Melvin B. Miller
Editor & Publisher

The spirit of an era

This week’s Banner features a historical account of the Roxbury neighborhood that a local youth gang has named “H-Block.” The purpose of the retrospective is not just idle reminiscence; it is an effort to illustrate some of the changes in the ethos of the community. Perhaps reflection on the past will provide some notion of what might generate an interest in academic achievement among the young.

Since slavery days, African Americans have believed education essential to progress in American society, a message warmly embraced by black Bostonians. In the time highlighted in the H-Block piece, black families — and indeed, the community as a whole — encouraged the young to do well in school and head toward college. Children were expected to endure and rise above the racial bigotry of the public schools.

Community elders held to this standard even though they knew there were no appropriate jobs for black college graduates. One black Harvard alumnus became a red cap at South Station to earn a living. Another had to work as a hospital orderly. A number of black college graduates became postal clerks, Pullman porters or waiters. Many others left Boston for opportunities elsewhere. But those who stayed in Boston knew that racial bigotry here was not a solid wall, and they worked tirelessly to find its cracks and break through them for professional advancement.

According to the 1940 Census, there were only 23,675 African Americans in Boston, just 3.1 percent of the total population. That same census reported that among African Americans in the U.S. 25 years of age or older, only 4.1 percent had graduated from high school and a microscopic 1.3 percent had earned a bachelor’s degree.

When compared with the national data, the record of academic achievement for blacks in Boston was clearly off the charts. However, the relatively small size of the city’s black population made it difficult to organize politically to improve conditions in the schools.

Black teachers were rare — if they existed at all — in the Boston Public Schools at that time, and there were certainly no blacks in the administration. Black youngsters had to be encouraged by their families and the community to persevere despite racial incidents, which were common.

Somehow the elders were able to make the youth understand that racial discrimination was the result of white iniquity, not black inferiority. As a result, young blacks were able to endure the unremitting challenges they faced without being impaired by hatred for whites.

In those days, there were no affirmative action plans and no interest in racial diversity, yet blacks achieved. That’s why it is hard for the older generation to understand why so many young blacks have fallen into unproductive lifestyles, determined to ignore the opportunity knocking so impatiently at their doors.

Some analysts cite the disintegration of the black family as a reason for this change. A 2005 Census study reported that only 36.5 percent of black children 18 years of age and under live in two-parent households, compared to 75.5 percent of white children. Some 50 years ago, more black families were intact than today.

Whatever the cause for the present disparity in academic achievement, it is necessary for community institutions to mobilize enthusiasm for education so that black youngsters can develop their intellectual potential. It has worked in the past, as those honored veterans of H-Block can attest. It can work again.

“Man, it looks like we have to work harder if we’re going to accomplish as much as the older folks.”