Bad Boys-Public Schools in the making of Black Masculinity for 3/3

Article by Ann Arnett Ferguson

Ann Arnett Ferguson makes you want to go into schools and help children out. Reading her piece about bad boys at Rosa Parks Elementary school, I saw a piece of the passion that she has for her work. The boys at this school virtually dont have a chance. They are born not even being given a chance; because of their race and where they were born. The school that these young boys go to shapes the opinion that people percieve about them. I thought that this statement was extremely powerful, and goes along with themes about institutions we learn about in class; "...by school, through punishment...the power of institutions to create, shape, and regulate social identities." The school that these boys went to punished them without teaching them why the things they were doing were wrong. And the majority of these boys were African American. This fact alone taught those boys that based on the color of their skin, they would be discriminated against. Of course this is going to instill hatred in their hearts and make them want to rebel.
The area that these boys grew up was not very safe. It was sort of the foundation of a troubled life. It showed them that this is what is out there, and this is where you are, so this is what is right. The school was in the heart of a major drug-trafficking area in the city. "The area accounted for ten of the city's fourteen murders; one-half of the reported rapes; about a third of the robberies, and almost half of the aggravated assaults in the city." These facts were from 1991. Ferguson went to the school trying to help these boys out and show them that they could be alright, and their lives could be put on the right track. She also had meetings with the people that worked at the school and tried to help them.