The Talented Tenth

It has long been one of my life goals to join the ranks of the Talented Tenth. I hope to do this by making contributions to the thinking of my community and by advancing the thought processes of my students; it is important that they not conform to rules of textbooks and tradition, but to [...]

Censorship, Academic Freedom and Private Schools

Do you recall this story here at the Horace Mann School? If not, visit this post I wrote a while back. A friend and great colleague who teaches at an elite independent school in North Carolina sent this article to me. It relates to the Horace Mann issue. Read more about the comment below here. Because I [...]

Students of Color and Independent Schools by Alden Mauck

I have written a great deal about faculty of color and students of color at Independent Schools; for those of you who read my blog and know me, you are familiar with my research interest on this topic. I presented a paper on this topic in 2005 and had previously attended the professors of [...]

Freshman Year

I received this picture today via facebook. This shot was taken my freshman year at Harding University; I suspect we are standing in the room of either Roger Butner or Phil Young in Graduate Residence Hall. Young (# 97) and I both attended Alabama Christian Academy together; Young and I along with Bryan McDermott are [...]

Colin Powell Endorses Obama

 
I am excited to hear that the one man most if not all Americans love and support has officially decided to support Obama; I have not been too critical of Powell for leaving Bush’s administration and not speaking out against W’s unwillingness to listen to his staff; better yet, I respect Powell for his loyalty [...]

Teaching History at Top Independent Schools and Academic Work Part 2 by Darcy Fryer

I met Fryer a few years back at an American Historical Association meeting; I think you will find this article to be most insightful as it addresses the nature of academic work in an independent school. Because I have only wanted to teach in an independent school history department, I have found those who have [...]

People of Color Conference and Academic Work Part I

Program for the POCC
I have been very busy the past few days; I met with a group of history teachers most of yesterday to address history related topics at a seminar I conducted in El Paso, Texas. As many of you know, I hate flying. But my flight out of Hobby and back was not [...]

Race, Class, and AP Courses

AP Examinees by Race and Gender in Selected Fields

Subject
White
Latino
Black
Asian
Native American
Female

Calculus AB
64.4%
8.4%
4.5%
16.5%
0.4%
48%

Computer science
58.2%
6.5%
3.7%
24.5%
0.3%
17%

English literature and composition
64.9%
10.2%
7.4%
10.3%
0.6%
64%

European history
68.1%
7.9%
3.7%
12.7%
0.4%
54%

French literature
66.3%
5.6%
6.0%
10.6%
0.0%
71%

Government and politics: U.S.
63.3%
11.5%
5.9%
12.4%
0.5%
53%

Human geography
59.7%
12.3%
9.7%
10.7%
0.4%
55%

Macroeconomics
56.6%
11.7%
4.6%
19.8%
0.3%
45%

Physics: electricity and magnetism
58.8%
3.9%
1.7%
28.6%
0.3%
22%

Psychology
64.7%
8.7%
6.5%
12.9%
0.4%
65%

Due to much of my academic work over the past 7 years with the College Board and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s AP Center, I have come to understand the [...]

My Blog

Because there are those who find the nature of this blog to be a bit progressive and hence might not have read its purpose, I am posting what the proletarian is about (as seen above). I went into this full of excitement and enthusiasm after attending a history meeting full of academics from a host [...]

Department Travels, Independent Schools, and My Work

Above: HCHS History Department
Houston Christian’s head of school and the board have approved departmental travels for each department to visit other independent schools throughout the country. Purpose: To learn what they do well and what makes them elite at what they do. It is exciting to see that we are continuing to move in an [...]

Another Reading of West’s Race Matters and the Christian faith

It was during my senior year in high school when Karlyn Hunter introduced me to the thinking and writings of Cornel West. I believe I have read Race Matters some 10 – 12 times since high school, and I guess 13 times if you count tonight. West, who is a self proclaimed Chekhovian Christian [...]

I Am Hussein Too

You have got to watch and hear this; it is sad. Funny, but I am currently teaching my students about Richard Hofstadter’s class and economic thesis on the construction of the United States Constitution and why the framers feared the uneducated masses. It is a good thing they are dead and cannot watch this clip. [...]

Sundown Towns

“Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American out African Americans (or sometimes Chinese Americans, Jewish Americans, etc.) by force, law, or custom. These communities are sometimes called “sundown towns” because some of them posted signs at their city limits reading, typically, “Nigger, Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On You In ___.” Some towns are [...]