Andre Perry over at The Hechinger Report on the role of mentorship programs for young boys of color:

Let’s be clear. There is nothing wrong with black and brown children. To illustrate the point, I often […] bring up Thich Nhat Hanh who wrote, “When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don’t blame the lettuce. You look into reasons it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You never blame the lettuce.” However in education, we constantly blame children for disengagement. What about the schools?

Perry ultimately sees mentors as an “essential cog in the personal and professional development of young people,” but insists that “mentoring shouldn’t be an exercise in fixing.” “Ironically,” he writes, “one thing that breaks men and boys of color is the constant banging that something is wrong with them.”
Read the full post here.