Allow me to answer for the Black Folks

At the risk of overstepping my bounds of "speaking for my race",I am going to attempt to answer some of the question raised in "Teaching Black Boys". I think that you're confusion stems from two points. One being that people who are visibly of the same culture, react and interact with each other differently. And this question stems from a debacle within the heart of black culture. To write about this, I have a two front war, and this is often the position I find myself in. As an intellectual, I can see the clear paths, the logical connection from point A to B. As a black man, I can also see the subtle nuances of black culture and how they can flavor an agreement but still have just as much credence as the former.

Let's start here;What is black culture and what is it defined by? I think this is the essential question to the African American mindset when it comes to dealing with matters of races. And the issue arises from the fact that for so long, black culture has been defined in terms of it's contention with white culture. This is less obvious now to some, but the contention still exist. Especially within black culture itself. We have a dialogue that needs to be completed within our own culture before we can actually have a dialogue with any other race. And I think that this is where the lines of communication begin to break down.

I think that black people have come to look at white people as the Other. And that we do not allow ourselves to be stratified within our own culture. As far as I know, the social distinctions that exist within white culture are far less pronounces and much more murky in black culture. To speak from experience, the concept of subcultures is in my mind not a black method of expression. When I say subculture, I mean things like goth culture, or Jock Culture, and things of that nature. Not to suggest this is ever present in white culture, but it just seems much more pronounced. I get the feeling as a black man, that white culture is built upon exclusivity, and that black culture is built upon the tenets of exclusivity. To make this clearer, in black culture I think people are defined by their adherence to certain social and cultural norms. Those who are not in line with these are then label as "white" which as I stated earlier, is the Other. Does this make sense?

I think that's why you are having such a clash. You are stepping on toes not because you are wrong, but because it seems presumptuous. I think the key here is this, nobody wants to seem helpless. And for black people, much more than white, culture is an extension of self. Therefore, if my culture is ailing, then I myself am ailing. And in the case of education, when a white, Jewish woman wants to help it make stick in my craw. No necessarily due to her own motivations, but how my own predilections color her motivations in my own eyes. I think that black people have learned to be suspicious of  Greeks bearing gifts.

This brings me into another realm of things I need to explain but I think this is the basis of the issue.