The Editor, The Guardian

Dear Sir,

I finally realized that the black male in The Bahamas was in serious trouble when valourizing homophobia and wearing your pants well below your bottom to show you were wearing underwear became symbols of masculinity.

The phenomenon of young women out-performing young men in academic and professional achievements has been so persistent, pronounced and prolonged that it now seems part of the structural and cultural feature of our society.

Despite occurring almost from Independence, social scientists are still struggling, or so it seems, to define the phenomenon. The terms black male marginalization and under-achievement have been used.

Given the absolutely and overwhelmingly better performance of females in the educational system, I believe describing the phenomenon as male under-achievement is a more accurate term.

It is my view that one of the main contributing causes for the poor academic performance among young males is what I will described as the "feminization" of teaching. That is, the preponderance of women as teachers in the classroom.

This situation, caused by the low wage and low status of teaching in our society, in my view, starves young boys of male role models, considering that many if not most are already coming from homes in which a father is absent.

Worse still, because of the preponderance of women in the classroom, it could be argued that not only is teaching being feminized, but education itself is being perceived by boys as a feminine activity.

This is reinforced by the strong homophobia of Bahamian males and the harsh, macho image of masculinity that many of them cultivate. Thus under these influences, many young boys feel that a man is rowdy and full of bravado, and that studying, which entails being quiet and sitting still is feminine.

There is also the view that because boys are given more freedom to roam and are saddled with less chores at home, they get less exposure to tasks that would build self-discipline, time management and a sense of process, qualities required for success in the formal education process.

While there is some merit in this view, the cultural practices embodied in the metaphor "tie the heifer and loose the bull" is not restricted to our society but is found wherever patriarchy is institutionalized, especially in Westernized and urban settings.

Why this greater freedom generally allowed young men has translated into extreme licence in The Bahamas is because of the absence of the father in the home, who would otherwise serve as disciplinarian and enforcers of the rules.

This brings me back to the crux of the matter. Why are so many black homes fatherless? And why are black men so confused about our masculinity?

The answer lies in the history of African enslavement and the failure of social and economic transformation since emancipation.

Among the things the enslaved African was forced to leave behind on the shores of Africa, nothing was more suppressed than their masculinity.

Incapable of asserting his authority either as husband or father and with his female partner often in closer link with the source of all power in society the male slave eventually came to lose all pretensions to masculine pride and developed irresponsible parental and sexual attitudes.

To the extent that emancipation did not result in economic and social transformation, the African has remained powerless and with uncertain income, and many of them continue to shy away from their responsibilities as husband and father.

So today we have a situation in which too many of our youths are growing up without guidance and restraints and evolving their values on the fly from confused bits of information picked-up off society's grapevine.

Well, the chickens have come home to roost!

Virtually all violent crimes are committed by young men under 30 years old, many of them under-educated or unskilled school drop-outs. Don't tell me there is no connection between crime and under-achieving young men. Furthermore, this under-achieving bunch has contributed to the relative shortage of marriageable mates available to our women. A study done 5 years ago in America, revealed that by age 28, only 48 per cent of African American

women had ever married compared to 80 per cent for white women.

A likely corollary of this is the fact that 40 years ago the majority of births occurred inside marriage while today the large majority occurs outside. This clearly will continue the downward spiral of absentee fathers, unrestrained and undisciplined youths, underachievement, and further weakening of the family.

Another possible consequence of the academic under-achievement of black males is that they become less trainable for a labour force that increasingly requires technical sophistication. This could limit our ability to attract and develop many of the industries needed to advance our economy and society.

What is then the way forward? Can we use social policy as an instrument to right the ship?

Traditional African masculinity was primarily concerned with caring for the family, and women and children generally, and was collegial, not rabidly competitive, towards other men.

Since masculinity originates and finds expression in nurturing the family and is in turn nurtured by it, then strengthening the family also strengthens masculinity.

Among the measures that could be taken to reinvigorate masculinity are the following:

Provide incentives to encourage family formation and preservation. The state should consider some form of "bonus" to couples getting married and an annual rebate on taxes to those staying married. Banks and credit institutions should also offer more favourable terms to married people in recognition of the lesser risk premium and greater stability associated with

marriage.

Considering the crises state of the family in The Bahamas, the Church, Government and civil society need to develop early intervention programmes for at-risk youths and teenagers. These would be integrated programmes that would involve early targeting, nutritional support and after school programmes run by the Church and volunteers.

Especially as it relates to young boys and teenagers we need to reinvigorate programmes like the Boys Club and Boys Scout, but with a more indigenous foundation and practical orientation. The Yeast Programme must be expanded. That dynamic creative energy of males that the Greeks call Zeus energy craves excitement and adventure, but needs discipline and structure.

Ending the "feminization" of teaching by paying higher salaries, hopefully inducing more men into the classroom will certainly help.

Given the intractable nature of these problems, however, maybe only a reinvigorated masculinity will be able to resolve these issues.

Yours, etc.,

Jerry Roker

Posted: Wednesday Octber 22, 2003

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