Since completing the Ph. D. program in Public Policy and Sociology at the University of Michigan in 2005, I have had countless discussions with many black people about the racial achievement gap. I am always struck by how the notion that black children resist education consistently emerges as the primary explanation for why they perform poorly academically. Among these discussions, there are three instances that stand out and led me to the conclusion that this book needed to be written. In a recent trip to Mississippi, I talked to Mrs. Jones, a veteran middle school teacher, about her experiences in the classroom. I asked her why she thought black students performed worse than whites, to which she replied,“These kids just want to sit there and do nothing. They look at you like you are crazy. They just want to pass notes to each other all day long.” Her frustration was genuine, and I did not doubt her observations. I was humbled at the thought that her experiences and perceptions of black youth were similar to those that I have heard countless times from other educators. I have even witnessed this belief among educators at the college level. An example of this is my experience with Dr. Smith. Dr. Smith received his Ph. D. from a prestigious institution and now works at a teaching college in the South that caters predominantly to black students. He is absolutely convinced that black students have an oppositional culture toward schooling. I sat in on several of his classes, in which he chastised the students for not being prepared for class. These “lectures” devolved into diatribes about how too many of the students at the university were preoccupied with their physical appearance and “hooking-up” with one another, avoided taking challenging classes, and had a general apathy toward schooling. Such tirades were seamlessly incorporated into his lectures, and the students seemed unsurprised. Dr. Smith’s go-to quote is:“These kids today don’t want anything out of life.” Dr. Smith’s story reminds me of the numerous educators that I have encountered throughout the United States who interpret poor aca demic per for mance as oppositionality.