South L.A. student finds a different world at Cal (UC Berkeley)

[theworldismine13]

For a student body, a 2% difference is huge

no

it would make a huge difference in terms of what? 5% is nothing

i forget the exact numbers, but i remember looking at them, but in terms of raw numbers (of incoming freshman) the drop in numbers of black students was a few dozen, like around 50 or something like that, it was miniscule especially in a student body of 20000

there are no glory days of blacks in Berkeley, AA is a another lie white liberals bamboozled black people with

the goal for black people at berkely and other UC's should be 10-15% (overrepresented in other words) and you can only do that when black hs students start studying harder and getting focused, white and black liberals are lying by suggesting otherwise, there is no other solution other than hitting them books

 

[Marvel]

it supports my POV that AA is a waste of time and political capital and that ward connely did the right thing

there is only one solution to getting more blacks into Berkeley, black high school students need to study harder, any other "solution" is bullshyt

Study harder?...Inner city schools are designed to pass you along to the next grade as long as you show up. If you are reading or writing at a 9th grade level and you are in college, studying harder may not help. Single parent homes make it harder for a kid to get the attention they need to learn, especially if the mom is not educated herself. That is why Kashawn struggled and Spencer didn't because his mom was highly educated and exposed him to a lot of things. I've worked in higher education for years and see it all the time. Many black kids that graduate HS, especially in the inner cities are not equipped with an academic foundation strong enough to be successful in college, Their freshman year is very critical on whether they stay in college or not. My parents went to school in Africa and they don't just pass you along...you have to show that you are competent in a variety of subjects before you go to the next grade level. Parents don't want their kids held back so they got involved. Our public system is dumbing down children. Parents see that their kid is not being held back a grade, so they think everything is cool. Not knowing their kids are going to be rendered useless in today's society.

 

[theworldismine13]

Study harder?...Inner city schools are designed to pass you along to the next grade as long as you show up. If you are reading or writing at a 9th grade level and you are in college, studying harder may not help. Single parent homes make it harder for a kid to get the attention they need to learn, especially if the mom is not educated herself. That is why Kashawn struggled and Spencer didn't because his mom was highly educated and exposed him to a lot of things. I've worked in higher education for years and see it all the time. Many black kids that graduate HS, especially in the inner cities are not equipped with an academic foundation strong enough to be successful in college, Their freshman year is very critical on whether they stay in college or not. My parents went to school in Africa and they don't just pass you along...you have to show that you are competent in a variety of subjects before you go to the next grade level. Parents don't want their kids held back so they got involved. Our public system is dumbing down children. Parents see that their kid is not being held back a grade, so they think everything is cool. Not knowing their kids are going to be rendered useless in today's society.

yeah im fully aware of all those issues, i was the one that posted this story about what people are facing and i certainly will not defend the public school systems in the inner city, i think they should all be razed and replaced with charter schools and vouchers for private schools

but AA is not the solution to this, why would AA make it more likely to do good at Berkeley? in fact AA makes it more likely to NOT succeed at berkeley because you are being put into something you are not prepared for, which is what studies have shown, the graduation rate for minorities in the UC system has increased after they got rid if AA

but im not sure how you get around the simple fact that black kids arent studying hard enough, its better to focus on that problem and problems in high school and elementary and then make university admission neutral

 

[Black smoke and cac jokes]

no

it would make a huge difference in terms of what? 5% is nothing

i forget the exact numbers, but i remember looking at them, but in terms of raw numbers (of incoming freshman) the drop in numbers of black students was a few dozen, like around 50 or something like that, it was miniscule especially in a student body of 20000

there are no glory days of blacks in Berkeley, AA is a another lie white liberals bamboozled black people with

the goal for black people at berkely and other UC's should be 10-15% (overrepresented in other words) and you can only do that when black hs students start studying harder and getting focused, white and black liberals are lying by suggesting otherwise, there is no other solution other than hitting them books

There's 25,885 undergrads in Berkeley, and a 7% to 5% decrease causes a 500 difference. You don't think 500 more people on campus means much?

