Amy Chua: Right on Substance, Wrong on Style

Could Black Parents Learn From Amy Chua?

I have been keeping up with the Amy Chua controversy over the past few weeks and honestly I think the criticism is overblown.

Chua, a Professor & author of 'Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother', caused an uproar with her recent Wall Street Journal article entitled 'Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior'. In the article, Chua explains how the Asian approach of aggressive, strict parenting is superior to modern Western parenting, specifically found in traditional American families. Chua argues that her more regimented, structured approach - which is almost boot camp-like - produces better outcomes. It is important for parents to override the natural preferences of children in order to instill values of hard work and discipline.

I am torn on where I come down on this, but I tend to side with Chua. Although her style is probably not the correct approach, the overall basis for her argument is strong. It is a fact that children with more engaged, strict, and attentive parents usually end up in a better position later on. Of course this is not the case in every situation, but there is a definite advantage to growing up in a household where you are pushed more and where expectations are high. Chua's style though provided excuse makers & critics with a reason to pounce. I particularly thought of the section in the article where Chua forced one of her daughters to sit at the piano for hours until she learned a particular song, despite the child struggling and having a nervous breakdown.

But the numbers don't lie. Strong parenting, more often than not, pays off. You can whine about Chua's style til your heart's content... but the kids of Tiger Mothers are kicking the behinds of those raised in more laissez-faire households. Critics have taken things out of context. In the article, and in an NPR interview that followed, Chua makes clear that she was not being literal in all of her comparisons. Yes, it's true that some of her comments could be seen as stereotyping... but she admits that some of her comments were tongue-in-cheek. She stated that the term "Chinese Mother" (or Tiger Mother) could be applied to immigrant parents of a variety of ethnic groups. It symbolically represented a general view about parenting, as opposed to strictly one race of people. But she was mainly referring to Chinese parenting. Her explanation made sense to me, because I have seen a little bit of the Tiger Mother in Vietnamese, Nigerian, European, and Arab immigrants. She was using images and terms to represent mothers more collectively than her critics would have you to believe.

While her methods were a little questionable... her general view of parenting is a good one. This is generally the kind of parenting that we need more of in this Country. This is especially the case in the so-called Black Community. I found it ironic that Black bloggers would come out so strongly against Chua. Strange almost, considering the condition that Black urban communities are in. The Black Community is creating monsters in record numbers who are terrorizing their own neighborhoods as I type this commentary. Black males are 5 times more likely to be arrested and sent to prison than their white counterparts. Additionally, Black males are 3 times more likely than whites and 5 times more likely than Asians to be suspended from School. And I won't even mention the deplorable dropout rate. See two of my previous posts on Education for Black males, here, and here.

Another irony is that many of the traditional black families of the past (1960/1950 and earlier) actually had parents who bore a closer resemblance to the so-called Chinese Tiger Mother, than the current less rigid American parent. That was the case in rural and urban Black families. Education was cherished, because it was seen as a way out of post-reconstruction poverty. Structure, discipline and respect for elders were key in many Black households. One other reason that Black children had to adhere to discipline at that time goes beyond the fact that it was economically important. How well children embraced discipline, structure, and listened to parents was literally a matter of life and death. They had to listen to the warnings about how to properly interact in a white world that was often hostile. Black children had to understand the importance of heeding the constant instructions from parents about societal rules on how to deal with whites in order to keep themselves alive. How many of those stories have we heard? These are the actual roots of Black existence in America, not just a bunch of outlandish, off the wall ideas. Unfortunately much of that tradition has been lost. The lack of fathers in the home obviously contributed to the problem. So I just find it interesting that Blacks (some Blacks) see Amy Chua's approach to parenting as something that is somehow foreign. It's as if Blacks are looking in the mirror after 130, 140 years and can't recognize themselves. But in a way, it explains quite a bit.

If the so-called "Black Community" had more Amy Chua's of their own- perhaps without so much of the bootcamp aspect - and homes with more attentive, present, concerned, engaged, demanding, responsible parents.. who instilled certain values...and if Black men and women (esp. Women) made better choices, I can guarantee that there would not be nearly as many problems as there are today. In fact, the same could be said for American culture in general. Outcomes in education would certainly be much better.

