Pride - The missing link  Rodney D. Coates *


Recently, two new initiatives were unveiled that can have a major impact upon the lives of youths in Cincinnati.  One, appropriately named "STRIVE", was proposed by a consortium of business, educational, civic, and non-profit sectors.  It aims to create the "best educational system in the world from preschool through college".  The plan is a region-wide effort.  It very ambitiously calls for enhanced educational support (both within and outside of the classroom), teacher training and development, college financial supports for needy students, and emphasis upon college completion and career development.  Similarly, Rosa Blackwell -superintendent of Cincinnati Public Schools -announced essentially that it would not be business as usual in the system.  That teachers and schools were going to be held to a greater accountability for student success.   

Both of these initiatives are fantastic and appear to be the right thing to do at the right time.  The problem is that collectively they fall short of what is necessary to improve the outcome of the close to 50% of minority, and poor students who do not complete their education.  (The actual numbers among some groups may indeed be as high as 90%).  It is these students, who continually find their way into the cycles of ignorance, poverty, and victimization that fuels the escalating crime, welfare, and hopelessness. 

Up front, I acknowledge that the State of Ohio has significantly under-funded education over the past decade and must become more aggressive in its funding if we can expect to see statewide improvements. That being said, individual students, families, and communities must also be held accountable.  In order to combat the tragic outcomes of ignorance and poverty, crime and welfare dependency*along with STRIVE, improved system performance and State funding*there must be PRIDE.

P.R.I.D.E. is an acronym I use to indicate -Personal Responsibility for Individual Development and Excellence.  Without PRIDE there can be no significant improvement in the fate of the continuous stream of youths who find themselves trapped at the bottom of the well.  For all too long, we have accepted failure among select groups as if it's a badge of honor or barometer of how far we have yet to come in race relations, social justice or civilization.  Thus, the lack of performance or the failure to achieve excellence is somehow more acceptable if the individual is poor, or from one of our designated racial groups, or geographical areas.  

It is more then a cruel reality that we allow failure to be associated with these groups.  For if this level of failure were mandated by the system, few should fail to see its insidiousness.  But the strange thing is that*since it happens to the poor, or to minorities, or to those living in "those" neighborhoods*few see  this as another form of discrimination, another form of prejudice, and another form of denial.  





It is insane to continue to do the same things and expect different outcomes.  So, we find ourselves continuously going around the same mountains - with the same sort of results.  When, I wonder will we once again declare that failure, ignorance and poverty are not options that we can continue to ignore or accept.  When will we insist that P.R.I.D.E is a fundamental duty of all of us as we pursue our individual and collective futures?



*Note: Rodney D. Coates is professor of black world studies, sociology and gerontology at Miami University.  He can be reached at [log in to unmask]