Black
History Month: Lincoln’s Unfinished Work
by
Matilda Raffa Cuomo
Black History Month is designed to focus attention
on how far we have come in correcting the grotesque
damage done in our nation by our early years of slavery.
February 12th will be the 195th birthday of Abraham
Lincoln and we’ll recall how he began the process
that ended slavery in our country through Lincoln’s
Emancipation Proclamation, victory in the Civil War
and, following his cruel assassination—the
constitutional amendments condemning slavery and
assuring all races equality of opportunity.
The sad reality is we are a long way from assuring
equal opportunity for all races. We have not yet
advanced from the quicksand of racial injustice to
the solid bedrock of true equality. That is not to
disparage all that is good about our unique United
States of America: we are still the greatest nation
in the world and the most effective engine of opportunity
in world history. But great as this nation is, we
have not yet corrected the damages created by hundreds
of years of horrendous slavery that produced riches
and comforts for the whites by demeaning, debasing
and debilitating blacks. We are still an exceedingly
polarized society and the evidence of failure is
apparent everywhere around us. Schools in predominantly
black neighborhoods are still not as good as schools
in white areas. Discrimination against blacks in
the business world and beyond still exists. As a
result, today blacks are more apt to be inadequately
educated, unemployed, poor, uninsured, ill, imprisoned,
or sentenced to death, then their Caucasian counterparts.
They earn less; they are much less likely to be wealthy,
CEOs, or important public officials.
I see this disparity in the Mentoring USA program
I run which is designed for children at risk of
failure in school. At least 70% of the children
we deal with
are black or Hispanic. Obviously, we need to do
much more than we are doing as a nation to live
up to
the promise of our Declaration of Independence—that
there will be equality of opportunity for all children
and adults.
Mentoring USA currently provides structured, one
to one, mentoring to all young children at risk,
especially children in foster care, children who
have been homeless and children who have recently
immigrated to this country. It is the largest one
to one, site based, mentoring program in New York
City and has provided mentors to thousands of children
ages five to eighteen. We are affiliated with HELP
USA, which is the largest provider of transitional
housing, with on-site services for homeless families
in the nation. We also provide mentors to the youth
in HELP USA’s permanent housing facilities.
We know mentoring is one of the most effective ways
to help children obtain the support and encouragement
they need in order to prosper. Research increasingly
states that those children who succeed, despite enormous
personal, economical, or societal obstacles, do so
because of the presence of caring, competent adults
who believe in them.
Mentoring USA’s goal is to provide the missing
support to children before it is too late, in the
form of early, frequent and consistent attention
trained by adult mentors who are wonderful role
models. Research also tells us that when children
feel they
are affirmed and respected, they are less likely
to turn to violence. Also, children appreciate
diversity and work harder to resolve diversity-related
conflicts
when they are in an environment that values diversity.
The more pride and appreciation students have of
their own culture, the more they will appreciate
other cultures as well.
Building from these premises, Mentoring USA initiated
nearly eight years ago the Bias-Related-Anti-Violence
Education or BRAVE Program. The program uses biographical
material as a tool to enhance children’s
self-esteem and sense of cultural heritage, to
open discussions
about the experiences of various racial, cultural
and ethnic groups and to facilitate discussion
about diversity, overcoming obstacles, tolerance,
and the
non-violent resolution of conflict.
During Black History Month, Mentoring USA develops
informational packets listing activities and travel
opportunities for each mentoring site, which the
program manager provides for the mentors to share
with their mentees. Besides these packets of information,
we distribute a one-page list of cultural activities
that mentors and mentees can engage in together
to celebrate throughout Black History Month.
Michael Strahan, one of the best defensive players
in Giants history, is the spokesperson for HELP
USA and Mentoring USA. He is an extraordinarily
dedicated
volunteer who hosts homeless children at his football
camp and conducts self-esteem workshops for youth
in the New York City area. In my book, The Person
Who Changed My Life, Michael is one of the 77 prominent
people who remember and thank their mentors. Michael
tells us about his best mentor, his father. Michael
states, “The three last bits of advice my father
taught me was first, the best way to break a bad
habit like drugs or alcohol is to never start. Second,
never ask someone to give you anything, always earn
it first. Third, if being successful was easy, everyone
would do it, so you have to work hard for success.”
It is up to all of us. We need more dedicated volunteers
like Michael Strahan to work as a team in order
to give each child who needs support—a mentor
to help fulfill his or her potential. That will bring
us much closer to completing our unfinished work
and to being all that we can be.#
Mrs. Cuomo, the former First Lady of New York State,
is the Founder and Chairperson of Mentoring USA.
