There are a few things that must be understood in dealing with the issue of increasing African American presence at the college level:

1) Throwing money at it will not solve the problem,

2) Whites (as a group) will not help; in fact, many will actively oppose success,

3) Therefore, we are left to take action ourselves on the community and family level.

People may disagree with one or all of the above, that's fine. But progress towards building a more educated, successful and united African-American community is impossible without at least dealing with each of these issues.

Considering the external difficulties in making progress, African Americans need to alter their priorities as a community. First, there must BE a community. Blacks need to learn to find value in the success of other members of the community. And Blacks who do succeed need to give back to that community.

Come on, Michael Vick could find nothing better to do with his millions than fund dog fighting in his backyard? Hey Mike, how about sending a few kids from the old 'hood to college?

Black spending habits also prevent any academic success. We spend excessively on external appearance but virtually nothing on building internal value (knowledge).

Blacks will spend hundreds on the latest clothes for their kids but not $6 on a paperback book. How many bookstores do you find in any Black community? How many liquor stores?

Blacks will spend $2,000 on spinners for their car tires, but not $1,000 on a new computer or a set of encyclopedias.

Consider how ineffective the Federal government has been in solving this problem. It has had many programs in place over the past forty years to improve education in the Black community since the days of the Civil Rights victories of the 1960's. What do we have to show for the billions of dollars spent here and there?

The highest drop out rates of any demographic,

Runaway teen pregnancy rates, underage teen fathers,

Excessive government interference with family life of the students.

Expanding the last point; eight years ago I enrolled my daughter into the South Carolina public school system. She brought home a thick package from the school. It was an application for subsidized school lunches. I remember benefiting from that program as a child so i took a look at it.

First I was way over-qualified for any assistance. I made five times the maximum income and had only one child at home. I told her we didn't need it. She came back from school two days later saying the school demanded I fill out the package.

I took a look at the paperwork and was amazed at the level of information they asked for: who lived in my home, who earned what, what are their sources of income. Page after page, demanding ever more intimate information on every person in my house - all for a program that could not benefit me. It was as if they were building an FBI dossier on me and my family. Why does the school need to know that much about me?

I gave them my name, address, phone number and income level. I left everything else blank, except a note to say "you don't need anymore than this to know I don't qualify."

On the other two points, we cannot expect outside assistance. As an intelligent Black man I can tell you there is tremendous pressure to "keep me in my place." You only need to be called UPPITY a few times to figure out their point of view.

The prevalent attitude was anything given to a Black person was taken away from a White person, regardless of merit. No matter how deserving a minority might be of promotion, the sentiment was advancing a Black person denied a White person somewhere else a promotion. Can't have that, can we?

So it's up to us to promote change in the minds of our youth. Blacks need to prioritize education as numbers 1 through 3 on the top five issues in our community.

Every older Black person in the neighborhood should quiz the children on their homework.

The second question asked to a Black child everyday should be "What have you read lately?"

The First question incoming high school freshmen should answer is "What college do you plan to attend?" After that the school and the community should actively plan the coursework and extracurricular activities that will lead that child to their goal.

The government can't do it for us, Whites won't help; it's up to us to make their dreams come true, no matter the cost. Because the price of continuing to fail is too high.