”Because I have a Black Son” - Navigating the Joy, Excitement, Anxiety, & Fear

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“Imagine being a Black boy growing up, seeing where you're targeted, but nobody's talking about it. And worse, no Black parent is talking about it,” shares Dr. Christina Christian, educator and leader in special education and student success. Today, she joins host D-Rich to explore how parents navigate the joy, excitement, anxiety, and fear of raising a Black son.

Parents of Black boys need to be very intentional and proactive about their educational, social, spiritual, and emotional development to establish a strong foundation against the racial targeting they are unfortunately going to face. Black boys are still the lowest performing academically and research shows that they end up in the system more frequently than their White counterparts. Many teachers still have very little to no expectations for the success of Black male students and this can be extremely damaging to them. The systems in place and the discrimination especially within educational settings are designed to hold our Black boys back.

Talk to your Black sons about what it means to be a Black male in today’s society and be proactive about getting involved in their education from the start so that you can stop any issues that may arise. Be sure to read your son books that reflect who he is and will become and validate the qualities that make him special and unique, so that he won’t lose himself in the face of discrimination.

Quotes

• “For a lot of these young boys, they just wanted school clothes, that was it. These were good kids who just wanted a nice jacket. They wanted the shoes and they saw drugs as a very easy, quick, simple way to get it. And they were being arrested over and over and over.” (10:10-10:27 | Dr. Christian)

• “It's still Black males and the stereotypes that teachers have for them and no expectations, not low, but no expectations for what they're able to accomplish.” (23:47-24:03 | Dr. Christian)

• “When you put your child in a class, especially when you have a Black boy, write down your expectations. Sit down and have a meeting with that teacher and tell that teacher, these are the expectations I have.” (29:05-29:17 | Dr. Christian)

• “Our black boys are the lowest performing we have in academics.” (34:06-34:12 | Dr. Christian)

• “A black boy, white boy, black girl, white girl. All four of them can commit the exact same offense, and research shows black boys will be given the harshest consequence.” (35:24-35:40 | Dr. Christian)

• “Imagine being a black boy growing up, seeing where you're targeted, but nobody's talking about it. And worse, no black parent is talking about it.” (40:35-40:44 | Dr. Christian)

Links

Connect with Dr. Christina Christian:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drcchristian/

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