Unabashedly, without reservation, believe me when I say it, my favorite teacher is my niece. Paternally, I’m either the first or second of my father’s children to graduate from college. My sibling and I have four children who all college graduates. My niece represents another branch off our parents’ tree. Three out of six children, from a father whose formal education was halted in sixth grade, are represented by college graduates. My point, though, is this is not the norm for black families, in my opinion.
Too many black families are still waiting for their first college graduate. My knee-jerk response is not to place most of the blame on the black families. First, slaves were not taught to read and write. When they were finally exposed to education, it was so substandard compared to whites that academic competition was virtually meaningless. This shortcoming, unfortunately, still exists today.
The GI Bill after World War II served as the impetus for many Americans to pursue higher education. Two major components of the 1944 act were mortgage loans and educational benefits. This bill led to the rise of the American white middle class. Money flowed to white veterans. Since the primary architect of the GI Bill was a Mississippi pro-segregationist, it is not surprising black veterans found numerous impediments placed in their path toward achieving the same success.
Herbold, Hilary. “Never a Level Playing Field: Blacks and the GI Bill.” The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education 6 (1994): 104-08.
The most salient point might be that higher education re-invented itself for returning white servicemen and women after World War II. Turning from elitist to knowledge based institutions, colleges became the impetus for a burgeoning white middle class. Those college diplomas yielded a five digit benefit annually for white veterans. An extra $10,000 annually in 1950 represents $100,000 in today’s dollars.
Historical black colleges and universities, an admittedly sub-par option for the most part, could not meet the demand of black veterans and turned away over 20,000 veterans immediately after the war’s end. With passage of the Civil Rights Act, President Johnson attempted to lower expectations by asserting blacks lagged far behind whites due to institutional factors. No jive when you look at the numbers in the preceding paragraph.
In housing, mortgage loans just were not available, for the most part, to black veterans. The Department of Veteran Affairs openly discriminated against returning black vets when they sought educational benefits. Two black veterans were lynched in Louisiana and Georgia, in 1946 and 1947 for developing profitable farms using GI benefits. So, the two major building blocks of middle class entrance were denied to black veterans. Say it loud, white privilege = black inequality.
Today, education is a protected industry. 140Characters can repeatedly declare bankruptcy, shafting small business owners and investors, while ersatz colleges receive a steady stream of federally guaranteed loans. Then, the students move back in with their parents. A generational standard needs to be developed for families who are drastically under achieving in the educational arena. The GI Bill of 1944 was labelled the best investment Congress ever made. Too bad it was tailored for whites only.
I do not begrudge the white veterans who benefited from that GI Bill. I can also assert, unequivocally, that I never experienced one hiccup from my GI Bill usage during pursuit of several degrees. But, at a pivotal time, many black veterans were denied access to their benefits. And, I do begrudge a country that is still foundering when it needs to succor its black citizens as it repeatedly does its white citizens. White privilege = black inequality.
Recently, I was talking to the son of a decorated World War II veteran. He passed on several anecdotes about my favorite high school coach. Two observations were how his coaching methods would never be tolerated today and how fearsomely tough he was. Supposedly, he was so tough his teammates were in awe of him. Mr. Bob Muscarello was my jayvee football coach.
As the 1965-66 school year began, I was hurting. Getting physically ready to play for Coach Muscarello involved numerous leg lifts where he would hold the count until our abdomens were ready to burst. Squat thrusts seem to go on indefinitely. Fully dressed scrimmages were a welcome relief. And, it was fun despite the torture.
However, during the first couple of days, Coach noticed that I was consistently finishing outside the top five during sprints. First was not going to happen with Ricky and Lorne in the mix. They had beaten me in every foot race for three years. On the third day, Coach started easing the pain. He reamed me out for dogging it. Pity time was over as far as the JV football team was concerned. Leadership could not be accomplished while deliberately viewing someone’s rear.
It was the message I needed for the moment. During the phone call I mentioned above, I heard a very interesting story. Seems Coach was a member of a college team that was invited to play in the Tangerine Bowl. The caveat was they had to leave their two black teammates up north. The team voted to stay home. Hooray for that late 1950s University of Buffalo football team.
Teachers are America’s most underpaid asset. Yet, it was once a reliable path to entry into the middle class. Coach Muscarella appeared at the right time, for me. Most of the coaches in our high school had a bit of steel in their backbone. Some had a bit of bad boy Bobby Knight bubbling on the surface.
Mr. Filicetti was a long serving track and field and cross-country coach. On tip-toes, he might have stretched to 5’8″. I doubt he ever weighed more than 160 pounds in his life. Once, in the mid-1960s, he was asked by one of the burlier students, “what would you do if I knocked you down?”
Relating the story more than four decades later, there was a definite twinkle in his eyes as he replied, “You’d better knock me out, because if I get up and you are here, I’m going to kill you.” And, I believe the former Niagara University All-American football halfback would have made sure the student never assaulted another teacher. And yes, the GI Bill was his ticket to the middle class.
Besides being tough, the two coaches were good teachers. My niece falls in the same category. She is passionate about her work. Now, may she never meet a bully she can’t handle. May her children meet her level of academic accomplishments because a generational lapse may lead to upward mobility being unattainable. For once America, make life easier for your blacks. Two things are definite: blacks cannot fall back and rely on white privilege and the GI Bill of 1944 provides a blueprint.
Turning this rant off.