Most African Americans have a tendency to blame all of their down falls on others. As the article states, “people treat victimhood not as a problem to be solved but as an identity to be nurtured.” Throughout The Cult of Anti-Intellectualism victimization appears. Students try to victimize themselves when it comes to education when they place the blame of why they cannot do well on the teachers, parents, and society.
In the article there are several examples of black students that place themselves as the victims. In one of the situations the student did not do well on the midterm, missed a lot of the class, and did not get the notes that were missed. The student later decided to go the teacher and ask for help after the student had already failed the class. The student wanted the teacher to help because the F would interfere with the scholarship that pays for tuition. Another student decided to join a class a few weeks late. The student promised to put forth best effort to catch up with the other students. The teacher did not think this was a good idea; the student did not take the advice that her teacher had given and failed the misterm. The student dropped out of the class with no explanation then later decided to contact the teacher still convinced the credit should be given to the student. The problem with this situation is the student wanted the teacher to still give the credit even though it was not earned. A lot of students want to receive credit without the completion of any work. A lot of African American people like the student in these situations try to make excuses on why they cannot try their best to better themselves, instead they want the easy way out, while they try to make others feel as though it is their fault they’re in certain situations.
Throughout the article people put the blame on African Americans disconnect to learn on other people without blaming it on the students. The article says studies show “African American parents do not require as much of their children in school as Whites and Asian parents do.” People have to realize the student have to want to learn and want to strive for greatness, they cannot be placed as the victims. In the video “The History of African American Education”, the students had much less but worked so much harder than the students today because they believed blacks needed education to reach their full potential. Like the man in the “Miseducation of a black man”, video, people make themselves the victim. In the video the man says “I did not continue my education because women do not want an educated man they want thugs”, this is an example of someone that uses others as an excuse on why they cannot better themselves. When students deicide to take themselves out of the victim category they will do better in schools and in jobs. The parents of African American students and the students have to consider a student that
