Education, African American males Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Education, African American males - Essay Example Approaches There are many approaches through which studies on this trend where only a small percentage of the community bothers with higher education can be carried. One is the based on Emile Durkheim’s functionalist approach to the study of society (Poggi, 2000). Durkheim pointed out that institutions in the society played specific roles and became redundant once these roles became outdated or overtaken by events (Poggi, 2000). Higher education to the African-American was historically a preserve of the Caucasians hence the reason why some African-Americans still regarded it as alien and serving no real purpose in their lives. This could have accounted for their apathy towards education in the early days though this situation is gradually changing (Poggi, 2000). There were limited opportunities in the early days for the African Americans whose only employment was in the form of domestic and farm work hence there was no real need for advanced level of education for them. Conseq uently they developed the attitude that only basic education was necessary for them. With this came the latent factor, the blacks began regarding education as alien and part of their education. This formed the basis of their indifference towards education (Baird, & Walter, 2008). This situation only changed when the liberation movements of the early 20th century resulted in more opportunities for the blacks.