TAMPA — As he looked around the ballroom at the participants in the Black, Brown & College Bound conference, Dr. Jose L. Cruz struck an almost somber tone to start his remarks.
He spoke of 16.4 million children in the USA living in poverty and how the wealthiest 20 percent of Americans take home half of all income while the poorest 20 percent earn almost none. He noted that the nation’s income disparity is at an all-time high, rivaling that of countries such as Tunisia, Sri Lanka and Morocco.
“This is a land of opportunity,” said Cruz, the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Cal State Fullerton. “We say to ourselves and to the rest the world that regardless of your socio-economic background, ethnicity and your race, if you work hard and you play by the rules, you will make it. It’s also part of our national narrative that if parents work hard, and they save, and they instill the right values in their children, this will ensure that their children are better off than they were.
“These are two important narratives that define us as a country, but when you look at the data and the current state of affairs in this country, you quickly come to realize that these two powerful narratives are no longer true and we need to turn that around.”
The theme of the four-day conference is “Rebuilding the ‘Village’ for African-American and Latino Males in Higher Education,” an approach presented as vital to preserving the nation’s status in the world in terms of a society and a work force. Among other notable speakers are Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, professor of sociology at Georgetown University; Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad, director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture; and Dr. Samuel Betances, professor emeritus of Harvard University.
The conference, presented by Hillsborough Community College, hones in on identity, cultural heritage, community involvement and educational attainment as areas of focus in helping Black and Latino males close the achievement gap.
Cruz offered five strategies to combat the widening achievement gap: level the playing field by ending the clustering of low-income students and students of color in schools where we expect less; rethink misguided financial aid policies; validate and replicate successful schools; validate and replicate successful school districts; and validate and replicate successful postsecondary institutions.
