SANTA FE — The Rev. Al Sharpton today said low expectations in schools are the racism of the 21st century.

Speaking before the state Legislature on African-American Day, Sharpton said a system that stereotypes people who are perceived to be low achievers is one that condemns many to the underclass.

“Don’t let anybody tell you what you can and cannot be. To fit people into social boxes is not the way we made history,” Sharpton said. “My single parent, welfare mother raised me and my pastor raised me to expect to be something.”

Sharpton, 56, also said that Black History Month was an appropriate time to say that popular culture too often was an enemy of youth and progress. He said it was a myth that “thug life and street are