You must never been close to a top american school then. 500 people that inspires black people in high schools all over california. What's even worse is that the business school, Haas, is ranked one of the best undergrad business school in the world but has less than 1% of AA

I agree that there are definitely other factors that needs to be fixed within our community, but you will be stupid as hell not to think 500 more black people getting in to cal every year makes a difference.

 

[theworldismine13]

There's 25,885 undergrads in Berkeley, and a 7% to 5% decrease causes a 500 difference. You don't think 500 more people on campus means much?

You must never been close to a top american school then. 500 people that inspires black people in high schools all over california. What's even worse is that the business school, Haas, is ranked one of the best undergrad business school in the world but has less than 1% of AA

I agree that there are definitely other factors that needs to be fixed within our community, but you will be stupid as hell not to think 500 more black people getting in to cal every year makes a difference.

yeah, im saying in a campus of 25000 a few hundred students is a blip and that there was never any glory days of black people at Berkeley, at the height of AA you would probably walk around the Berkeley campus and not see any black faces either

the inspiration thing is just hand waving, the ones that dont get in to berkely go to another UC or another school, which is what happened to me, the world is not going to end

im not saying 500 wouldnt make any difference, im saying black people need to increase their numbers to 10-15%, we need to increase it by 2 or 3 thousand, but AA is not the solution, AA is a liberal solution that when implemented leaves a school like berkeley with 5% black population which is a blip

 

[theworldismine13]

AA is like public housing, white liberals come up with it and black people latch on to it as if its manna from heaven when in reality its just crumbs of the table that dont really challenge white supremacy and keeps black people in their place

you got people "demanding" that berkely go to 5% black pop

 

[Marvel]

dude went to jefferson high... that school is shyt.

yeah im fully aware of all those issues, i was the one that posted this story about what people are facing and i certainly will not defend the public school systems in the inner city, i think they should all be razed and replaced with charter schools and vouchers for private schools

but AA is not the solution to this, why would AA make it more likely to do good at Berkeley? in fact AA makes it more likely to NOT succeed at berkeley because you are being put into something you are not prepared for, which is what studies have shown, the graduation rate for minorities in the UC system has increased after they got rid if AA

but im not sure how you get around the simple fact that black kids arent studying hard enough, its better to focus on that problem and problems in high school and elementary and then make university admission neutral

Breh, studying harder is not what black kids are missing. I had two masters degree by the time I was 30 because I learned how to study effectively and process information. I was fortunate enough to get a good academic foundation early on in life. Many kids that are strong academically do not study as hard as people think. A lot of times, they study hard when cramming for tests, preparing for standardized exams, or if they are doing some sort of extensive research or study. They can study the same amount of time as Kashawn and do better than him because their study techniques and academic understanding is already on point from the environment that they grew up in.

Black people are are still viewed as somehow gaming the system of college admissions because of top 5%-10% rule in states like Texas and California because they look at race to ensure their student body is diverse in some cases. Meanwhile, whites don't want to give up legacy as part as the admissions process. I went to the University of Texas-Austin and had a 3% black population when I was admitted as a freshman and 2.7% my 2nd year Not one black person I knew had a parent or grandparent that went to the school, for obvious reasons. Even if a black kid was considered for legacy, the amount of black kids that would have that perk would be minuscule compared to whites. So don't fight against the AA argument until whites are willing to give up legacy being considered in their admissions. If you saw the racial rhetoric and incidents that I saw at that school, a school that didn't have AA...you would understand why AA is needed. If it was left up to them, the only black people allowed would be the athletes...real talk.

I do agree...that the only thing that can help black people in education is the creation of more charter and private schools that can serve specific needs of the children. I do not think that public schools are the long-term solution to uplift black youth. We need to control our own education. Sometimes, I wish I was billionaire so I could go out there and create these schools.

