Is any of this a surprise to you? (black males)?

To tell you the truth none of it surprises me and I think if a person is well exposed to the world these things won't surprise them either. And I know some people may be surprised to see an educated, articulate black man and that's just ignorance, I know plenty: my dad, my uncles and family, friends I mean we have a black president who graduated from Harvard. People who are surprised by an educated black man are ignorant, and tend to stereotype and generalize. And about the question, Is it surprising that black boys don't perform as well in school than white boys? Well, the reason for this is mostly environmental, black children are more likely to live in poverty than white children, the schools they may go to might not be as good as suburban ones, there are many single parent homes, and crime- these things usually stem from poverty. Basically, many of these things don't surprise me I mean it is somewhat shocking and pretty sad actually all the things you listed above, but knowing the society we live in and how they view the black male, and the many situations and issues black males may be more subject to, it's not quite surprising. And I do feel a lot of people stereotype, not just people stereotyping blacks and it's a sad fact. And I am an African American female, I live in the suburbs, attend a 90% white school and people have told me that they were surprised that I was smart, and I got the highest grade on a test and a teacher thought I may have cheated. So, all in all, because of real life occurrences, preconceived notions, and many deeper issues within our society and even the black community- many that can have a historical root, what you have listed is not surprising.