Instead of condemning Chua, more traditional American mothers (black, white, purple) should take notes from her. How a child is pushed, loved, nurtured, educated, etc is subject to style preference. But to suggest that stronger parenting is somehow bad for a child, citing tough methods as an excuse to trash a parent in  Chua's case, is just dishonest. Are Chinese mothers superior? I don't know if I would have framed the title in those terms to begin with. But it is clear that Chinese, Vietnamese, and immigrant parents in general tend to have a better grasp on parenting.

Even the Obama's have banned Sasha and Malia from watching TV during the week. No TV period. Only a little on the weekends. They expect only the best grades and are not pleased with a B or C, especially when they know that the girls could have done better. The President and First Lady also make sure that they keep the girls involved in other meaningful activities... such as music and dance lessons...which they have to attend, in addition to schoolwork... and btw...schoolwork gets done before the girls are allowed to do anything else. They are made to do a whole list of things that they probably don't want to do (I am sure many of their natural preferences are being overridden by Mrs. Obama), yet someone is riding their tails everyday to make sure those things get done and that responsibilities are met. The Obama's have a stricter, more regimented parenting style...not because they are the first family, but because they understand the benefits of discipline and hard work and they know what it took to get to where they are. They want their daughters to understand and enjoy those same benefits. This is not quite as strict as the Tiger Mother approach, but it bares a much closer resemblance to the Chinese Tiger Mother way (if such a style really exists) than the modern American approach. So again, it leaves me scratching my head when people, especially Blacks, see Amy Chua's experience as something completely foreign. Chua's approach is basically about keeping close tabs on children, providing plenty of structure, pushing hard work, maintaining a strong expectation of excellence, instilling the right values, stressing discipline, responsibility & accountability, embracing education, and always being a very engaged parent. Could she have produced children of the same caliber using softer methods? Probably. Her approach is a little on the harsh side, I must admit. But her overall approach worked. I think an approach of a less engaged parent, who doesn't care, who is neglectful, etc... creates a much more abusive situation and creates outcomes that are much worse...both for the child and for society.

New Education Study Shows Bleak Picture for Black Boys

Another study was released this month showing that educational achievement for Black males has reached a crisis level and may be worse than previously thought. The report, entitled "A Call for Change: The Social and Educational Factors Contributing to the Outcomes of Black Males in Urban Schools", was funded by The Council Of The Great City Schools. This is yet another report which indicates that the disparities in educational performance cannot simply be blamed on poverty.

From the New York Times:

Poverty alone does not seem to explain the differences: poor white boys do just as well as African-American boys who do not live in poverty, measured by whether they qualify for subsidized school lunches.

Perhaps the toughest finding from the report is the fact that Black male students with no disabilities, are barely even with White male students who are learning disabled. Read more from The Loop21. See a summary of the CGCS report (pdf).See the Full Report.

Hear an in-depth discussion about the findings of the report from NPR.

The CGCS report seems to confirm the Policy Bridge report from a few years ago, which had a similar focus and generally presented many of the same findings. However, I believe the CGCS report may be more extensive. It also echoed information from The Schott Foundation report. So just within the last 3 or 4 years you have 3 major reports on the same issue... from Policy Bridge, the Schott Foundation, and now CGCS which are all generally reporting the same findings. Not to mention all of the other reports and studies over the last decade.

The Black establishment focuses on "The system" and "poverty" as the culprits for these problems, but those arguments can no longer be used as excuses. I have stated here several times that the core problem has to do with culture, as the Policy Bridge Report points out. The problem also lies with parents. I think the Black establishment (Civil Rights Inc. etc) uses these excuses as a way to somehow protect Black culture or Black parenthood. I made my argument in a previous commentary regarding the Black male achievement gap. You can also find links to the Policy Bridge study there as well. So I won't repeat my argument again. But it is clear that the old arguments are not going to cut it anymore.

In terms of conclusions... I was a little disappointed to see that the CGCS report did not seem to focus on the cultural gap. It seemed to tiptoe around that issue... perhaps for the purpose of political correctness...who knows. This is where I think the Policy Bridge study really shined. It came out and addressed the elephant in the room... "culture".... today's "Black/Urban culture" in particular. Instead of focusing on the real causes... the CGCS report simply calls for "a White House Conference", and more studies (although this issue has probably been studied more than anything known to man). We don't need more huge studies or commissions... we need a cultural shift and parents willing to take responsibility for raising and educating their children.