 

[theworldismine13]

Breh, studying harder is not what black kids are missing. I had two masters degree by the time I was 30 because I learned how to study effectively and process information. I was fortunate enough to get a good academic foundation early on in life. Many kids that are strong academically do not study as hard as people think. A lot of times, they study hard when cramming for tests, preparing for standardized exams, or if they are doing some sort of extensive research or study. They can study the same amount of time as Kashawn and do better than him because their study techniques and academic understanding is already on point from the environment that they grew up in.

Black people are are still viewed as somehow gaming the system of college admissions because of top 5%-10% rule in states like Texas and California because they look at race to ensure their student body is diverse in some cases. Meanwhile, whites don't want to give up legacy as part as the admissions process. I went to the University of Texas-Austin and had a 3% black population when I was admitted as a freshman and 2.7% my 2nd year Not one black person I knew had a parent or grandparent that went to the school, for obvious reasons. Even if a black kid was considered for legacy, the amount of black kids that would have that perk would be minuscule compared to whites. So don't fight against the AA argument until whites are willing to give up legacy being considered in their admissions. If you saw the racial rhetoric and incidents that I saw at that school, a school that didn't have AA...you would understand why AA is needed. If it was left up to them, the only black people allowed would be the athletes...real talk.

I do agree...that the only thing that can help black people in education is the creation of more charter and private schools that can serve specific needs of the children. I do not think that public schools are the long-term solution to uplift black youth. We need to control our own education. Sometimes, I wish I was billionaire so I could go out there and create these schools.

i dont see how anything you say is an argument for AA, AA is the norm, it has been for like 30 years, AA is not going to increase or decrease any racial problems, im not an expert on UT, but im 100 percent sure without even looking it up that when AA was in full effect the number of black students was low and there were still racial problems

black students do bad in school because black people have an anti academic culture that venerates a "real nikka" and being a real nikka and academic excellence dont go together, and this causes black students to study less than other ethnic groups, until we address the culture or the schools address culture black people will always be underrepresented

all AA does is skew the numbers at the university to deal with problems that should have been dealt with in HS or elementary, it will always keep the black numbers low and it will have black people agreeing to low goals

like for example why would somebody think that 5% at Berkeley is acceptable? if you have 20 years of AA and black students are only 5% how can anybody call that successful? obviously we need to rethink that strategy, that is what any independent minded black person would think, but since we have been bamboozled by liberals we are brainwashed into thinking letting in a few people at top schools is

our goal as black people is to dominate and be overrepresented at higher education, and trust no white liberal program is going to do that, that is something black people have to figure out ourselves

 

[Serious]

Study harder?...Inner city schools are designed to pass you along to the next grade as long as you show up. If you are reading or writing at a 9th grade level and you are in college, studying harder may not help. Single parent homes make it harder for a kid to get the attention they need to learn, especially if the mom is not educated herself. That is why Kashawn struggled and Spencer didn't because his mom was highly educated and exposed him to a lot of things. I've worked in higher education for years and see it all the time. [b[Many black kids that graduate HS, especially in the inner cities are not equipped with an academic foundation strong enough to be successful in college, Their freshman year is very critical on whether they stay in college or not.[/b] My parents went to school in Africa and they don't just pass you along...you have to show that you are competent in a variety of subjects before you go to the next grade level. Parents don't want their kids held back so they got involved. Our public system is dumbing down children. Parents see that their kid is not being held back a grade, so they think everything is cool. Not knowing their kids are going to be rendered useless in today's society.

This is true. I was having a conversation about this last night with some of my folks.

What does this say about our "inner city" youth if a kid who maintained a 4.0 in HS, couldn't crack an introductory English course. This guy was the most likely to succeed at his school, yet found himself struggling beyond belief, while honestly trying his hardest. This kid was incredibly unprepared. Imagine all the students who are simply average or are fully engaged in high school yet. People with GPA's less than 3.5, will immensely suffer.


