San Diego State professor will begin a free, online class on Oct. 23 under the name “Black Minds Matter,” a course meant to put forth the values of the Black Lives Matter movement in an academic setting, incorporating it into teachings that will aid the success of boys and men of color in academic, social, as well as personal knowledge.
Its purpose is not only to educate men of color but also future teachers and professors on how to make black boys and men more successful in school. It will be taught by author and education professor Dr. J. Luke Wood.
Although BMM was created in such form that will aid the success of young adults in academic settings, Craig DeCruz is opposing the idea. DeCruz is a trustee in the Robla School District in Sacramento and is the creator of “Education NOT Indoctrination” a public page on Facebook created to complain about the group member’s taxpayer dollars.
The public forum description of the group begins with the following:
“This group is designed to advocate quality standards in our education system, and that if our tax dollars are to be used for such purpose they should not be misused for the purpose of indoctrination (political or otherwise). We aim to promote intellectual honesty, responsible self ownership, and individual liberty. There cannot be collective justice without individual justice.”
It’s ironic that a group that is supposedly advocating for quality standards in the education system is opposing a course created specifically to aid the success of youth in America. The course is meant to be an open discussion of issues that black men in America face while simultaneously providing research-based strategies to improve the men’s success.
Since Wood’s objective is to teach future educators how to educate black men, it opens the door to student-teacher relationships and how educators need to understand their student’s culture to secure the academic triumphs of black youth.
Discrimination, racism, prejudice, stereotypes, and systematic marginalization are all existent and thriving in America right now. With a president who described groups of neo-Nazis and white supremacists as having “great people” within the groups, these ideas are nonchalantly encouraged in our everyday lives.
The idea that we are all created equal is dismantled when you look at the school to prison pipeline and the low success rates of people of color’s achievements in academics and economic standpoints.
Attempting to reject the ideas and goals of Black Minds Matter is a direct result of wanting people of color to stay uneducated, uninformed, and uninvolved. Teaching a course that will also serve as a form of resistance is a loud chant from people of color wanting equal opportunity in America.
It brings one question to mind: how nice is it be to be privileged enough to intentionally ignore issues that affect the lives and well-being of millions of people in the country and all over the world?
At the end of the day, the opposing arguments that want to seize the course fail to fully absorb the reality that black men and men of color live every single day. It is morally wrong and vile to be so blind to the struggles of people of color. Professor Wood’s course is the the course young black youth needs.