Hear a discussion with Dr. Ron Ferguson of the Achievement Gap Initiative from Harvard University. (From KMOX RAdio in St. Louis)

Hear full discussion.

I am also annoyed by the effort to demonize teachers and use them as scapegoats. The Black establishment, and even "the system" have joined together to focus the blame on teachers. A teacher in California recently took his own life because the test scores for his students were released by a major newspaper (with no context whatsoever). The newspaper report (which I will not link...nor will I provide clicks for the newspaper in question) gave the impression that the teacher was not doing the best he could. It turns out...the teacher who killed himself was one of the hardest working and most dedicated instructors in his school and his district. The test score issue is a red herring, used by school administrators (misused) to intimidate teachers. The fact is, standardized test scores are not usually a good reflection of the dedication or quality of a teacher. This is especially the case in urban schools.

Teachers have a hard enough time already. They are undervalued and under-appreciated considering the role they play in society, particularly in shaping America's future. They are underpaid and they often have to work in awful work environments where their safety is in question and where they are not given the support they need from school administrators. It's the same nonsense at every urban school district in the Country (and even in some suburban districts). Sure there are bad teachers...but they don't make up the majority. There are ways to evaluate teachers and get rid of the bad apples (by sending in panels of experienced instructors from other schools to watch the teachers in class and provide objective feedback, and by getting feedback from peers and from students. It should not be done through test scores alone). In the case of the California teacher...he was also dealing with a language barrier...with a significant number of his students having trouble with English or not having English as their first language - yet another variable that is not taken into account.

A great example of the kind of insanity that I am referring to can be seen in the A&E program Tony Danza: Teach. The taping of the program takes place in an urban high school in Philadelphia. Unfortunately this show didn't get renewed for another season...but despite that, it provides insight into what is ailing the American public school system. In episode #7, one of Danza's Black students- Algernon- is given numerous chances to turn in a simple homework assignment, but fails to do the work. Can you guess who the school principal jumped on for that? Yep... the principal took a bite out of Danza's ass for the student not listening and refusing to turn in his homework. The student was coddled. The principal is the typical urban school administrator. This is the kind of nonsense that makes my conservative side kick in.... and it is one of the things that annoys me about liberals... sometimes their way of thinking goes too far to the left with no rhyme or reason. Overall... i'm progressive, but I have a few conservative tendencies. I don't embrace many of the positions on the far left. The proper, logical response from this principal (or any principal) should have been to call the parents in...and sit down together with the student, and the teacher to try to find a solution. This would be an opportunity to give the parents a kick in the ass (encourage them to get more involved... provide them with options...and challenge them). But instead of holding the student and his parents responsible for the students performance...she blames the teacher. INCREDIBLE! If this is going on all over the Country (and I know it is)... then America is screwed if it stays on this path. I know this is one reason why the turnover is so high for urban schools. Good teachers don't want to stick around to deal with that kind of nonsense. They pack up and leave for better suburban schools and private schools, where they get more support from administrators and where the working conditions tend to be better.

Watch The Full Episode:

Fewer Than Half of Black Male Students Are Graduating from High School

A recent report from the Schott Foundation for Public Education found that the overall 2007-2008 graduation rate for black males in the U.S. was only 47 percent, and half of the states have graduation rates for black male students below the national average. Hear a conversation with the authors of the report. see the full report here.

The usual suspects (Black Civil Rights Inc., etc) have made their predictable arguments in response to the data. But frankly, I have been tired of hearing it for a long time. Their argument is always something along the lines of "the system" is leading these kids down a path to failure. "The system" is not spending enough money. "The system" is not coddling these kids enough. "the system, the system, the system".... "the system this... the system that". It's always "the system". Notice how this always seems to be the foundation and basis for all of their arguments. Why is it always.. "The Schools or the System is Failing Black Students". Why isn't the narrative - "Black Parents are Failing Public Schools and Their Own Children".... or "Is Black Culture Complicating Life for Black Children"? These narratives would better reflect the problems in my opinion, but they are not politically correct.

