What can we do to support African American students and their families?

Parents Forum Parent Cafe
1

Earlier this week, we added the following banner to the forums:

We did this because it was a way for us to respond to current events. But it is an empty statement unless we are taking action. I’ve spent this week contemplating what I can do to counter the injustice I see in this country. (I’m starting by listening to the people who are [closer to the center of this tragedy](Ring Theory: How not to say the wrong thing - Los Angeles Times).) While talking with community managers of other sites, I became convinced of the importance of starting a discussion about how the College Confidential community can make a difference for black students and their families.

It occurred to me that CC might already be supporting underrepresented minorities. Since I’m relatively new to the community, I’m still getting an idea of what’s going on around the site. Even a quick search shows that people on the site are encouraging and open when black students ask for advice about applying to college. Rather than tell you all what I think you should be doing (what good would that do?), I’d decided to start a discussion:

  • In what ways does CC help African American students now?
  • How might the community do more to make a difference?
  • What can we, the site staff, do to support you, the members of the community?
2

Thank you for thinking through this topic and looking for helpful solutions.

I’m assuming you are also asking this question to students directly on another forum of CC???

3

I hadn’t planned on it. But that’s not a bad idea. Not only might some of them be able to get involved, they might be able to help us understand what they need.

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I like the idea — thank you for taking on this conversation. Most of what I am doing is opening my pocketbook to the organizations that are fighting to topple systemic racism. Certainly we have many parents here that have the means to donate. Could we collectively pool our donations to give to such efforts? It would be a wonderful statement for CC.

5

In my own life I donate to the local chapter of My Brother’s Keeper. I live in an intentionally integrated community and I try to listen and understand the concerns of my friends of color. It’s not nearly enough.

One thing you could do is have a link to the HCBU’s.

6

I am very happy to see this post and I have generally been an optimist when it comes to the positive influence that CC has brought to African American students, but their are also some shortcomings that may be hard to overcome.

CC has definitely been very positive for learning about scholarship opportunities and summer programs for high school students, getting “inside information into the psyche” of going through a selective admissions process, and finding a small, but wonderful group of supportive parents and students on the African-American HS class of 2020 page. I have also interacted with some of the most knowledgeable and caring individuals of all races, who I believe have been the backbone of CC’s greatest successes.

CC also has some things that make its African-American reach limited. There are currently very few African-American students that frequent CC because it is largely a site for students at the very top of the Academic hierarchy. Most African American posters have good to great GPAs and are in the top 1% of African-American Standardized Test takers (28+ ACT or 1350+ SAT). The median African-American standardized test score student (16.9 ACT or 933 SAT for 2019) is not represented on CC at all.

I have also watched as some students and parents get “pushed” for more information than what a poster is willing to share or towards a certain viewpoint which I have experienced (I can take it since I am an adult, but it is hard to watch teenagers get “pushed” if they decline giving more info). I have shared CC with African-American friends and that dynamic has turned some of them off. I have been PM’d and lectured about doing my high stats kids a disservice by not convincing them apply to any top 20 USNWR schools and that my African-American kids “owed” it to our race to attend such a school instead of choosing a HBCU. But overall, I have been met with much more kindness and thoughtfulness and I hope CC can find a way to help more African-American students.

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@CCadmin_Jon , this thread could be a useful starting point. But again, I think you need to put it in places where it can be seen. Search and Selection, Admissions, Parents Forum, maybe High School Life. First time or newbie users don’t tend to come to Parent Cafe. I recommend you post this thread on a few forums, for a few days, and then pin it where it can be seen maybe until fall, when many students and their parents will be coming back to CC looking for advice.

There are quite a few students of color who come to CC looking for help, especially around October. I might be wrong about this, but often, it seems these students are going through the whole process with little to no family help, and often not much help from school.

They are often first gen to college. Their families simply don’t know enough about the process and/or have no experience of college and don’t know what needs to be done. Often, we see posts in November, for example, with titles like “I don’t know where to apply…or…When do I need to ask for teacher recommendations” and similar.

Honestly, I think CC could do with a whole separate forum devoted to First Gen/Low SES/URM issues. I know that I, and other senior users, usually do all we can to help those students in particular. I think a forum devoted to answering questions about their unique challenges would be extremely useful. Many senior posters would check it regularly. If I want to go out on a limb, Hobson’s might consider a whole website devoted to this. Thank you for my royalty check, haha.

P.S. tagging @EconPop . Also tagging some senior users to get their input. @MaineLonghorn @MYOS1634 @ucbalumnus @thumper1 @happy1 @Gumbymom @“Erin’s Dad” @sybbie719 @mom2collegekids

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I think if I were wanting input I’d also consider calling up some colleges of all types - their first gen advisors - and ask them what/where/how they think potential students and parents could use the most help/advice.

I know from a high school level our students need to be talked with about everything from applications/majors to finances to dorm life and travel or commuting pending where they go. Many need to figure out how to replace them in their homes too if they were taking care of younger siblings or working with a communal family paycheck.

I recall this past year going around a class of seniors and asking what their thoughts/plans were for next year. One told me, “construction I guess.” I asked him if that’s what he wanted (because it’s ok to be someone’s dream job) and he shrugged saying, “not really, but it’s what people in my family do.” Considering the class I was in, no one got through to that student to let him know he could have options. I mentioned community college classes or certificate courses as something for him to consider and assured him he was talented enough for either, but he probably never actually looked at them because often these kids need someone to do it with them step by step. They just don’t know how or feel like they fit in once they start reading.

