Racism is alive in 2017. The professional field is still dominated by the white population, including the teaching field. Today’s minorities need more variety in the ethnicities of teachers so that they are able to relate better to those in authority during the critical time that is their adolescence. Sharon Draper has created a powerful novel in Tears of a Tiger in which she sheds light on the fact that Andy, the main character, has nobody with whom he feels he can relate and who understands him as a black teenager. The novel uses Andy’s post-traumatic stress to highlight the daily struggles that he faces in a school system that is unequal in regards to diversity among educators. This paper examines the lack of role models in today's school system as a catalyst for self-destruction among African American students in Sharon Draper’s novel, bringing the popular scholarly topic of cultural mismatch into discussion with the students that it impacts. (Downey & Pribesh 267-268)

            Black students who have white teachers are more likely to be thought of as poor students due to the gap between cultures. (see article “When Race Matters: Teacher’s Evaluations of Students’ Classroom Behavior”) Tears of a Tiger begins with the tragic accident that foreshadows Andy’s downward spiral. After that the story flashes back to just before the accident, showing Andy and his friends in the locker room joking around after a big win. In this scene the boys are using all sorts of slang that is distinctive to young African Americans. Dialect and mannerisms are distinct among the different races in our society. We all have different cultures and inside these are differing forms of child rearing which make for a more interesting world and, as stated above, differences among races. A common issue with today’s school system is that often Black students are labeled as “bad” or “disruptive” in the classroom because the teacher, generally white and female, doesn’t understand their culture and the different manner in which the children act. Douglas Downey and Shana Pribesh wrote an article titled “When Race Matters: Teacher’s Evaluations of Students’ Classroom Behavior” which highlights the fact that when surveyed, white teachers were more likely than black teachers to classify black children as having bad classroom behavior. (268) “Cultural mismatch theory asserts that inequality is produced when the cultural norms in mainstream institutions do not match the norms prevalent among social groups who are underrepresented in those institutions.” (“The Norms that Drive Behavior: Implications for Cultural Mismatch Theory” 3) Following this article’s line of thought, if black students are only taught by white teachers then they are not going to be able to relate well to them and therefore said students are not going to be comfortable enough in their environment to reach their full potential.  In Tears of a Tiger there are many examples of “cultural mismatching” which hinders Andy’s attitude toward the school and it’s faculty from even before the terrible tragedy Sharon Draper uses as the basis for Andy’s downward spiral. In the novel Andy is better able to connect with teachers and authority figures of his own race, such as his coach, English teacher, and therapist. Meanwhile, the white authority figures leave him feeling that he is not fully understood and disconnected from his school and its faculty, as we see with his guidance counselor.

            In the article, “Minding the Gap: Cultivating Black Male Teachers in a Time of Crisis in Urban Schools,” it is discussed how there is a lack of Black Male Teachers in the field because of the lack of role models available to them. (364) The article says: “Teacher candidates [lack] effective models of good teaching practices.” (See above article p.364) This is saying that black students have few people to look up to in the school system. If adolescents do not have someone to aspire to then often times they settle in life as opposed to trying to succeed. Sharon Draper conveys this in her novel through Andy. It is painstakingly obvious that African American students are expected to fail in academics and are pushed more toward sports. In the novel there is a scene where Andy is talking to his guidance counselor, Mrs. Thorne, and tells her of his aspiration to become a lawyer. At this she discourages him saying, “Someone with [your] athletic potential shouldn’t be tryin’ to make [your] college career too complicated.” (Draper 52) This is just awful. It is true that too often black teens are driven more toward athletics than academics. I feel that if the student is talented then of course veer them toward success. But all too often school officials have predisposed notions of black males and set their high expectations on sports instead of books. Mrs. Thorne, in the novel, makes Andy feel like he is dumb, when she should have encouraged him, especially given his situation at the time. While speaking with his therapist Andy says, “You had counselors who would talk to black students and see their point of view and help them out?” (Draper 51) Andy says this in response to his therapist’s questions about whether or not there were people at school with whom he could relate, or would help him out. He is saying that he is not understood in his school and the teachers/counselors do not try and help the black students. Another sad part in the book is when Andy’s three best friends go to this same counselor mere days before he ends his life trying to get help. They do not know where to turn and so they seek help from her and she merely tells them that he is getting outside help (a therapist) and that he is going to be fine. (Draper, 100) She doesn’t look any further into it. Had she felt more kindred with him then maybe she would have checked on him herself. This goes along with the cultural mismatch theory because Mrs. Thorne sees Andy not participating, getting bad grades, and acting out violently yet she assumes he is just being a normal black student. If she were African American herself she may have been able to look past that and see his pain and help before it was too late.

