In a March 2006 New York Times editorial, sociologist Orlando Patterson highlighted and tried to explain the “tragedy unfolding in our inner cities,” particularly the “self-destructive” behavior of “young black men.” Provocatively, he identified what sociologists have labeled the “cool-pose culture” as the primary culprit. According to this “culture of failure” thesis, minority youth are partly responsible for this tragedy by choosing a lifestyle that disconnects them from the “socioeconomic mainstream.” It is this thesis that Our Schools Suck is determined to discredit. The authors, four scholars and also, importantly, self-professed activists, criticize scholars, politicians, political analysts, and entertainers, including Patterson, Barack Obama, Juan Williams, and Bill Cosby, for giving “nonwhite youth” a “moral flogging” rather than focusing on the real problem, “socioeconomic and school conditions” (p. 5). Instead of being unconcerned about education, they argue, urban minority youth value education and are acutely aware of their schools' shortcomings.