I remember the first two years of high school, I went to a brand new charter school. Where I was somewhat of an average student, I'd get mainly B's and a few A's, but I never considered myself some super bright kid. There were clearly kids in my class who were way ahead of the curve. Unfortunately I had enough of the subpar high school experience at the charter school wanted to chase after some hoes ( ), so left my junior year. I was caught off guard by how incredibly easy the curriculum was. I thought I didn't give a fukk, but students on average at the public high school didn't give a fukk.

Anyways to make a long story short. I practically got straight A's in public school with minimal effort, while working full time. Just showing up everyday and not causing trouble pretty much gurantees students a B+. I rarely studied. The material was 3x easier than the charter school. The students on average at the public school, just weren't prepared. This essentially trickled down, and took away from my education and learning experience. Overall I realized I had become unprepared for the college...

And had a reality check when I wasn't getting straight A's in college nor was I passing all my courses...

Going back to the importance of freshmen year is crucial. Thank Gawd ( ) this young brother is a fighter...
It's good this young brother got humbled early in his academic career. Learning how to cope with failure is an important tool in life. I'm glad he kept fighting, despite losing an uphill battle. Now imagine all the unprepared students, who don't have a strong support system, who may feel the aren't college material, who don't have the willpower to keep pushing forward....

 

[Killer Instinct]

A lot of great stories in here. It's depressing how poorly prepared so many kids are. I attended both public and private school during HS, and the difference was night & day. You have some teachers who put forth the effort, but some simply show up, draw three or four equations on the board and then tell you to open to page 118 and do 1-20 odd only. There was one teacher I had in 9th grade that was bringing fukking PAC MAN to class and playing it with students. Or stop mid lecture to talk about his experience eating squid for twenty minutes. If you weren't done with your test when class ended?

"Oh, just take it home. Bring it back tomorrow. "


One of the guys in my class would sometimes not even bring the test back and he still managed to get out of the class with a C. Kids that came and went to sleep in class. That were clearly deficient in the course? He passed them. When you're a kid you don't get it - hell, you're happy you're not having to work - but you're being crippled. When you graduate and you apply to schools and get a in the mail, it really sets in.



A guy I consider something like a brother had to take a years worth of CC courses because even though he had a decent score - for a black male - on the ACT(22), no school would take him because of his GPA. Can't imagine how he felt seeing us leave while he was stuck in the same spot. Thankfully he didn't quit and is now at UAB, but how many kids do give up?


Then you have kids like the one in the OP who is motivated and yearns for an knowledge, yet the curriculum is still not adequately preparing him for the rigors of a college education. That's not his fault. Teachers will pass you along now just for showing up to class. It comes down to not wanting to get the Board of Edu involved and I never want anyone to lose their job, but these inner city kids are clearly suffering.

 

[ogc163]

A doc dealing with Black students trying to get into college, follows them for 13 years. Now these kids are middle class so it's obviously a different set of circumstances...




I think back to how much reading was done in my home, if it wasn't for my love of newspapers from an early age I wouldv'e been messed up in the game.

@theworldismine13

 

[theworldismine13]

'American Promise' Is An Official Selection Of The 2013 New York Film Festival

http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowan...-selection-of-the-2013-new-york-film-festival

 

[AgentGrey]

English 101 professors are some of the saddest human beings you'll ever meet. They are c*nts for the sake of being c*nts because their dreams of being a writer or poet went up in flames. They will piss on anything you hand in.

Once you get past those failures and into the real shyt, the bulk of your major, everything else is smooth sailing..

Cant front, my English 101 teacher was a dikk but he couldn't deny my writing. Like many freshman I fukked around (showed up whenever, slacked on homework, etc) but when it came time to turn in an essay or do some in-class assignment mine was always top 5.

Math game had me skrugglin tho

 

[Serious]

'American Promise' Is An Official Selection Of The 2013 New York Film Festival

http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowan...-selection-of-the-2013-new-york-film-festival

y0 twism did I ever link you to this story: Brooklyn Castle
http://www.pbs.org/pov/pressroom/2013/brooklyn-castle-premiere-pov-pbs-indies-showcase.php

 

[Kliq_Souf]

looks like @Broke Wave