This was awesome. I hope the church takes your advice and continues and expands this program.

This echoes to some extent a conversation My wife and I had last weekend. We attended a Charleston Symphony Orchestra pops concert at a local Baptist church which has a mostly black congregation. It was a shame that the turnout was so sparse. First, other than most of the musicians and ourselves, there were few white people. We wondered if people stayed away because it was a “black” church. That would be a shame.

There also was not that many black people, either, especially considering the size of the congregation. We wondered if some people felt the symphony was part of the white culture and that blacks were not welcome. That would also be a shame.

Back to science, I think part of the problem is the way society decides who should be role models. This is a problem all across society, but it may have a larger impact on young blacks. Athletes are raised to hero status while scientists are forgotten.

More emphasis should be placed on letting youngsters know about such great people as Benjamin Banneker, Rebecca Cole, George Washington Carver and Dr. Arthur Bertram Cuthbert Walker II. How about Dr. Mae Jemison (whom I admire not just for her pioneering work in space but also because she was a guest star on Star Trek; the Next Generation. How cool is that?). How about Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, the youngest director in the long history of the Hayden Planetarium (another personal hero of mine)?

OK, off the soapbox. That long comment was really just to say, “Way to go!” Keep up the great work.

we debated, we got angry, and he doesnt snowboard with me. its sad, really really sad.

It has nothing to do with “a culture of not being interested in education”. That is ridiculous, and is what I wanted to make clear in my ealrlier comments.

-cvj

–IP.

That was just my observations, and I have to explain them somehow.

Anyway, obviously tons of AA’s are extremely literate and many proffesions require reading, so one wonders where they get their books from. After further review I found a few more local bookstores (smaller and run by AA’s) that seemed to attract a much larger percentage.

The point was, its kinda a clumping phenomenon. The presence of a sizable percentage of AA’s seemed to just attract more, whereas the lack thereof seemed perhaps threatening, leading to an all or nothing situation.

Now the obvious concern is: the clumping phenomenona is independant of the worth of the bookstore/museum/education etc. Aren’t people ultimately shooting themselves in the foot by not taking advantage of the best possible situation, rather than the place that feels most safe.

I must have overreacted–sorry for the misunderstanding. I’ll write more about what I think and where I formed my opinions when I get a chance tonight or the next night.

-Sam

Tell me more…is this anecdotal evidence based on your observation, or some more careful study? Were there factors that might be affecting taken into account, such as what part of town the bookstore was in….what other bookstores were in town? Etc. I know an awful lot of well read African American people. And I find them in bookstores in a reasonable frequency relative to the rest of the population, if memory serves. They might not have read many of the things I’ve read, but that is because I’m coming from a different culture and tradition and so have read different things, not because they aren’t interested in reading. I note that I might not have read the things they’ve read. I don’t think that they conclude that I am shunning education because I have not consulted the same sources.

Also, all those doctors, lawyers, teachers, poets, novellists, journalists, writers, etc, careers which are not unusual in the African American community….. did they learn their craft by not reading? I think there’s a difference between not choosing science as a career -and perhaps not reading enough science as a kid, etc- and the issue of unsatisfactory education in deprived communities, which is a broader although not unrelated problem.

So I repeat. I’m puzzled by your conclusion. Help me here by expanding further on your point. To conclude that not getting an education is a cultural choice by African Americans is rather odd, at best, when there are so many other less far-fetched explanations right there for the taking.

Cheers,

-cvj

For instance if you walk into a Barnes and Nobles (particularly in noncollege towns) you will find far less than the 10% of the population that you would naively expect there to be.

Its not to say African Americans don’t read, but rather they (generalization) do so in a way that is either hidden (eg passed down) or community specific (say a local bookstore and not a big chain like Barnes and Noble)

I have no idea why this is, but I think it would be backed up by numbers if it came down to it.

Well done! An excellent job of evangelizing and spreading the Gospel of Science. Who knows what seeds you may have planted?

We were discussing science, and careers in science. We were not discussing God. That is not what I came to talk about. They talk to other people about God. Not me. I don’t do research in that area. They know that, and they know that I have no interest in talking about anything other than what I agreed to talk about, which was science, and science careers.

It is just need not be as complicated as all that. They want their kids to have careers in a wide range of areas. They want to know what’s out there. That’s all. We can sit around and second guess whether thy have an agenda or not, or we could just give up an hour or two of our time and tell them a little bit about science. It won’t sit well with everybody, but who cares? You interest one young person into pursuing a career in science and it is all worth it.

And there is no need to generalize. Talk to which church group wants to have a conversation, and don’t talk to those who don’t. Simple. Let us not assume that people don’t want to have a conversation, though.

Thanks,

-cvj

It is wonderful that you have found a community which wants to teach people about opportunities in science, but there will always be people, like on the Kansas school board, who view science (and math!) as a threat to their beliefs. They are always on the offensive and they aren’t few in numbers.

On this day to Blog for inclusion of those with disabilities, reaching out to all communities that have not been fully embraced is hugely important. Thank you for making these steps for the scientific commu

P.S… pack your flack-jacket.