Besides the severe inequalities in education systems and the disadvantages of African Americans left by history, another significant cause of the African American education gap is the anti-intellectualism mindset that prevails among African American communities. This ideological issue is the Elephant in the Room; while few people have even realized its existence, it is discouraging African American students from pursuing academic excellence to a great extent. One outstanding African American educator, John H. McWhorter, illustrates the anti-intellectualist peer pressure that many African American students would have to face in a personal anecdote: when McWhorter was little, a group of African American children asked him to spell “concrete”.
