Important quotes I took from the "Lagging Behind" NYT article

Mr. Ferguson said that while minorities lag behind whites in things like homework completion, it is wrong to infer that they aren't interested in school. ''High achievers are more often accused of acting white than low achievers, but it's because the low achievers suspect the high achievers believe they are superior.'' ( when I was younger and in my honors classes I was often seen my my ethnic friends as trying to be white, or high achiever, I can see how this still goes on, it's not right and to be honest I would do the same with some of my black, aisan, or ethnic classmates that I would see, but my problem was that I didn't know why they were more educated or seemed to be, and the only way to go was to pick on them because everyone else was doing the same; true ignorance there.)

''I would agree with Ogbu that there are youth cultural patterns and behaviors that are counterproductive for academic success,'' he went on, mentioning socializing in class and spending too much time watching television. ''But when they engage in those behaviors, they are not purposely avoiding academic success.'' ( I agree with this comment because even a white kid or any race kid can be a total freak for TV and lag behind because of that but truly a kid that is not white will get the negative connotation that they are just not trying hard enough, that is why they keep failing, NOT TRUE!)

Roslyn Arlin Mickelson, a sociology professor at the University of North Carolina, instead concluded "I believe, based on my own research, that the center of gravity lies with the school system." ( schools are the ones that are not tending to all the students needs equally and it keeps happening it's not right!)


Professor Mickelson of the University of North Carolina found that working class whites as well as middle-class blacks were more apt to believe that doing well in school compromised their identity. (what is this about white-working class and black-middle class? Isn't the same thing merely?)


''The kids turn on it, they sacrifice their spots in gifted and talented classes to belong to a group where they feel good.'' (this reminds me of how Prof. G mentioned about her daughter transfering to another university to feel more comfortable because at the one she was prior she really wasn't because of judgement by other students (correct me if I am wrong).