Angry in the Great White North

The National Post

Beware the lure of "Afrocentric" learning

A couple of recent events illustrate the disturbing solution now being proposed to address the chronic academic underperformance of black students: segregate them so that they are taught a special black-only curriculum in special black-only classes or schools.

Consider: On July 20, CBC Radio reported that an additional $4 million dollars will be made available by the Nova Scotia government to implement recommendations from the BLAC Report on education, for which Professor Molefi Asante of Temple University in Philadelphia is a prime consultant. Meanwhile, in February, the Toronto Star reported on an education-focused town hall meeting featuring another scholar, Professor George Dei of the University of Toronto.

Both Asante and Dei promote "Afrocentric" learning, a pedagogy based on the controversial theory that for a black student to succeed academically, he or she must be taught in a manner consistent with the black experience, rooted in black history and incorporating the black mindset.

Professor Asante believes that black students need to be taught an alternate history, one in which ancient Egypt, which he calls Kemet, is populated by black Africans who developed the body of knowledge that we attribute to the Greeks. In fact, according to this view, the Greeks stole all the mathematics, science and political thought that form the basis of Western Civilization from Kemet. Thus Western Civilization is really based, not on Greek thought, but on black African thought. The fact that this dubious "truth" has never been acknowledged is supposedly part of the reason black students do poorly in school.

Meanwhile, Professor Dei's theory is that black students learn differently than other races, and that black knowledge is different from other knowledge. He thinks black students need to be taught in a communal environment free from the individual competition for grades that occurs in the white system. He says black knowledge is not about rights or wrongs as such; instead it is an organic reflection of the social reality in which the student lives.

It is hard to believe that these theories, which strain the bounds of credibility, can actually help black students learn. But Afrocentrism is more than just a misguided pedagogical theory unlikely to generate constructive change; it also incorporates harsh racist theories.

Consider the work of Afrocentrist theorist Francis Cress Welsing. She teaches that the white race is genetically deficient -- a sort of semi-albino mutation -- and that whites were forcefully driven out of Africa into Europe. Their lack of skin pigment (and related lack of fertility and limited intellectual capacity) has driven the white race into a murderous jealous rage. HIV/AIDS is a biological weapon designed by whites to decimate the black race.

Clearly, this hateful brand of Afrocentrism has no place in our schools. Yet, teachers and administrators who resist will accused of undermining black education, a perverse confirmation of the worst of Afrocentric dogma.

Those who would radically change the way we educate some of our children, and who would expect all of us to fund these changes, should be confronted with tough questions. They should be asked to explain their views and their writings. They should be required to detail how their plans will avoid leading to divisions and animosity in the future.

It is a shame that in covering the story, the CBC and the Toronto Star have not made these demands. But it is perhaps a lesson that it will be up to us as citizens and parents to start asking for these answers ourselves.

Steve Janke blogs at angrygwn.mu.nu

agwnblog@gmail.com

If you are interested in more details about Afrocentrism and Canadian schools, here are the in-depth posts from which this National Post column was derived:

Then you will know the truth...
Afrocentrism in Nova Scotia -- Consequences
Afrocentrism in Ontario
The path along which Afrocentrism leads

The following is a new essay written since this column was published: Afrocentric science?

Also, the Carnival of Education has linked to "Then you will know the truth...". If education issues interest you, visit the Carnival for more thought provoking posts.