“The other thing that was changing for Joaquin was his sense of how he had to present himself when he was out on the streets and in school. As he grew older, Joaquin felt the need to project the image of a tough and angry young black man. He believed that to be respected he had to carry himself in a manner that was intimidating and even menacing. To behave differently–too nice, gentle, kind, or sincere–meant that he would be vulnerable and preyed upon.” (Sadowski 24)

This passage stood out to me as exemplifying perfectly the difficult emotional struggle many minority youth, especially boys, face in succeeding in all spheres of life. It may seem like a small thing in the field of education of minority youth and race relations, but I believe this is a major problem African-American and Latino adolescents face. It is a balancing act, and a difficult one. This problem is so indicative of a larger issue to me; the idea that urban minority youth are in a sense set up to fail due to the deeply entrenched racial values brought on by hundreds of years of oppression. Even in our modern society, perceptions of certain groups and the roles members of these groups are cast in can be very limiting. Teenagers like Joaquin in a sense feel they have to choose between academic success and social acceptance. It is human nature to crave closeness with peers and approval, especially in a setting as hierarchal as high school. If the norm in a community involves dropping out and joining a gang, the need to belong may outweigh the desire to excel. This is a very difficult problem to solve, but I think a first step would be to teach young minority youth that doing well does not mean they are “acting white.”