Making a Philosophy Real

Young black faces are overrepresented among the teen mothers, the dropouts, the jobless and the criminals. Government pays particular attention to these youngsters--the ones in trouble, the ones who make trouble--who tax the welfare system or the justice system.

The statistics and the stereotypes are grim, but they do not tell the whole story. What of the majority of black youngsters--those who stay in school and work? They get little notice, even from an Administration that embraces black self-help.

President Reagan should find time to salute the youngsters who chant “Black is brilliant!” as they compete in a national mental and cultural olympics at the annual convention of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People. The youngsters excel in 21 categories including chemistry, biology, computer science, creative writing, dramatics and music. They personify the philosophy of black self-help.

The competition, the Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological, Science Olympics (ACT-SO) doesn’t cost the government a penny. One paid employee runs the program. Hundreds of volunteers teach Saturday enrichment classes and judge local contests in 350 cities. Corporate sponsors pay for the gold, silver and bronze medals, the money awards of $1,000, $750 and $500 and the travel expenses of the 450 local finalists who compete nationally at the convention. Ninety corporations contribute in Southern California. Some major and consistent local supporters include Atlantic Richfield Corp., Adolph Coors Co. and Pacific Bell. The competition rewards black scholastic heroics. A self-help effort, it also allows blacks and interested whites to take the initiative and turn around the low academic achievement of some black students, according to Vernon Jarrett, the newspaper columnist who developed the idea.

The local competitions begin this month. In Southern California, students will compete in communities from San Diego to Fresno.

The local winners will compete nationally during the NAACP convention in Baltimore in late June. The President and his policy-makers ought to take the quick trip from Washington to root for the black youngsters who do not get into trouble, those who do not flesh out the statistics of a costly despair, those who make real the philosophy of black self-help.