Our Black Brothers!

by Armstrong Williams - October 23rd, 2006 - Townhall.com

Not long ago I attended a high school basketball game between local DC rivals. I was absolutely amazed at the level of intensity in which these young men played. Both teams, made up of all young black males, possessed a strong desire to win and the level at which they competed demonstrated that it was this desire to be victorious that pushed them all to respect and learn the game.

Both teams ran complicated plays, perfectly executed the directions of the coach and never seemed to tire. When one of the young men made a bad decision, he was immediately admonished by the coach who exclaimed: "you are better than that!" Nodding his head, as if to show he agreed with the coach's statement, the young man refocused and played flawless basketball for the rest of the game.

I left this game not only impressed, but full of hope. Here were 24 young black men competing at an incredibly high level; a group that is often stigmatized as being lazy, unmanageable, slow learners and undisciplined.

Expectations. Due to liberal racism and sexism the biggest problem in America today is expectations. Black amles are expected to be good athletes and poor in the classroom and they live up to those expectations. White males are expected to be poor athletes and good students and they live up to those expectations. However white males are told white females are better.

I have a friend whose young son has asthma. She tells him repeatedly that he is a klutz and can't be good at basketball. I played the game. I spent one half hour with the kid and he learned how to shoot well enough he hit two baskets in that day's game. He had never hit a basket before. He is a quick learner and has good motor skills. I suspect he is a better athlete than I ever was. He will probably never be a good athlete because the discipline to strive and practice requires a belief in yourself that he will never be given. He is white.

Because he is a male, this same white child is told by today's culture that girls are better students. As a result, we are now faced with a crisis in our culture that white males are failing in school as well as athletics.

Black kids in our area are given the belief that they cannot be the best in school and they don't try. I wonder what Condoleeza Rice would have accomplished if her parents had told her she could not be good in school? Black males are told like white males that girls are better in school.

I cannot imagine how any black male child overcomes the pressure to focus on athletics and succeed in school. In truth most can't.

Expectations. They are destroying our nation.