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This article concerns the tragedy of the misuse of power and the power of imagined inferiority. African Americans must lose misconceptions about the majority, heighten understanding about being Black in America and how that makes their children vulnerable to this nation's worst, stop fighting losing battles like affirmative action, and find and maintain a position of power and strength. Here, the reader should note that the full onus of responsibility is on African Americans, and the authors believe that the place to begin is in the schools that serve the African American community. To a large degree, African Americans have misjudged and over intellectualized racism, to the point of excusing it. Just as there is no excuse for racism, there is no excuse for African Americans becoming emotionally dependent on it. This is not blaming the victim; this is directing the victim on how to fight back. The words of the old Nigerian proverb apply here: you cannot just blame the rat.

The authors examined African American alumni opinions of their experience at a predominately white research intensive university from the development office's perspective. Research on decades of African American alumni opinions of their alma mater is nonexistent. Gender, financial aid and matriculation period were the independent variables. The dependent variables were 8 factors that reflected academic and social life at the university drawn from a 31 item survey. These factors were associated with Tinto's Theory of Student Integration. Gender and financial aid status did not produce more than one significant difference, but matriculation period showed various differences of opinion about the university. For those managing the university's image, like development and admissions, cool responses from older African American alumni can mean that plenty of repair work is needed for this group of university stakeholders. (Contains 1 table.)

The "good fruit, bad fruit" parable provides a metaphor for sound accountability. If one wants to assess the source of problems to determine quality, then one must look at what has been produced. Unfortunately, many researchers and practitioners have examined the fruit without determining the quality of the tree. This failure has allowed institutions like the community college to escape responsibility for the results of their harvest. The new, national, educational accountability system, which requires K-12 schools to demonstrate success for each racial subgroup, has created an institutional dialogue in school districts across the nation on teaching and schooling practices that best suit the needs of underachieving populations. Although this policy is a minor step towards addressing the educational inequity of the K-12 system, it has created conversation around race and achievement. The community college system at this point has not undergone this same type of scrutiny. It also lacks the incentive to examine the academic outcomes by ethnicity in a meaningful way that will spur the type of qualitative change that is necessary to change these outcomes. Without fiscal or community pressure, there is very little incentive for community colleges to deal with this difficult and politically charged discussion about race, institutional racism, and achievement. In looking at the microcosm of the California community college system, have institutions neglected higher education for African-American males? A review of student performance at the postsecondary level indicates that perhaps no other subgroup has been left as unattended and undernourished as have African-American males. African-American men in the California state system are the lowest performing subgroup in percentage of degrees earned, persistence rates, and average cumulative grade point average. Transfer rates are the only measure in which African-American males are not the lowest performing group but they are still well behind Anglo and Asians subgroups. Like fruit that is left on the vine, African-American male students in many institutions have been left with only the potential of ripening. It is wasted potential because the institutions of higher education have yet to put forth a concerted effort to develop techniques to support them so that they can grow and fulfill their life's purpose. With the need for new policies in mind, the authors have formulated a list of recommendations for community colleges that are specifically designed to address the needs of African-American male students. (Contains 1 table.)

The Motivated Action towards Achievement and Transformation Academy is a California middle school's program intended to increase achievement of African-American males. Components include academic skills, counseling, cultural development, college and career exploration, parent education, and mentoring. The first cohort decreased referrals and suspensions and 36 of 45 students made academic gains. (Contains 20 references.) (SK)