San Francisco Achievers (SFA) began in 2008 as a pilot project of the Meritus College Fund initiated by Meritus founder Dr. Henry Safrit. He was concerned about the small number of African American males in the San Francisco Public School District applying for Meritus scholarships. Discussions with school administrators and teachers revealed that most African American males were not academically eligible for a Meritus scholarship, which requires a 3.0 or higher GPA. In fact, recent data indicates less than one third of all graduating African American male seniors in the SF United School District have GPAs of 2.0 or higher. The problem is larger. Studies show that African American males make up just 5.5% of college students in the US, and they are among the most vulnerable and most in need of resources to achieve positive life outcomes. There is no greater crisis today in US than the plight of African American males. Recent publicity has centered on police violence and disproportionately high incarceration rates, but there are many other less obvious and even buried institutional realities set up to insure failure for the African American population including:
- School Suspension: Last year the Department of Education reported that African American children are far more likely to be suspended from school, even preschool, than White children. Although discriminant analysis suggests that disproportionate rates of office referral and suspension for boys are due to increased rates of misbehavior, no support was found for the hypothesis that African American students act out more than other students. Yet African American boys are consistently suspended for behaviors tolerated by white students. African American students also appear to be referred to the office for less serious and more subjective reasons. Coupled with extensive and highly consistent prior data, these results argue that disproportionate representation of African Americans in office referrals, suspension and expulsion is evidence of a pervasive and systematic bias that may well be inherent in the use of exclusionary discipline.
- Implicit Bias: “Implicit bias” is a contributing factor when we analyze the causes of racial disproportionality in school discipline. Implicit bias is defined as the unconscious mental process that causes us to have negative feelings and attitudes about people based on characteristics like race, ethnicity, age and appearance. Implicit racial bias often supports the stereotypical caricature of African American youth—especially males—as irresponsible, dishonest, and dangerous.
- Cultural Deficit Thinking: This process creates the perception that poor African American and other marginalized students and their parents are disconnected from the education process. Consequently, teachers and other school personnel may harbor negative assumptions about the ability, aspirations and work ethic of these students—especially poor students of color—based on the assumption that they and their families do not value education in the same way it is valued by middle- and upper-income White students.
- Gender Disparity: More than one in every six African American men in the age of 24—54 has disappeared from civic life—either through death or incarceration. This translates to 83 African American men to every 100 African American women. For Whites, there are roughly equal numbers of men and women and less disruption due to incarceration. The disruption of relationships due to incarceration or death translates to lower marriage rates, more out of wedlock births, greater risk of poverty for families, and less stable communities. Moreover, the dearth of suitable men forces African American women to seek a partner outside their community or risk perpetuating a cycle of disruption, death, and incarceration.
To combat this issue, a committee of Meritus board members and educators came together to create a program specifically designed to make college matriculation and graduation a reality for this highly at-risk population. In 2011, San Francisco Achievers became a 501(c)3 organization with a specific mission to close achievement and social gaps for African American males in San Francisco.