            Andy is not without role models in Tears of a Tiger. Draper positions different characters of color in her novel for Andy to look up to. I feel that she does this so that we, as readers, will understand how much of a difference teachers who relate well to his/her students make in the student’s lives. Margarita Bianco wrote an article, “Pathways to Teaching: African American Male Teens Explore Teaching as a Career,” that touches on how giving African American students access to extra resources specific to their cultural needs will help them succeed in furthering their education. (P.368-383) Teachers with common histories and cultures are one such resource that can be utilized as a way of helping African American students succeed thereby creating a cultural match. Draper shows Andy’s basketball coach, a black man, helping him work through some of his thoughts and feelings after the death of his friend. Andy feels that he really cares because he takes the time to speak with him on his level and with language he feels comfortable with. Coach Ripley replaces Robbie (Andy’s friend who was killed in the accident) with Andy as captain of the basketball team after the car wreck. The coach does this as a way of motivating Andy. This is different than the guidance counselor pushing him toward sports because the coach is expecting more out of Andy and putting him in a position of leadership. By doing this Coach Ripley helps to give Andy the outlet he needs to deal with what happened. Not only does the coach give him an important role, he takes the time to talk to him as well. Later in the novel Coach Ripley looks Andy up in an attempt to check up on him even though basketball season has been over for a little while. Andy lies about his well-being; if Coach Ripley had more access to Andy he might have been able to see through his lies. I say this because he then says, “That’s good to hear Andy. I’m so glad you got over that bout of depression you had a couple of months back.” (P. 128) This sentence shows that the coach had been paying attention and noticed without Andy having to spell it out for him. This is a great example of how wonderful it is to have positive role models with those who create cultural matches. Draper uses Andy’s basketball coach as a perfect example of how African American men relate better to men of the same race. Bianco talks in her article about how male role models are lacking in the school system for black male students. There have been outreach programs whose goal is to recruit males in high school into the teaching programs so they may become educators. (Bianco, 370) Having better role models will help keep black men in school and thus will help the next generation as well by supplying them with positive, effective role models. At this time the African American boys who attend schools mainly have women to look up to; the occasional man is normally white, black men make up only 1% of the teaching work force. (Bianco, 368) If more black male teachers were placed in schools where the minorities were greater then there would be a higher success rate among these minorities when it comes to matriculation. Role models give us someone to look up to and something to aspire to; all races should have the same access to kindred role models as white females do in the school system.

            Another example in Draper’s novel highlighting the problem cultural mismatch creates is Andy’s English teacher, Ms. Blackwell. She is an African American teacher and was able to get through to him as well because they shared a common culture just as Coach Ripley. The reason I say it shows the problem is because the interactions within her classroom involving the black students and her are heartening, showing that cultural matches are so helpful to minorities. Even though Ms. Blackwell is a woman she connects with Andy and helps him to feel that he is not alone in his troubles. The grievances that he airs and his anger at racist slurs and thoughtlessness on the part of white people in his world are taken seriously by Ms. Blackwell. She gives him a safe place to speak openly while helping to educate as she did when she helped him to understand that some things are not done to be racist, such as white meaning good and black meaning bad in general. Had this been addressed by a white teacher Andy and his fellow African American classmates may have taken offense and felt that the teacher did not understand and thereby was just defending their own race’s actions. Draper showed, again, that having a strong role model of the same race is helpful to minorities. This notion does coincide with Bianco’s article, having someone to look up to and relate to is important in a young person’s life. However, the use of a woman as a positive role model who gets through to Andy is a wonderful contrast to the article, “Pathways to teaching.” The article states young men need men, the novel proposes the concept that male students do well also when the normal “cultural mismatch” is offset by a woman of the same background. The role model does not have to necessarily be of the same sex, they just have to be able to relate to the student. Not only does Ms. Blackwell relate to Andy she also knows when there is something wrong with him. His slipping grades and behavior do not strike her as that of just another black boy. Instead, she realizes that there is something wrong and reaches out to his father. The attempt ends up unsuccessful in helping Andy but it is more than the other teachers did. Andy’s father does not see the problem as having to do with Andy’s pain only his acting like a cliché black male. The use of Andy’s father to covey this racist assumption is powerful because his father is black but he was subjected to white role models and entered the work force that was dominated by Caucasians so he was forced to act white. This, along with the good role models Draper shows in Coach Ripley and Ms. Blackwell enforces the theory of cultural mismatch creating problems for minorities.

