Congressman Ra?l M. Grijalva, D-Ariz., told the report release audience that the negative movement among minority males away from educational attainment and toward increased incarceration coincides with the growth of racial diversity in the U.S. population. “We went through the litany of incarceration of minority males and the litany of educational failure” in the report and in our speeches, he said.
“And it comes at the time when the face of America is changing; when the hues, the tones, and the colors of this nation’s face are changing so that population merits more attention now because of that demographic shift,” Grijalva said.
Grijalva, along with Congressman Danny Davis, D-Ill., and Congressman Mike Honda, D-Calif., attended the College Board event as congressional members representing the Congressional Tri Caucus. The Congressional Tri Caucus comprises of members from the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.
The report’s recommendations were that:
- The federal government, foundation and concerned organizations convene a national policy discussion on the issue of minority male achievement
- The federal government, foundations, and civic organizations should fund research to clarify issues that could have an impact on minority male achievement
- K-12 schools, colleges, universities and state higher education agencies should develop partnerships to help minority males gain preparation and succeed in college
- States, the federal government and foundations should identify and scale up funding for the most successful programs that have helped minority males achieve educationally
Other participants in the College Board event were Dr. Sidney Ribeau, president of Howard University; Dr. Roy Jones, project director of the Call Me MISTER program; Dr. Luis Ponjuan of the University of Florida; and Dr. Ronald Williams, vice president of the College Board.