I have pointed out that this argument is a myth several times. One instance in particular would be my post a few years ago about the impact modern Black culture has on educational outcomes. The 2007 Policy Bridge report, entitled "The Rap On Culture: How Anti-Education Messages in Media, at Home, & On The Street Hold Back African American Youth", was confirmation of earlier research by others, including Dr. John Ogbu of UC Berkley, a leading figure in this particular area of research. But you never hear about these studies, because the Black establishment doesn't want to deal with the elephant in the room - Black culture itself. It's too big of a monster to take on. They are afraid of dealing with it because they would create too many enemies from within the so-called "Black Community" (hate that term). It's so much easier for them to blame "the system" and kick the can down the road.

This problem was highlighted rather clearly in last year's CNN report "Black In America" when Steve Perry, Principle of Capital Preparatory Magnet School pointed out that the parents of his mostly minority students, (paraphrasing) 'aren't around'... 'many don't seem to care'....that they 'just aren't involved' in the education of their children. That, ladies & gentleman, is the key to this whole human disaster that is taking place in this Country. And it's bigger than just the so-called "Black Community". This will have a harmful impact on the nation as a whole.... because many of those who aren't graduating, are (let's be honest) going to be involved in criminal activity, making victims out of you, your neighbors, will disrupt the quality of life in America, and they will be a drag on budgets and the economy, because they won't be contributing to society...to the tax base and it will cost money to warehouse them in jail and prison.

Parenting, the life choices of parents (especially Black women, yes I went there- stop laying down with no good thugs, criminals, & deadbeats), the household environment, and the culture that drives much of life outside of school have much more influence over how well a student does in the classroom. You can have the best teachers in the world... but rappers & other Black Hip Hop culture figures hold more sway with most Black youth. They will listen to the rap stars and take cues from them over their teachers....and in some cases, over their parents or other relatives (those who have responsible parents in their lives to begin with). But again, no one wants to talk about this in the national media... or if they do, they glance over it. This has been the elephant in the room for the so-called "Black Community" for at least the past 15-20 years. Civil Rights Inc. wants to avoid this because it actually deals with getting at the heart of the problem. And since the existence of this problem is their bread and butter, why fix it? Facing it head on would also anger half, if not most, of the "Black Community". This is something that the Sharpton's, the Dyson's, the Smiley's, and the Jackson's can't afford to do. Especially when they have books coming out almost every year. Dr. Cosby and Dr. Alvin Poussaint weren't afraid.... but they haven't been able to inspire the fundamental shift needed in Black Culture (few men throughout history have been able to). But at least a few of us get it. Geoffrey Canada is one of those individuals who seems to get it... which is why he brilliantly incorporated parenting skills training, and a strong parent-teacher bond into his Harlem Children's Zone program early on.

I have understood the importance of parenting, doing well in school, moral compasses, structure and discipline for most of my life. Although I didn't have a perfect home situation early on, and was not always the best student. I didn't get in gear until I entered my Sophomore year of High School. But I still understood the importance of all those values. I knew that I had to take education seriously and that if I didn't do well, life was going to be harsh... that there would probably be a prison cell waiting for me.

I noticed something pretty simple back in my formative years. For one, Black youth with anti-education attitudes tended to do worse when they were clumped together...both in school and outside of school. Even in schools that are diverse tend to have this problem, because socially, Blacks tend to stick with Blacks... that's how it was in many of the grade schools and middle schools I was in, including DODDS. We have all (or you should have) read about this from the reports and studies on how students tend to segregate themselves in school (at lunch for example). Why were the outcomes worse? Well, my belief is... when you have like minded people together, certain beliefs and behaviors are reinforced. ("Group-think" for example). But I noticed that there were always pockets of Black students... either anomalies from within the group, or from outside of the group of other Black youth who seemed to excel. And the difference usually had something to do with the way they were being raised... with life in their households. Their lives were as different as night & day from lives of kids in the larger group. The kids with the more watchful and concerned parents, usually got better grades and had fewer (if any) behavioral issues. They may have faked it in school to a point, by buying cool clothes, playing sports, and having cute girls all over them... but that's where the similarities ended. At home, they had structure. The tougher the parents... the better the grades. The more structure... the better the outcomes. The more rules they had..and the more respect (or fear) they had for mom & dad...or the more desire they had to please their parents... the less trouble they found themselves in. The more activities that their parents had them involved in, the better. The more involved the parents were, the better. And I found this to be true no matter where I went to school... Kansas, Germany, Texas, etc. It always translated, without fail. So this is how I know that Civil Rights Inc. is full of s-tuff.

