Well, the article that addressed this issue was in the paper this morning.
Here is a link to the article:
http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=86703&ran=230842
And here's a link to the previous diary:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/5/12/1993/05166
For convenience sake, here are some statistics from the article:
Chesapeke, Virginia:
Total black seniors in division: 930
Black females with GPA 3.0 or more: 118
Black males with at least 3.0 GPA: 59
Norfolk, Virginia:
Total black seniors in division: 797
Black females with GPA 3.0 or more: 36
Black males with at least 3.0 GPA: 16
Portsmouth, Virginia:
Total black seniors in division: 523
Black females with GPA 3.0 or more: 71
Black males with at least 3.0 GPA: 35
Suffolk, Virginia:
Total black seniors in division: 344
Black females with GPA 3.0 or more: 28
Black males with at least 3.0 GPA: 5
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Total black seniors in division: 1201
Black females with GPA 3.0 or more: 114
Black males with at least 3.0 GPA: 47
30 percent of seniors in Hampton Roads will graduate with a B average or higher (3000 of 10000).
Fewer than ten percent of area's black males will graduate with a B average or higher.
As I said previously, this is sad state of affairs, and I am almost positive that it is echoed throughout the nation. As a matter of fact, the article stated that "less than 50 percent of black students will graduate in the South."
This is a failure of leadership, a failure of attention, it is a failure on all fronts, from state governments, to the federal government, to the black community.
Unfortunately, I'm lost on ideas on how to solve it, or at least begin to solve it.