That I work in the scientific, engineering, and technological
career field.
That the numbers
of young people pursuing careers in science, engineering, and
technology professions are extremely low. By some estimates African
Americans represent approximately fourteen percent of the US
population, but make up less than two percent of the scientists
and engineers. [These numbers become worse, when we consider
how many African Americans pursue advanced degrees in science
and engineering.]
That as an inquisitive
child, I experienced fifty percent affirmation and fifty percent
condemnation for asking so many questions such as "How does
the television set work?" or "Why is grass green?"
or "Why is the sky blue?" or "How does the light
switch or car work?" or "Mama, was there such a thing
as Black cowboys?" or "Did colored people do anything
worth talking about?" [As you can imagine, to some people
my questions were extremely frustrating and frightening. The
time when I grew up (the 1950s, 60s, and 70s) was an era when
the country was in great turmoil. African Americans were demanding
that they be given first class citizenship because they were
paying first class taxes and doing first class dying in Viet
Nam; that they be released from de facto enslavement; and that
Black Studies and History be incorporated into all curricula.]
That this period
(the 1950s, 60s and 70s) was a time, and some insist that it
still is this time, during which as I stated earlier, the African
American community was extremely ambivalent about intellectualism
and science. I can recall reading a passage in Richard Wright's
Black Boy, in which he wrote about growing up in rural Mississippi
and explained how his relatives felt extremely threatened by
his burgeoning intellectualism and inquisitiveness.
That, out of all the population groups in the United States,
few use science more, fear science more, and need science more
than African Americans do, a fact which I find both interesting
and saddening.
Use of science and technology. African peoples have created, innovated, and developed various forms of science and technology since the beginning of time. However, are African Americans overly concerned about the implementation and less about taking care of business? Examples of what I mean are the following:
Consider the hunter's
blow-gun, through which he blows darts for the purpose of catching
prey. Let us examine the science in this. The hunter must design
the dart in the proper manner so that the projectile will glide
through the air and hit the target. (This design is used for
missiles, too. They both must be tailored so that they are aerodynamically
sound, with every chance of hitting the target.) Before putting
the dart into the blow-gun, the hunter must put some type of
compound on the dart that will ultimately create some desirable
effect on the prey, whether it be instant death or paralysis.
The compound must be developed, which includes extracting chemicals
such as anesthetics and poisons from insects, plants and animals,
et cetera.
Consider the geometrical and trigonometric precision of the Egyptians
in building the pyramids. To this day, on the eve of the 21st
century, some experts claim that we still do not have technology
or machinery that can lift blocks as heavy and as high as they
were lifted to produce the Pyramids. (It is still a mystery how
the Egyptians accomplished this feat.)
Consider the science,
mathematics and technology which the Moors introduced to Europe.
Consider how many
late 19th century African American people filed for patents almost
immediately after their release from overt enslavement.
Consider that
whenever a new science or technology is released, African Americans
are among the first people to use and embrace it, assuming that
they can afford it.
Consider the prolific and revolutionary scientists and engineers
that came and continue to come from the African American community:
George Washington Carver, W. Lincoln Hawkins, Valerie Thomas,
Otis Boykins, Ben Carson, Percy Julian, Ernest Everett Just,
George Carruthers, et cetera.
Consider the athletic prowess of say Michael Jordan, then think
about the physics involved in the way that he played the game
of basketball.
Consider the amount
of science, technology, innovation and ingenuity used to create
Rap music with its sampling, looping, et cetera; in engineering
circles this is called Digital Signal Processing (DSP). (I am
uncertain if I am being speculative, but please recall the television
commercials in which deceased actors and entertainers are blended
into new film with present-day actors.
Fear of science and technology. It seems to me that we fear science
or become anti-science and technology for several reasons:
When an activity
is presented to us in its subject, predicate, and adjective forms,
we may be confused. That is, if someone were to write on paper
or on a computer the name of what we have just done, whether
it involves playing a sport, cooking, or making Rap music, there
is a possibility that we may not recognize it as being the same
thing. Nonetheless, there is no reason to fear it. The purpose
that writing serves is repeatability, so that something good
can be repeated again, or made better.
When the ability
to understand and manipulate science, technology, mathematics,
and abstract ideas reflects our intelligence, we try to play
it down. Of course, as most of us know, in some parts of the
African American community acting, thinking, talking, writing,
and calculating in intelligent and thought provoking ways are
forbidden. There is a severe problem in some communities where
demonstrating intelligence means that you are less Cool (see
the reruns of the Steve Urkel character portrayed on, the old
television show, "Family Matters") or acting White.
On the eve of the 21st century, African Americans need better understanding of science, engineering, technology, and mathematics as much as, if not more than, most groups of people in the United States. We have high rates of diabetes, high blood pressure and cancer.
We are unwilling to help finance many forms of abstraction, but these are how jobs, careers, entrepreneurship and wealth are created (see Microsoft, Apple, et cetera).
There are athletes and musical artists who do not and did not understand legalities, contracts, business, percentages, finance, science, technology, fractions, or musical notes, which cost them dearly. Moreover, their successes were and are sometimes forms of instant gratification (or short-term gain)-the acquiring of material things-which sometimes leads them into experiencing de facto forms of enslavement-forcing them to return to their home communities totally impoverished after being used up (after having sacrificed plausible long-term independence for short-term gratification).
The concern comes from understanding how woefully unprepared I was during my freshman year at a two year technical college, only 21 years old, fresh out of the southeast Asian experience, with a wife and three kids.
What can we do about this, since more doctors, lawyers, engineers, scientists, and technologists are needed for the 21st century career and entrepreneurship markets? Many people argue over the qualities of the teachers and schools and textbooks and equipment. Therefore, I will not rehash those. In my humble opinion, the idea of your young person becoming a burgeoning computer scientist, engineer, or lawyer starts at home. Here are some of my recommendations for how parents might lightly guide their youngsters into developing skills in these areas:
As a parent (or as parents), you cannot ask your child or children
to study something that you are unwilling to make the same sacrifice
to study yourself.
It is important
to create an atmosphere for learning, reflecting, and intelligent
discussion. Moreover, the parents have to actually read the material
to demonstrate its importance.
Never, never,
never, "Did I say never?" discourage your child or
children from asking questions that you cannot answer. Be willing
to help them find the answers to their questions. This is where
some African Americans become upset, because from a cultural
perspective, some of us assume that it is the teacher's job to
do this. However, this cultural misunderstanding is the reason
that so many of our children end up falling behind. Lack of parental
participation in the learning process and the lack of exposure
of African American children and young adults to the social and
cultural values of the so-called majority group are other reasons
that they sometimes score low on these types of cultural tests
(PSAT, SAT, ACT, GMAT, GRE, LSAT).
If you can afford
them, buy your young person several books such as a hardback
dictionary (for vocabulary purposes), thesaurus (for understanding
how many ways a person can say the same thing), science and technology
dictionary (science and technology terms appear the same but
are often different from regular English words), and books such
as Usborne (a British publication that simplifies science, physics,
electricity, et cetera). Otherwise, you can find most of these
at libraries.
Help them to understand
that the equations are adjectives describing the nouns, and that
they can view the variables in the equations the same way one
views a person changing clothing. In other words, the equation
represents something that could happen given certain conditions.
Like the changing of clothes from one day to the next, the variables
in the equation are representative of the changing of certain
conditions. Thus, in all forms of science, engineering, and technology
you are trying to answer one of two questions:
Keith Jones
Email: joneskw@ix.netcom.com
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