The village talks: community communication and dialogue

¶ … socialization of Black children by their families, and indicates how this socialization affects children all throughout their lives. The article acknowledges the great influence parents can have in what children bring to school and also influence how well these children to in school and beyond. The text notes, "Parents who place a high value on education will tend to have children with higher attainment in school and in their later careers."

In addition, the actions of the parents in the home can far outweigh the elements that influence the child while in school. The premise of this paper is the oft-quoted comment that it "takes a village" to raise a child, and this article investigates parenting techniques of African-American parents, their hopes for their children, and the context of slavery and discrimination that still shrouds the African-American people.

Many African-American parents hope their children will be better educated than they were, and hope their children will prosper and be more successful than their parents are, as well. To this end, they support their children in gaining better education, and in overcoming the lingering effects of slavery and discrimination that still hinder performance and their future careers. Most parents recognize their children will have to work harder to attain the same levels of performance and acceptance that whites do, and they prepare their children to face discrimination throughout their lives, it is simply a factor of life, even though there were expectations, it would lessen after the culmination of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s.

Parents walk a difficult tightrope of attempting to protect their children from racism while not overprotecting their children, and preparing them for the future, where they will certainly experience racism and discrimination at some point in their lives. The author notes, "But parents must not overprotect their children, for the youngsters must be prepared to cope with racism their entire lives."

Researchers believe the most successful African-Americans learn to use a "double consciousness," where they view the world through Black eyes, but through White eyes, as well. Perhaps an excellent example of this is comedian Bill Cosby, whose long career has contained elements of both Black and White experiences, and who has blended those experiences into his comedy, his philosophy, and his legacy. Cosby seems to have made the transition into this "double consciousness," and he is quite vocal about urging other Blacks to utilize it to their advantage, as well, rather than simply accepting their "plight" and blaming whites for all their societal and cultural ills. Essentially, children and adults who manage to adopt this "double consciousness" are "bicultural," just as we think of immigrants to this country who assimilate into American culture.

However, the author makes it quite clear that while Black Americans may share some commonalities with immigrants, they share one enduring dissimilarity, their legacy of enslavement. This clouds the history of Blacks, and still helps shape Black American families today, leaving many Blacks in an inferior position in American society even today. More blacks suffer from poverty, poor education, and lack of opportunities than whites in this country, and the layering of society tend to create a "glass ceiling" that many Blacks cannot break through to reach the next layer of society and societal benefits. Poverty and lack of education keep poor Blacks in American ghettos, unable to break free from poverty and rise to the next level of American society. Because educational monies do not trickle down into many predominately African-American schools, African-American children do not receive the same quality education that most White students take for granted, and this limits their ability to find a well-paying career that will help them move into middle-class America and support their families in middle-class fashion. The importance of family throughout this experience cannot be overstressed. Family has become even more important in African-American families, and because of poverty and circumstances, there are more single-parenting African-American mothers raising children, and so, this matriarchal system is the backbone of African-American society and culture throughout the United States. Extended families and the support they provide is essential to the continuation of African-American culture, customs, and heritage, and the mothers, grandmothers, aunts, and nieces of the family, (as the previous article indicated) are often the messengers of these elements of their family's history and preparation for the future.

While many Black parents discuss race with their children, and believe that is an important life lesson for the future, many families do not, as they feel their children will learn this hard lesson on their own, and do not need to make their children feel inferior or lesser than their White counterparts. Others believe if their children do not know about the concept of race and racial inequity, it will not harm them in the future.

Of course, these are all personal parenting choices, and they indicate, that just as in any ethnic group, there are differences in how parents choose to parent and prepare their children for the future. There are differences in what their children will perceive, as well. Some of these parents may not have as deep bonds with their African-American roots, or they may place more emphasis on simply being a good person, rather than being a good Black person.

Clearly, how parents raise and socialize their children depends on their own racial identities and relationships with the White world. Every parent, regardless of race, harbors prejudices and belief systems, and they almost always pass these prejudices along to their children as they prepare them for adulthood. It is interesting to note that racial awareness begins at a young age, this is normal, and that most children prefer White as a preference, and later learn to appreciate their Black heritage and profile as they mature. Much of this attitude also comes from their parents and their socialization skills, namely the ability to instill a sense of pride and self-assuredness about their race, rather than continuing to long for a White skin, as many young Blacks admit about their childhood.