I have a Masters in political science and absolutely love teaching -- at the college level only. I have lived in Chicago since the early '70s and have watched in amazement and sadness at how most (certainly not all by any stretch) black kids and teens just simply have little or no interest in learning much of anything.

I see the behavior you describe from a distance -- in the public square -- daily. I decided early-on that I would never be caught in a classroom filled with these folks...because I knew if and when one of 'em dissed me the wrong way, I'd be in jail.

But I've taught all kinds of adults, from ESL types, ex-offenders, and "regular" college students, all of whom are thirsty for knowledge.

The situation you describe has nothing to do with "wokeness," as some of your racist-light commenters argue. This is happening because school funding is based on property taxes. Poor and low-wealth neighborhoods simply do not have the money for "state-of-the-art" schools, teachers, administrators, nurses, counselors, coaches, etc. Meanwhile, the lily white Chicago suburbs (which only exist because of decades of redlining and "white flight") have huge surpluses of cash to splurge on their schools.

Think about it. Black schools in Chicago struggle to keep the heat on in winter, and AC is virtually unheard of.

The Supremes declared that "separate but equal" education was unconstitutional 68 years ago. That's 1954 for those who may be arithmetically challenged. Yet schools and the taxes that fund them are actually more segregated today than they were back then.

So yes....black kids (again not all of them) have little or no incentive to excel. But the absolute refusal of white people to equitably share the money for schools is, at bottom, why most of these kids act like they act and do what they do. They are just kids, after all, and like kids everywhere, they simply don't know any better.

I could go on, and maybe I'll write about this someday. In any event, your post is timely, accurate....and oh so sad.