GETTING AHEAD, FALLING BEHIND

My post from yesterday got zapped by a lost Internet connection, so I'm going to have to try to resurrect my thoughts from a day ago. Inevitably, this post'll be inferior to whatever I wrote yesterday. Oh well.

The subject's important enough that it bears repeating, rather than moving on to another topic. We're in the middle of a business camp for young entrepreneurs, and almost all of the speakers we've invited have congratulated our students for taking the time during their spring break to learn and network. "When I was your age, I wasn't thinking about this kind of stuff; you guys are way ahead."

While I applaud these encouragements -- our youth need to hear this, and need to be pushed to do more of this kind of stuff -- I can't help but be a little uncomfortable. Sure, participants in our camp are getting ahead; who else this week is doing something as intellectually rigorous? But in many regards, the youth we work with are desperately behind.

They are behind because of a public school system that fails to challenge them educationally, and thus leaves them ill-prepared to consider college, let alone survive in a cutthroat collegiate environment. They are behind because as inner-city blacks, they are systematically denied fair opportunities for employment, advancement, and capital. (Don't get me started on the fallacy of affirmative action being considered racist; it is because all of us as individuals, and our society as a whole, is subconsciously racist that we need to have measures in place like affirmative action in order to counterbalance our systemic racism and offer disenfranchised people groups a fair shake on our nation's educational, financial, and vocational opportunities.) And they are behind because many of them struggle to survive under the weight of abusive homes, violent streets, and family substance addiction, which slowly leeches away brain cells, emotional foundation, and hope.

To be sure, compared to their local peers, our youth are getting ahead. But compared to their national peers, with whom they will be competing for the next 50-60 years for educational opportunities, job titles, and business opportunities, they are woefully behind. Many of our youth have no clue, locked as they are in their tiny worlds; while they may acknowledge that other kids in America have more opportunities and resources at their disposal, they may not fully grasp the ramifications of the head start such things offer towards getting a degree, landing a high-skilled job, or starting a flourishing enterprise.

So again, let me raise my dilemma: is it good to tell our students they are getting ahead, or do we have an obligation to tell them they are falling behind?