He wasn’t AA. He was Hispanic. To me it matters little.

I don’t work in guidance, but sometimes it’s my dream job - if I didn’t love teaching anyway.

9

I like this idea.

Part of the problem of CC for PoC is that the vast majority of users are tone deaf when it comes to race. I can rattle off a list of examples longer than the phone book. Most recently was the guest student thread of the week.

In every other thread in that series, adult CC members rushed to congratulate the students for their hard work, creative application ideas, and acceptances. For this student, most of the early responses rushed to attribute her acceptances to being a female URM and/or find other reasons for her acceptances besides her hard work and intelligence. She was probably very excited to have been chosen but that had to hurt. My heart broke for her to have to immediately start defending herself, when every other student in that series was immediately celebrated without question.

This is the sort of subtle tone deafness that prevents African-Americans from participating more in these forums. It’s why many limit their interaction in this forum to the one thread where they know their views will not be doubted and their experiences will be openly and enthusiastically welcomed – the AA Parents of 2020 thread. There are some brilliant, empathetic, great people who participate only in that thread. It would be great to have them feel comfortable enough to expand their participation.

I don’t believe anyone in that student of the week thread intended to disparage the young lady. They all probably felt they were making valid observances. But, in my opinion, there were demeaning. That happens a lot on CC.

I read minority students asking for help and various adult members seem to take glee in attacking the helpless student with demands for answers to their questions. Members will say things like “We’ve given you advice, why aren’t you following it?” and worse. Then the student disappears and probably never receives the help he/she needs.

CC is an open forum site and I know it’s unrealistic to be able to control members and their posts. Maybe, in a forum labeled as one for PoC, many of the more tone deaf members would naturally avoid it, just as it seems they avoid the AA Parents threads. Part of what stifles participation by all people is constantly having to justify one’s experiences.

One other related thing. It really helps if non minority members speak up when someone posts a thinly-veiled racist message. There’s been a lot going around social media these days about “Silence = Violence” and around that idea. It is true. When you don’t speak up when you see offensive posts, it emboldens those few members and they continue. I’m sure many CC members would howl if someone posted messages saying Hitler was not all wrong or some similar nonsense about the Holocaust. However, I see messages all the time that justify abuse against African-Americans and almost never are the posters taken to task for it by non minorities.

That silence is a subtle approval of what those offensive members are posting. And a not so subtle hint to minorities that maybe they should move on to another site.

10

I hope this link is allowed. It gives 26 Beyond the Streets suggestions.

https://issuu.com/nlc.sf.2014/docs/beyondthestreets_final

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The inequity doesn’t start or end with CC for minority students. It’s deeply woven into the fabric of society. If you want to help, demand equity wherever and whenever inequity rears its racist head.

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@agreatstory , of course. This thread is about specific ways to help AA students and others get the kind of help they need here on CC. Refer to the original post please and let’s stay on topic.

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What can help the AA community is probably not that different from what can help a lot of other kids and parents.

For the target audience, internet access is mostly on mobile platforms, so what is the mobile experience?

Currently, the mobile homepage is beautiful and inviting. There is an immediate and appropriate call to action (“Get Help Now”) for:

Test Prep
Financial Aid
Admissions
Essays
Majors
Parents
Ivy League
More Discussions

I would suggest something more chronological, adding specific links for First Gen / Low SES / URM that an earlier post suggested, and removing the elitist-signaling reference to the Ivy League. Something like:

Majors and Careers
Applying to College
Test Prep
Financial Aid
First Gen / Underrepresented Minorities
More Discussions

Additionally, anything not classified in “More Discussions” should first link to curated content, not a forum where people can get lost.

Simple, relatable, immediate information.

14

No one is justifying abuse against African-Americans and to state it happens all the time on CC is totally ridiculous.

15

Maybe @Econpop Is just better at picking up the subtle
“Dog whistles” than some of the rest of us.

I’m inclined to take his word for it.

16

Are you thinking of something like the [Top Liberal Arts Colleges category](http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/cc-top-liberal-arts-colleges/)? That’s a pretty good idea. I’ll take a look at doing that.

1 Like
17

I just went back and looked at that thread and I immediately felt as you did. The very first comment basically said “don’t you think you got admitted to those schools because you’re an URM?” Wow, it was so blatant.

The student addressed that topic herself too, to her credit, but the commenter could certainly have phrased that question in a much nicer way.

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Yes exactly. @CCadmin_Jon and HBCU of course.

There’s a lot of subtle (and not so subtle) racism on CC. In the past I’ve taken a “don’t feed the trolls” attitude, but perhaps it’s time to speak up.

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In general, for students who appear to be from families who are not experienced in college or the application process, we can try to help via PM and by tutoring or helping with essays. I usually don’t know much about their race but sometimes they share a lot about their background. (I do remember one student maybe 5 years ago who, after he got into an Ivy for grad school, shared with me that he grew up in a mud hut in Ghana. I had no idea the whole time I was working with him.)

Outside of CC we can donate, write comments in media, write our senators, march, volunteer. I appreciate what @mathmom mentioned about intentionally integrated communities. I am thinking about my own town, which is almost entirely white, after living many years in the city.

I don’t know what kind of outreach CC does to reach more people of all backgrounds. Expanding that might help.

20

I certainly don’t have as much experience as many here, but it would be interesting to offer our combined services to help kids looking for help figuring out how the whole college process works, more on a “1 on 1” basis (or a couple of us for 1 student). I don’t know how that could work, but it seems like if enough “parents” (Don’t have to be parents - just people wanting to help) volunteered it could be interesting.