"This book provides an occasion to examine the complex conjuncture between the White supremacist realities of the American Academy and the often threatening presence of brilliant Black men in the Academy. This challenging book should also serve as an inspiration for a new generation of Black men deeply devoted to the life of the mind in or outside the Academy." —From the foreward by Cornel West.Sixteen of America's leading scholars offer an uncompromising critique of the academy from their perspective as African American men. They challenge dominant majority assumptions about the culture of higher education, most particularly its claims of openness to diversity and divergent traditions.They take issue with the processes that determine what is legitimized as scholarship, as well as with who wields the power to authenticate it. They describe the debilitating pressures to subordinate Black identity to a supposedly universal but hegemonic Eurocentric culture. They question the academy's valuing of individuality and its privileging of dichotomy over their cultural styles of community, humanism and synthesis. They also range over such issues as culturally mediated styles of cognition, the misuse of standardized testing, the disproportionate burden of service placed on African American faculty and a reward system that discounts it.
Biography
Lee Jones is Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Instruction and Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the College of Education, The Florida State University.
"This volume consists of 15 essays that address some of the most important issues black scholars face in the environment of contemporary higher education. These essays not only effectively document the root causes of an inimical environment that is reflective of both the structure and culture of higher learning in the US but also propose solutions that would aid in the transformation of this hostile environment into one that would more culturally and structurally reflect the heritage and identity of black scholars. The collective writings of these scholars also fuction as one of the solutions, i.e., being a council of Jegnoch (Elders) in higher education for other African Americans who are already involved or are becoming involved in higher education. The positions and propositions put forth in this work demand the attention and support of white administrators and faculty at all levels of higher learning. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels."
Choice
"I believe the information provided can be useful to those who work with diverse populations in general and African American males in particular. I would recommend this book to advisors because of the insight it provides about what their student group may experience prior to and during their college careers."
The Journal of the National Academic Advising Association
"This book provides an occasion to examine the complex conjuncture between the White supremacist realities of the American Academy and the often threatening presence of brilliant Black men in the Academy. This challenging book should also serve as an inspiration for a new generation of Black men deeply devoted to the life of the mind in or outside the Academy."
From the Foreword by Cornel West.
