I watched the CNN ‘Black in America’ and one of the things that stood out to me was the guy from Harvard paying kids to do well in school.  Do you think paying students helps them or hurts them?

–Sara, New Haven, CT

Dr. Roland G. Fryer Photo Credit:Librado Romero/The New York Times

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Sugar’s Take

In most cases, money in and of itself is not a problem. But it’s the messages that comes with the money that can make it dangerous. For example, in hip hop, artists are praised for being thugs, gangsters and pimps…not for being scholars. Having worked in a ‘pay the students’ environment, I see nothing wrong with rewarding students for hard work or encouraging students to work harder. The money just needs to be accompanied by discussions about personal responsibility for students and parents. Giving money to urban students, and letting them do whatever they want, can be more damaging than the racism hiding in their aptitude tests. Students of color are always in competition with their suburban brothers and sisters for sound schooling, jobs and safe living. If paying young students in the ‘hood helps to close the gap of disparity, I’m all for it…as long as the money comes with guidance.

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Ed’s Take

Sista Sara,

I am extremely torn about paying kids to go to school. On the one hand, in this age of material obsession, I wonder what message putting a price tag on learning does to the psyche of impressionable minds.  On the other, with achievement gaps between blacks and whites widening, revolutionary methods must be employed.  We have to attach an intrinsic value to learning that incorporates the worldview of African Americans and use culturally appropriate techniques that interest students.  Money can’t erase the burden of institutional racism and the historic inequalities created by white supremacy.  Plus, I wonder if we are eroding students’ moral sensibility when we make everything about the cash.

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Got a question; email us at askedandsugar@afrostoshelltoes.com.

About Sugar Between catching the uptown train to conduct “we luv the kids” writing workshops to dancing rumba on the lower eastside, Sugar Johnson flaunts his creative freedom in various mediums. The actor, vocalist, and educator have not only shared the stage with prolific artists such as The Last Poets, M-1 of Dead Prez, Jessica Care Moore, and Spike Lee, but he also labors to cultivate the forgotten souls of Rikers Island. Johnson made his film debut in Dave Chappelle’s Block Party. The ASCAP member holds a B.A. in Mathematics from DePauw University and will release the poetry collection Food Clothes and Shelter on his imprint Home Grown Publishing, LLC in 2008.

About Ed Award winning writer, educator, counselor, and activist Edward M. Garnes, Jr. is the founder of From Afros to Shelltoes: Art, Action, and Conversation, a nationally acclaimed series of cultural productions confronting the social divide between elders and hip hop heads, and holds a B.A. in English Writing from DePauw University and a M.A. in Counseling from Michigan State University . His seminal essay, ” Sweet Tea Ethics: Black Luv, Healthcare, and Cultural Mistrust,” currently appears in Not In My Family: AIDS in the African American Community, a 2007 NAACP Image Award nominated collection edited by Gil Robertson. (www.afrostoshelltoes.com).

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