Mick, you seem very judgmental for someone claiming to be concerned with other's prejudices. The initial post, except for one unfortunate word choice, was a perfectly legitimate question. The 5:45 guest, while somewhat rude and crass, has a perfectly valid point: claiming that, because your ancestors were enslaved, you should be given some special privileges, is not the way to create racial equality. The problem in education is primarily a lower-class, inner-city phenomena, as far as I have seen. The solution, rather than any race-based fix, is simply to bring all school systems to parity.

McGrath, I think that, at least at the middle-school and high school age, women tend to be more collective. This may contribute to their generally lower academic performance, for the reasons you described. There is probably also a decreased pressure to succeed academically, and less encouragement from teachers. The men are more likely to rebel against expectations, because that is, in itself, expected of us.