Expert: LM - 12/18/2004

Question
What are the underlying reasons for the lack of enthusiasm displayed by many African Americans on the subject of education?

Answer
It wasn't always that way.

I think that for a long time, black people have fundamentally misunderstood the concept of education. So, if you go to a universtiy campus now, you will see almost no black people studying something like Engineering, but a ton of them studying things like Communications or something equally inane because they don't understand the mechanism by which education improves income. In their mind, it's enough to just "go to school and get your papers" and the idea of getting a degree/ work experience in something that someone is willing to pay a lot for is completely incidental. But this is not lost on other people (i.e., American Jews/ Chinese).

If you would like to read a good account of this (written nearly 100 years ago, but still relevant), I recommend that you get a copy of "Up From Slavery," by Booker T. Washington. This book is very appropriate for answering your questions.

It's not just black people that don't understand this. For a similar case study (which is a little ways outside the scope of your question), take a look at the situation of Native Indonesians vs Chinese Indonesians in Indonesia.

I am sorry if this answer is too brief, but the topic is just SO big.