            The reason I became so interested in Tears of a Tiger is because of a teacher at Bland High School in Bland County, VA. She teaches the book in an entirely white school in a rural area where the issues with race depicted in the book do not apply, and more often than not fall on racist ears initially. During an interview with Mrs. Shelton I asked her why she does it. Why is it important to her to present a book with a theme such as this one to her students? Her answer was very complex but very moving. Mrs. Shelton said that her initial interest in the book was the subject of suicide and teenage drinking and driving that are present in the book. She felt that it was very important for her to teach her 8^th and 9^th grade classes the consequences of such things. After her first year of teaching the book she was struck by the comments she would receive, comments of the racist manner. These comments drove her into a more adamant stance on the book and changed the shift of her purpose from that of suicide and teenage drinking to social inequality in today’s world. Mrs. Shelton says that she feels it is important for her students to understand that just because this is 2017 and equal rights have been enforced the fight is not over for African Americans. She encourages her students to empathize with Andy and his friends. She encourages her student’s to think about how they would feel if they only had access to black teachers. Do they feel like their needs would be met emotionally and academically? Would the teachers understand them? Do the students of Bland High School feel that a black student would have a harder time in the school then the white students would? Mrs. Shelton is attempting to broaden the horizons of her students and to open their narrow minds to the bigger picture outside of our little town by the use of Tears of a Tiger.

            Sharon Draper’s novel is important because it sheds light on a popular topic in scholarship: the lack of African American teachers in today’s society. It is important for the students in schools today to see how hurtful cultural mismatch is to the academic careers of themselves and their peers. Every student is not going to commit suicide if they do not have someone to look up to but if Andy had had more people, or more consistent people, to look up to then there may have been a different end to his tragic story, fictional as it may be. The solution to the problem of cultural mismatch is for more African Americans to join the teaching work force, African American males in particular. Draper’s novel is important because she brings cultural mismatch theory from scholarship into her novel and presents it to today’s youth. Hopefully if more students are presented with the topic in a way as they can understand it and relate to it on a personal level then there will be a closing of the gap between the number of black students and black teachers. Right now there are too few of the latter to help the former succeed. Sharon Draper did a wonderful job getting readers interested in the book based on the dominant themes: teen suicide as well as drinking and driving. Once the readers are presented the material she inserts the cultural mismatch theory and problems with society in regards to race. By doing this she opens our eyes to issues that need our attention. Hopefully an increase in the number of African American teachers in our school systems will occur and black students that slip through the cracks of our schools will get the understanding they need and deserve from likeminded role models.

Bibliography

Bianco, Margarita, et al. “Pathways to Teaching: African American Male Teens Explore Teaching as a Career.” The Journal of Negro Education, vol. 80, no. 3, 2011, pp. 368–383., www.jstor.org/stable/41341140

Burr, Jeffrey A., et al. “Black Suicide in U.S. Metropolitan Areas: An Examination of the Racial Inequality and Social Integration-Regulation Hypotheses.” Social Forces, vol. 77, no. 3, 1999, pp. 1049–1080., www.jstor.org/stable/3005971

Downey, Douglas B., and Shana Pribesh. “When Race Matters: Teachers' Evaluations of Students' Classroom Behavior.” Sociology of Education, vol. 77, no. 4, 2004, pp. 267–282. www.jstor.org/stable/3649390.

Madkins, Tia C. “The Black Teacher Shortage: A Literature Review of Historical and Contemporary Trends.” The Journal of Negro Education, vol. 80, no. 3, 2011, pp. 417–427. www.jstor.org/stable/41341143.

 Pabon, Amber Jean-Marie, et al. “Minding the Gap: Cultivating Black Male Teachers in a Time of Crisis in Urban Schools.” The Journal of Negro Education, vol. 80, no. 3, 2011, pp. 358–367. www.jstor.org/stable/41341139