3-Star General Describes Principle Challenge Facing America's Minority Male Youth

A three-star general with 36 years serving in the U.S. Air Force returned home to San Angelo last summer after retiring. He and his family now call San Angelo home, and Saturday night, at the local NAACP chapter’s annual banquet, he described a serious problem facing this country and the local community and offered some solutions.

The theme of the NAACP banquet Saturday night at the McNease Convention Center was “Family values: Past Present and Future”

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Above: The annual NAACP banquet in San Angelo on Feb. 6, 2016. (LIVE! Photo/Joe Hyde)

Before his retirement, Lt. Gen. Ronnie D. Hawkins was the Director of Defense Information Systems Agency and Commander, Joint Force Headquarters – Department of Defense Information Networks (DODIN) in Fort Meade, Maryland.

The distinguished ROTC graduate from Angelo State University in 1977 subsequently earned three master’s degrees. His last included a Master of Divinity degree in church ministries from Liberty Theological Seminary in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Standing erect with a broad, charismatic smile across his square chin, Hawkins described why he was convicted that the nation, and San Angelo in particular, needs to take better care of its young men in the Black and Hispanic community. Specifically, these young men need support and encouragement to graduate from high school, he said.

Citing a Warren Bennis book on leadership for the data, Hawkins said 50 percent of African American and Hispanic males fail to graduate from high school in the U.S. The Schott Foundation for Public Education reports that in 2012-2013, the nationwide graduation rate for Black males was 59%, but in some areas, like Nebraska, South Carolina, and Mississippi, the rate hovered around 50 percent. Hispanic males ranked only slightly higher.

“Education remains the biggest predictor of success from a financial stability perspective,” Hawkins said. “It’s a waste of a generation of men—Black and Hispanic men—which needs to stop.”

Hawkins added, “Back in 2007, I was in charge of all Air Force ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) training, all Junior ROTC, and all Officer Training (Schools) within the U.S. Air Force.”

As head of ROTC programs, Hawkins said he had plenty of scholarship money earmarked for minority males, but he could not award much of it because so few of them graduated from high school.

Of the few who got to college, Hawkins said many had trouble graduating there, too.

“We had what we called ‘falling off the floor.’ Nobody was able to get them (the scholarships) because they were specifically targeted towards minorities and in particular minority males,” he said.

Hawkins said the graduation statistics on the national stage troubled him so much that he worked with Dr. Kenneth Stewart, Director of Community Development at Angelo State University, and Shelly Hullihen, Assistant Superintendent of Educational Support Services at the San Angelo ISD. The Lt. General learned the minority male graduation rate was well over the national average in San Angelo.

“It’s not even on the chart here in San Angelo,” he said.

Here are San Angelo ISD’s graduation rates of both sexes, by ethnicity, using Texas Tribune’s 2015 numbers:

Source: Texas Tribune Public Schools Explorer

Statewide Black and Hispanic Male High School Graduation Rates

Source: Schott report, 2012-2013.

Hawkins said the entire community should applaud its success in bucking the nationwide trend in minority male graduation rates. In particular, he gave credit to the San Angelo ISD administration, Angelo State University, and a myriad of faith-based organizations and churches working together to boost graduation rates.

“We, as a race of people, cannot rely upon government to eradicate this situation,” he said. “It is something that we need to do ourselves…and it takes a family; and, it definitely takes the church to be involved. That is, African-American churches and Latino churches, in particular. We need to step up and work this issue.”

Hawkins told the crowd that church congregations near schools should adopt nearby schools and the students within “not just for a year, but for a generation or two.”

He said, “It’s going to take that kind of effort to raise that (graduation rate in San Angelo) bar above that 92 percentile.”

The family is important too, Hawkins said.

“In African-American history, next to the church, the family is probably the bedrock of African-American success,” he said. Family is not far behind in importance, if not as important, as the church, he added.

Hawkins said strong family efforts are needed, and used his own family as an example, not to brag, but to demonstrate how families can support their male youth to finish their education and excel.

Hawkins didn’t mention that his son, Joshua, also a U.S. Air Force officer who entered active duty in 2003, served as the executive officer to the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds aerial demonstration team. Nor did Hawkins mention that his other son, Ronnie Hawkins III, is also an F-16 pilot in the USAF. Hawkins’ children, both officers, are the Hawkins family’s fourth generation serving this country in the military. Hawkins’ grandfather was a Buffalo Soldier in the 10^th Cavalry.

Hawkins, who is married to San Angelo native Maria Garcia, has both Blacks and Hispanics in his family tree. He said in either the Garcia (his in-laws), or the Hawkins family, there was no question about expectations of the children.

“It was ‘you will attend college or a trade school,’” he said. “The bar was set.”

All 10 children obtained high school degrees and many graduated from college, he said.

Of his nephews, Hawkins recognized Zach Ramirez, who is an Angelo State University graduate (with two degrees) and now serves as the principal at Goliad Elementary School in the San Angelo ISD.

“It is important for minority males to see others like them in positions of leadership,” he said.

Hawkins announced that he and his wife Maria have established a scholarship fund in the name of Jose and Lydia Garcia that offers financial support to a student entering Angelo State University in the fall of 2016.

“This is a result of what our parents have done for us,” he said.

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Above: Hawkins greeted hundreds after his speech on Feb. 6, 2016 at the NAACP local chapter banquet. (LIVE! Photo/Joe Hyde)

After the speech, Hawkins explained why a lack of education causes problems.

“The lack of an education impacts one’s decision-making processes, and it impacts (negatively) their financial status. That encourages them to do things that they possibly wouldn’t do otherwise,” Hawkins said. “If they had the education, and opportunities to go do other things, the possibilities (of committing crime) are lessened.”

Hawkins, however, didn’t use a lack of education as an excuse to commit crimes.

“Regardless of your education, you still have responsibility to refrain from bad behavior,” he said.

Having a retired three-star general calling San Angelo home is a big deal. Hawkins said the decision to retire here wasn’t a difficult.

“It’s our home. Our families live here. We do missionary work, and that missionary work is rooted out of here as well. So we just knew we wanted to come home,” he said. “We wanted to reestablish our roots in the city where we (his wife Maria) met and she’s from.”

Hawkins met Maria in World History class at San Angelo Central High School in the tenth grade. They met 47 years ago and have been married for 41.

The Hawkins’ next big project is a missionary trip to Haiti where their ministry is working.