The Obama's are a perfect example of this. The President recently talked about the weekly routine for the first daughters Sasha and Malia. Part of their schedule involves plenty of positive activities. Homework is stressed...and the first couple keeps up with everything that needs to be done. He also mentioned one other thing.... that no T.V. watching is allowed during the week. NO TELEVISION! Even back in my day (mostly the 80's), that would be seen as a punishment. And I would argue that this is pretty much unheard of in the so-called "Black Community". I was allowed to watch TV, go ride my bike all over town (in Kansas), or go play basketball after my homework and chores were done. I lived like a King in Texas...had a King sized bed, had a huge floor model TV with my own cable box, my own phone and could pretty much do what I wanted. I almost wish I had the kind of structure that the Obama girls have now. But I am thankful that I had what I did. But what the Obama's are doing should be the blueprint for other Black families.

Now it is true that the Obama's enjoy certain advantages. For one, they are able to put their daughters in private school. Public schools are indeed a part of the problem (but not the major part in my opinion). In public school, "the system" and your child, who may actually want to learn, has to deal with disruptive students who have not had the proper parenting. Teachers and administrators must take up the slack and deal with the mess left behind by other people. They often have to deal with violence, and even with out of control parents. All of this, plus the misguided intervention from Federal and State governments...putting pressure on teachers to get better test scores out of students who do not want to learn and in some cases have been taught not to take education seriously. This often leads to a situation that chases good teachers away. Where do they go? To the white schools in the suburbs...where school administrations give them more support...and back them up.... administrations who don't take crap from disruptive students or their parents. The working environments tend to be safer (or at least they are perceived as such) and they are paid better to boot - Hell who wouldn't leave in that situation? That's exactly what the current system does...and has been doing for years.

Unfortunately, it comes down to this... the problem of the low Black male graduation rate...and low rates of graduation for Black students as a whole, is a problem that the school systems alone will never be able to fix. The problem is in the Black Culture itself. Teachers cannot solve that problem. Nor can "the system". They don't set cultural values....values at home, etc. It is time for Blacks to stop blaming both.

Black students are capable... that question has been answered. Urban Prep Charter Academy in Chicago, the Harlem Children's Zone, Steve Perry's Capital Preparatory Magnet School in Connecticut and others (along with the many individual success stories) are proof that Black students are capable. So that's not the problem. It is time to start dealing with the real issues rather than reading from the same script. The same old arguments don't work anymore.

American Athletes Bypassing College for Europe

Will This Become Another Excuse For Black Students To Underachieve?

I heard the story of Brandon Jennings last week, and although i'm not much of a sports guy, the story sparked my interest. Straight out of High School, Jennings decided to sign a contract with an Italian Pro Basketball team rather than attending college and playing in the NCAA. His story seemed to be an example of how Black youth could devalue education without feeling guilty...as if they needed any more excuses. Doesn't this run counter to the values that parents (good ones) teach to their children throughout their youth?

We already know about the achievement gap for Black athletes who stay in the United States and choose to go to College instead of going pro. Many Black athletes do not graduate. Now a pathway seems to be widening that will allow them to bypass College altogether. And Jennings actually believes that this is a positive development and that he can be a trendsetter for others like himself. Modern Black culture has already conditioned him not to value education. That's the sentiment I got from his Press Conference. Fast money, cars, women, and the Rap lifestyle of "bling" and no substance has replaced more traditional values for our youth. Is this the future? If it is, perhaps I should go ahead and have a vasectomy. Because that is not the kind of World that I would want my kid to grow up in.

Yeah, Brandon Jennings was offered a nice multi-million dollar contract by his Italian team, but will he be able to manage his own finances?

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