Post-script I: How to Raise a Black Son in White America

Abstract

Raising little black boys to men in the twenty-first century is a laborious undertaking. During a period where white police officers are unmercifully killing unarmed black males, it requires considerable time, effort, and good fortune to protect and ensure their human survival and well-being. The good old days of black folks telling our sons (and daughters) to “pray on it,” trusting the community to collectively raise and protect (“it takes a village”), and disciplining our children (belt and extension cord beatings) in an effort to have a healthy quality of life have lessened. In the past, these parental methods were important to an ongoing conversation on how to raise black children in white America. However, over time the tone and nature of this conversation has changed. White systemic practices within the vexed frame of the onslaught of white police officers—unarmed black male deaths have forced the conversation to be reframed to “Black Lives Matter,” which is a proactive movement to help legitimize the value of countless unarmed black lives claimed in recent years.