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African American Male Dropout Rate

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African American Male Dropout Rate
The Plight of African-American Males

Staheen Murray

Empire State College

College Writing
Lisa Mastrangelo
April 20, 2011

The issue amongst this group is the dropout rate that has affected this group in epidemic proportions. Due to oppression discrimination and racism the African American in America is still struggling for meritocracy today. With the of lack of education, poverty and imprisonment, the Black male is now being considered an endangered species. With the lack of education, poverty and imprisonment, The Black male is now being considered an endangered species. According to the Bossip staff (2009), “Nearly one in four young, black, male high school dropouts are incarcerated or institutionalized on an average day. A new study by Northwestern University shows that about one in every 10 young male high school dropouts is in jail or juvenile detention, compared with the slim one in 35 young male high school graduates.” Another study suggested that discrimination in the school districts across the nation has had a negative effect on African- American adolescents, boy and girls.
“...to explore the direct relationships of African American adolescents' beliefs about the meaning of being black (racial ideological beliefs) and their experiences of racial discrimination with engagement in schools” (Smalls, White, Chavous & Sellers, (2007). Many of the articles that I have chosen to address this topic agreed that the plight of the African- American male is linked directly to discrimination in the school system which is preceded by poverty and incarceration. According to Whatever it Takes (2005), “Nationally, only about two-thirds of all students who enter 9th grade graduate with regular high school diplomas four years later. For minority males, these figures are far lower. In 2001, on average, 72% of female students, but only 64% of male students graduated. African American students had a graduation rate of 50%,

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