16 “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.”
Ever since, I decided to major in education, I said I always wanted to come back home and give to my community and school district. However, no matter how hard you work and learn, some people still want to stereotype a person. Just because you are an ex- athlete that does not mean that you can’t be intelligent enough think outside the box. Or that does not mean that you cannot have a positive impact on a student’s life. This is a
fact that education needs more minorities and people of brown to be in education. But it really does bother me that some people of the Caucasian race feel that men, especially African American men, cannot have an impact on instruction. I was a head principal in my hometown. However, they put me on a campus that was not a STARR campus. This campus was a Primary Campus that fed into a STARR campus.
It is very sad that I had to take a primary campus. And I had to prove that I could even be a leader of a primary campus. There were district leaders that even questioned my ability to be a leader of a primary campus. However, there were district leaders that spoke up for me about my willingness to continue to learn, to become the best educator I can be for all students.
I hate to hear people say that I am a ‘Derrick James fan’ however, still question your ability as a leader. This has led me to continue my education. Because I want to continue my learning to improve so I can have an impact on students of ethnicities and student achievement. I do not care if you were poor, come from a broken home, on welfare, or no matter what bad hand you have been given. People’s perceptions of you do not have to be true. You can prove those people wrong. I am a firm believer that
everyone with God blessing can overcome perceptions and stereotypes.
There are minorities leaving the district every day because they feel as a minority you cannot get an opportunity to be a leader due to your color. I originally said I wanted to help the kids where I grew up. But I realized those students are not the only kids that need help in Texas. I am willing to relocate so I can use the God given talents that I have been blessed with. I want to go to a district that appreciates my abilities as a leader and
my ability to impact learning for all students, not for running a football. I don’t mind having to prove myself. However, I do question how society will judge people of color on stereotypes, not looking at their work ethic. I have friends before me who have just been stuck in Assistant Principals jobs dealing with discipline because they were not willing to leave Lufkin, Texas. I had one district leader tell me well if you do leave Lufkin, Texas, and be successful superintendent, at least we can say that you are a product of Lufkin, Texas.
I am not the only ex-athlete that had to leave his hometown to prove his
capabilities as an instructional leader. Mr. Thompson (pseudonym) told me in the weight room that is why he was going back to get his doctoral degree, to improve his
opportunities to get a superintendent job where he can impact many lives. And to this day I have never forgotten that he told me that.
My hometown has changed over the years. The only African American
instructional leaders we have in the district now are on the primary level. I am now the Associate Principal of the middle school. My primary campus was changed to Pre-K to 4 campus. So, to pursue my dreams to become a superintendent, I came back up to work with older students.
I have come to the realization that people are going to always try to question your intelligence. Especially, when people know that you are an ex-athlete or a man of color. I have had friends that I have helped get principal jobs and move to other areas of Texas. God has blessed them to get Superintendent jobs. They even tried to question my ability to lead STARR campuses. After I have helped them when they were trying to get
principal jobs themselves. I couldn’t believe they tried to question my abilities as an instructional leader when I have done a lot to help them in their careers. I say to myself it is amazing how people forget the hand that has helped them. And I don’t understand that if people do question the people they hire and their leadership abilities, they can always non-renew you if you are not working out or you can’t do the job. I guess as a person of opportunity, I just believe in giving people a chance.
Discrimination Amongst People of Color
If we think that racism only has to do with people of other races we need to rethink how we look at racism. I am thinking if we are seeking change for all the
oppressed, then as an African American race we need to start with the African American race first. There is plenty of racism that exists in the African American race. For instance, lighter skin African Americans a lot time in the African American Culture feel that they are somewhat more privileged than African American of darker school color. People with the lighter skin tend to try to use this to their advantage to seek better jobs and opportunities over the darker skin African Americans. For example, people of color even go as far as bleaching their skin to get a more European look, along with getting plastic surgery to look more acceptable in America. However, I believe in one race, and that is the human race. And as humans, we should all be happy in the way God has made us as human beings.
People often discriminate amongst the African American race due to power in a capitalist society. People are seeking opportunities to try to keep an upper hand over one another in the African American race. I have seen people get promotions on their jobs
due to that they sound more European than the other African American or due to a lighter skin complexion of the next African American in the company. In the meantime, for discrimination to be changed outside the African American race, we as humans need to address the issue inside the African American race first and admit there is a problem amongst the race.
Another problem I have experienced amongst the African American race is that humans are jealous. Amongst the African American Race, we need to stop the having the crawfish syndrome. We need to stop pulling each other down amongst the African American race. I know when I started in the doctoral program I thought I might get questions from people outside my race about why you are in a doctoral program. But I received a lot of resentment from people of color. Even when I got a job promotion from within my school district, many African American people in the community spoke against me for having that opportunity. And they even were questioning my race, saying that I wasn’t black enough. Even questioned my location where I lived. They criticized me for moving and living in a better home. They said that I wanted to live like the European White male; and all I was doing was moving in a better home for my family.
In all honesty, we must get better period amongst all humanity. Treating all people like human beings. We are all made in the image of God. God has not made one person, race, or anybody better than the other. So, until we stop the crawfish syndrome amongst the African American race, and just be happy when God blesses a person. As a race, we cannot point the finger at another race. We really need to look amongst the African American race with a critical lens, if we really want a change in society.
Lesson 8 A Servant of God and Educator