In order to solve a problem you must first acknowledge it. There is something wrong with Black America.
The Black family is not lacking in love, this idea is important; there is instead, a misdirection of priorities. Hundreds of dollars are spent on sneakers, yet the same investment does not extend to a day trip to the museum or theatre. “Sneakers" here is a placeholder — it represents any distraction that enables complacency with the status quo of indignity. Money and attention spent in the wrong places is like using painkillers for cancer — useless.
Beyond Fathers, Beyond Blame:
I am my fathers tenth child and I was raised by a single mom. I understand Black male culture more than anyone. An entire book may be devoted to Black fathers and male incompetence, but the point of this article goes beyond the role of fathers.
We must dream of a world with faithful, married Black fathers, but must operate with the framework of raising (creating) them rather than reforming or blaming the ones who continued the cycle.
The issue is not simply that fathers are absent; it is that sons are raised without the discipline to break the cycle. Reforming Black America starts with transforming the values instilled in the next generation.
The Victim Narrative: A Trap
Constantly reaffirming oppression without a decisive plan to move beyond it will never result in success. I carry the last name that a slave owner gave me. Liberals aren’t wrong to trace our struggles back to slavery, but making it the centerpiece of Black identity keeps us trapped in the past.
Black America needs a critical analysis of why everyone is outperforming us. Chinese people can come into the United States and create wealth in one generation; do you hear them complaining about the hatred they’ve faced in America since the 1800s? Asian Americans are routinely attacked in racist violence, yet they do not define their community by victimhood; they do not prioritize status symbols over education. Do Asian fathers give a damn about what sneakers their child is wearing if that child is failing in school? Let the child wear old shoes if it means affording a math tutor.
Before learning about inequality, a young mind must first have the chance to dream.
Manufactured Success and the Cycle of Illusion
Given the current state of the Black American image, I’d selfishly prefer to see affirmative action remain in college admissions. But the truth is, Black youth thinking about college applications have already broken the cycle. With or without affirmative action, the students making it into Ivy League schools are excelling academically or in extracurriculars anyway.
The focus should be on the kids in Queens stealing their parents' alcohol or those boys who were already smoking joints in middle school. By the time they apply to college, these kids have faced years of failing grades and substance abuse, which will affect them for life; Cornell University would never even cross their minds. For the stereotypical troubled Black youth, community college alone is a huge victory.
Black America has been conditioned to chase an unattainable, consumer-driven success propagated by entertainment and consumerism, rather than true achievement. We can dribble a ball, sing, dance and influence fashion and language — so what? Success will come when the Black child stops idolizing waving bills and flaunting chains and starts prioritizing cultural values like education.
The entertainment industry profits by casting Black youth into stereotypical roles, pushing an image that drives sales but pulls us further from the rich legacies of jazz, blues and gospel. While limited opportunities once made entertainment the only path to upward mobility, a changed world has failed to shift the mindset. The modern situation reinvigorates cycles of violence and failure because of an inability to see the light; a lack of faith is extremely dangerous to the human soul.
Discipline Is Love: A Radical Reimagining of Black Parenting
Black people do not lack intelligence or capability. The success of Nigerian immigrants proves that culture dictates outcomes more than race ever will. I fear for a future where, 500 years from now Black America is still relying on the crutch of historical inequality. We no longer live in an age of the white man’s burden, it’s all in the hands of Black America.
Black families need to take radical ownership of education. I want Black children to be terrified of getting a B+ and totally ignorant about the latest pair of Jordans. I want Black children to be sneaking books past bedtimes, not alcohol and marijuana into parties. If school is teaching multiplication, parents should be drilling times tables at the dinner table. If homework is finished, documentaries should replace video games.
Redefining Success — On Our Own Terms
Success requires being intentional. If other communities can afford a relaxed approach to parenting, Black families cannot. In a society flooded with distractions — sex, social media, materialism — the only cure is discipline. And love without discipline is not love at all — it is neglect. Change can only come from within.
It’s not enough to want to “be the best.” Rather we must define what being the best even means — and commit to the sacrifices necessary to achieve it. This is not an argument to appease white America. This is about the Black community deciding, on its own terms, that it refuses to settle for mediocrity.
If nothing changes, then nothing changes.
Leo Glasgow is a third year student in the College of Arts and Sciences. His fortnightly column Can We Talk focuses on student life, domestic and international politics and social issues. He can be reached at lglasgow@cornellsun.com.
The Cornell Daily Sun is interested in publishing a broad and diverse set of content from the Cornell and greater Ithaca community. We want to hear what you have to say about this topic or any of our pieces. Here are some guidelines on how to submit. And here’s our email: associate-editor@cornellsun.com.
