want to look
Caucasian themselves necessarily, they are doing it because the guys are pushing it (Keeba). I
asked him to define hoodrat since I was not familiar with the term. He responded with a series
of adjectives, Ghetto, uneducated, gold-digger, selfish, cheater, and bottom-feeder (Keeba). He
expanded on the dating concept even more, explaining the plight of black women.
Ill go on the radio and Ill hear so many black women complain that there are no good
black men because they are all being taken by Caucasian women. They think the white
women are taking them but its really the guys that are going after them. They claim
theyre tired of being with black women because they think this is how it goes: get
married, have a baby, pay child support. They [African American males] want their
freedom from the black woman. (Keeba)
Pinkney investigated this concept of skin tone in the black community thoroughly.
Dark-skinned people view marriage or reproduction with a light-skinned person as an
accomplishment. Breeding with someone of a lighter complexion is seen as a step up on
the social ladder. On the other hand, a light-skinned black with a dark-skinned black is
viewed as a downgrade and an attempt to get back to ones roots. Black people
consciously start relationships with people of different races or of lighter skin to birth
children with lighter complexions, good hair, and European-like features (Pinkney
96).
We came back to the topic of education and I asked Keeba if he had any final thoughts.

When it comes to after-school care I think the African American students would prefer
to have a mentor like me because they can relate to me, talk about their life struggles and
what they deal with at home or pressures at school. I feel like if a Caucasian around my
age came in here, they would have a harder time. But in terms of actually receiving an
education, black kids and parents would want Caucasian folks to be there for that
purpose. (Keeba)
Hillary Carey, the author of the article, What is a Mentor? describes in detail the benefits of
same-race mentoring as Keeba had described. She talks about how Caucasian folks are
considered almost like outsiders by African American kids which has a huge drawback in terms
of helping kids deal with life issues (Hillary 1-2).
After conducting an interview with Keeba, I decided that the perspective of a child, an
active participant in the education system, should have a word or two on the subject matter. I
interviewed Destiny Therman, an 11-year old African American female, receiving after-care
services at Grand River Academy. I asked her about her teachers and what it was like to be
taught by Caucasian and African American teachers. She responded,
I think white teachers are better than black teachers because of their personality and
culture. White teachers are better than black teachers because they are smarter and white
teachers know more than black teachers. White teachers know how to spell everything.
They went to the best schools they know how to spell everything. Black teachers
sometimes need help and they [Caucasians] say it in their language and in a different
way. (Destiny)
I asked her what she meant by language and how language is different amongst African
American and Caucasian people.

Their language is better and the way they talkthey use words that nobody wouldnt
even know! They could say something and no black person would ever know what they
mean. Black people dont know how to speak proper like white people. White people just
know more things and I really dont know whythey think they are better than black
people and they might be and they speak a different type of language and its better.
(Destiny)
What Destiny had revealed to me in the short span of five minutes truly broke my heart to see
that this was not just a belief held by older African Americans, but young kids too. More
conversation with Destiny helped me understand that what she meant by different languages used
by Caucasian and African American communities is that black folks tend to incorporate more
slang into their conversations, which in her mind is a completely different language altogether. I
asked her about her friends and who she usually spent time with outside of school. I have a lot
of different friends but I would rather have white friends than black friends. They are much
better and they talk more properly and talk in a specific language. White people can make a good
friend than black people. White people can be much better to talk tounderstand me differently
and stuff (Destiny). Finally, I asked her to compare Caucasian and African American American
people in general and she came up with a variety of differences:
White people can dance very very good. Black people try to copy their movesthey are
followers instead of leaders. White people walk differently than black people and its
better. They walk like a regular personblack people have a signature walk. Black
people walk differently than white people because I think their body was made in a
different way. White people and black people listen to different music. Black people will

listen to rappers and white people rock bands and stuff. White people music is better and
we want to know what its like too. (Destiny)
I simply asked for a comparison but she automatically said (in every category she listed, I might
add) that Caucasians were better at doing it, no matter what it was.
After interviewing three African Americans of distinctive age ranges (elderly, middle
aged, and pre-teen), I observe an agreement over ideals that lead me to believe there may be
some issues in the collective confidence of African American people. The ideology that white is
superior to black has been drilled into the mindset of many (but not all) and is affecting how they
perceive their own identity in context of society and societal pressures. It would be unfair for me
to not address possible rival hypotheses given the nature of the subject. I believe that there are
African American people who firmly stand by their roots and their culture and do not hold
themselves to be like Caucasians. So when answering the question What role does race play in
personal perception of the African American and how does that affect the educational sphere?
race in terms of yourself and others has a huge role in the way one sees him/herself with regards
to beauty and self-worth. It carries on to the educational sphere as well in which African
Americans would prefer to be educated by Caucasians but mentored in life issues by those of
their own race. I would like to stress that these findings cannot be generalized to all African
Americans due to the small sample size of my interviewees because of the rival beliefs that other
African Americans may hold. More so, this inquiry shed light on the pervasive mentality of
white superiority and how it can take a large toll on the way one sees others and themselves. This
matters because it is important to recognize the powers and influences that may affect us
consciously or subconsciously, so we can be aware of it and either change it or not. Again, this
mentality may have pervaded in some more than others, but nevertheless exists and holds true

with some members of the African American community. After exploring these ideas, it raises
this new question: what can I do to help reignite the passion in those who reject their own
identities? I will continue my investigative studies at Barnabas Youth Center and Grand River
Academy to analyze this question and possible solutions.

Works Cited

Akachi, Keeba. "Black Identity." Personal interview. 24 Nov. 2015.


Carey, Hillary. "What Is a Mentor?" OAH Magazine of History 3.1, The Constitution of the
United States (1988): 41-51. Web.

Edwards, Stan. "Black Identity." Personal interview. 4 Nov. 2015.


Pinkney, Corrin. "The Effects of Internalized Oppression on the Black Community." JSTOR
[JSTOR]. N.p., 2012. Web.
"Presbytery of Detroit." Barnabas Youth Opportunity Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.
<http://presbyteryofdetroit.org/group/barnabas-youth-opportunity-center>.
Therman, Destiny. "Black Identity." Personal interview. 24 Nov. 2015.

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