Summary: According to Jawanza Kunjufu, author of the bestselling Raising Black Boys and a father of two sons, "The spirits of too many of our boys have been broken. During the preschool and kindergarten years, our boys are energetic and curious. They love learning and ask thousands of questions. There's a glow in their eyes. By the time they reach high school, however, that glow has been replaced with suspicion and anger." The statistics paint a disturbing picture of life for Black boys: 72 percent of African American boys lack a father in the home. Nationally, African American males have a 53 percent chance of dropping out of high school. In some districts, the rates are significantly higher. While African Americans make up 17 percent of the total school population, they account for 32 percent of the suspensions and 30 percent of all expulsions. One of three Black males are involved with the penal system. African American male teens are placed in remedial or special education classes at triple the rate of their white counterparts, and they are underrepresented in gifted and honors classes. The top three influences on African American boys today are peer pressure, rap music, and television. However, Kunjufu believes that the greatest problems facing Black boys are a lack of spirituality and fatherlessness.
