The Trouble with Black Boys - Chapter 1 Reflections

Reading the first chapter of The Trouble with Black Boys by Pedro Noguera, I was reminded of many of the statements that I had read in the first few chapters of Multicultural education: Issues and perspectives.  Both made reference to some of the same points regarding Black and Brown students being disproportionately in remedial classes, and the disproportionate discipline for Black and Brown students.  Noguera also uses his son as an example of the achievement issues faced by young Black males as they struggle to find their identity.  I thought it was very interesting how he and some of the other researchers attributed a lack of academic success in Black and Brown students, especially males, to an effort to fit in with their peers and avoid being perceived as trying to "act White".  I have heard about and seen these types of situations and I very much recognize that they can be a reality, but I also appreciate that Noguera mentions that there are other minority students who manage multiple identities in order to succeed academically but also fit in with their peers, and still other minority students choose to challenge these expectations through their success.

This chapter reminded me of two students I have taught recently.  Two years ago, in my Spanish 4 Honors class, I had a sophomore girl from Mexico in the class.  This was atypical because the course is primarily juniors, and students who are native speakers of Spanish don't take the regular or honors classes at my school; they take a special sequence of courses called Spanish for Heritage Learners, which is where I expected this student to be placed.  I came to find out that as a freshman, who had recently come back to the US after spending a number of years in Mexico, she was placed in Spanish for Heritage Learners 2 Honors.  However, she had a problems in the class because the other Mexican students did not respond well to her.  She had been educated formally in Mexico, and her mother is a college professor of Spanish.  She is also a very fair-skinned Mexican, so she was facing some issues of racism by her peers who assumed that she thought she was better than them, or that she was trying to act "White".  As a result, she was moved out of that class to the Spanish for Heritage Learners 3 Honors class as a freshman, and then to my class.  I did discover that despite growing up mostly in Mexico and attending school there, she did not have a Mexican peer group at school.  Her friends were other girls from the cheerleading team and other White students, though she also maintained close friendships with her friends in Mexico.  I suppose Noguera would consider Isabela to be one of the students who challenges the expectations of her and has created her own identity.  

Another student that this chapter reminded me of was in my Spanish 4 Honors class this past year.  He was half Pilipino and half Mexican, although he definitely identified with Mexican culture.  He was a member of the Latino Heat dance team, and his girlfriend was a Latina girl he met on the dance team.  All of his friends were Latinos as well.  He was a very nice young man - polite, respectful, although generally on the quiet side in class.  Unfortunately, his struggle with his identity led him to make some very poor choices.  He was suspended from school for two weeks, and thankfully the school board voted not to expel him.  He cut my class numerous times, which is an issue that I rarely deal with, and certainly not in my honors classes.  He suffered from some of the academic achievement issues mentioned by Noguera as well, often not completing his homework and doing poorly on quizzes despite being capable.  I tried so many things to help this young man succeed, but ultimately he continued to make bad choices that led to a D for his second semester grade.  Noguera's book makes me curious if CJ was making these choices in order to fit in better with his Latino peers, or if he was just indifferent.