Was this punishment fair.

[bejohnson]

Published Wednesday
January 21, 2004

Students disciplined for posters on King Day

BY MICHAELA SAUNDERS
OMAHA WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

A small group of Westside High School students plastered the school Monday with posters advocating that a white student from South Africa receive the "Distinguished African American Student Award" next year.

The students' actions on Martin Luther King Jr. Day upset several students and have led administrators to discipline four students.

The posters, placed on about 150 doors and lockers, included a picture of the junior student smiling and giving a thumbs up. The posters encouraged votes for him.

The posters were removed by administrators because they were "inappropriate and insensitive," Westside spokeswoman Peggy Rupprecht said Tuesday.

Rupprecht said the award always has been given to black students.

Westside Assistant Principal Pat Hutchings said the award has been given for eight years on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to a senior selected by teachers.

Rupprecht said disciplinary action was taken against the students involved but, citing student privacy policies, she declined to specify the penalties or what about the students' action led to them.

Karen Richards said her son, Trevor, who was pictured on the posters, was suspended for two days for hanging the posters. Two of his friends also were disciplined for hanging the posters. A fourth student, she said, was punished for circulating a petition Tuesday morning in support of the boys. The petition criticized the practice of recognizing only black student achievement with the award.

One of the school's students, Tylena Martin, said she was hurt by the posters and the backlash she said it caused.

Martin, a junior, said she is the only black student in her homeroom class, and the poster was on the door to her classroom when she arrived Monday morning.

Westside has fewer than 70 blacks out of 1,843 students this year.

Hutchings said she heard from several students about the posters Monday.

"Many students were offended," she said.

Karen Richards said her son and his friends were not trying to hurt anyone.

"My son is not a racist," she said. "He has black friends, friends from Bangladesh and Egypt. Color has never been an issue in our home."

"It was a very innocent thing," she said.

Richards said her family moved to Omaha from Johannesburg six years ago. Trevor, she said, "is as African as anyone."

The award did not say it was for a "Black" African-American student, it simply said African-American student. This is something that I have said all along about political correctness. PC clouds the issues with double speak. The student being from South Africa and now living in the U.S., which is in North America, is definitely an African-American. It would not matter what country in the Americas that he resided, the description would be the same.

If they wanted to give the award to the outstanding black student or the outstanding student of color then state that in language that is not ambiguous. If they really wanted to be technical, the African-American adjective actually would exclude many of the black citizens that come from the Caribbean and other locations outside of Africa.

We really need to forget about race descriptors and focus on the individual and their accomplishments. Race should not enter into the consideration of anything.

[egarrard]

He was the only African-American in the whole school...

It belittles the accomplishments of Dr. King to view him just as an African-American. His goals were goals for all people. Only in the US does it become a racial thing. I found it very interesting that on the side of Westminster Abbey, in the UK, there is a statue of Martin Luther King. It honors his teaching, not his ethnicity.

[wazman]

This is a bit off-topic, but this reminds me of something I saw when I used to be a member of Prodigy's online service (yeah, go ahead and laugh)... There was a bulletin board on there titled "Blacks Only". And white people got upset with that. The black people didn't see anything wrong with it, though. Until somebody pointed out that if somebody started a board titles "Whites Only", there'd be hell to pay.

Every now and then I recall that, and I think about it for a while... How one group of people can be just as racist or whatever as another... And how things can work one way for one person and another for others...

Just a thought I've carried with me for a few years now. Not trying to start a debate or anything, but just wanted to throw it out there...

[bejohnson]

Originally posted by egarrard
He was the only African-American in the whole school...

It belittles the accomplishments of Dr. King to view him just as an African-American. His goals were goals for all people. Only in the US does it become a racial thing. I found it very interesting that on the side of Westminster Abbey, in the UK, there is a statue of Martin Luther King. It honors his teaching, not his ethnicity.

I agree. African-American is not a race; it is a description of a person's heritage. Race should have no meaning in today's world. Only a person's dreams should be the limiting factor in a person's accomplishments.

[bejohnson]

Originally posted by wazman
This is a bit off-topic, but this reminds me of something I saw when I used to be a member of Prodigy's online service (yeah, go ahead and laugh)... There was a bulletin board on there titled "Blacks Only". And white people got upset with that. The black people didn't see anything wrong with it, though. Until somebody pointed out that if somebody started a board titles "Whites Only", there'd be hell to pay.

Every now and then I recall that, and I think about it for a while... How one group of people can be just as racist or whatever as another... And how things can work one way for one person and another for others...

Just a thought I've carried with me for a few years now. Not trying to start a debate or anything, but just wanted to throw it out there...

As Dr. King taught there is no place for discrimination or racism in this world by any group of people.

[egarrard]

Originally posted by wazman
How one group of people can be just as racist or whatever as another... Bingo.

[eire1274]

Rupprecht said the award always has been given to black students.
That sounds like racist policy to me.

I completely agree that the school is out of line on this one. Dr. King's message was popular with the native African-descended Americans (that, I think, is the best way to phrase it) because they at the time were getting the worst of everything. His message, however, was also quite popular with the Irish and other "white" immigrants because of the tremendous pressure that had been put upon them a mere 30 or 40 years earlier. And also with the Asian population, who were still feeling repurcussions from the anti-Japanese and anti Chinese/Korean sentiments the last couple wars had stirred up.

My HS, which had 60% African-descended students, was at least forward thinking enough to promote a Student of the Year program on Martin Luther King Jr. Day which was more like a Nobel Peace Prize: students active in interracial harmony were selected based on actions rather than skin color.

[wazman]

I guess I just don't understand how people can be so hateful because of skin color, or sexual preference, or religion... I have my parents to thank for that. They never said anything about any of the friends I had growing up - and I definitely had quite the gamut of friends (half of the people I hung out with in high school were gay). So stuff like that doesn't make a difference to me - I can't even remember when I found out that my friend was gay. It didn't make any difference in the friendship, and I never really thought twice about it. She was a great friend, and she still is today, even though we've lost touch...

I don't mean to sound naive here... I just don't see what the big deal is... I guess because my parents let me come into contact with all kinds of people. I'm just much more receptive to things.

(Of course, I'm still stubborn as a mule. But I don't discriminate - as long as someone doesn't screw me over, I don't have a problem with them.)

[Teddray]

Originally posted by wazman
I guess I just don't understand how people can be so hateful because of skin color, or sexual preference, or religion...

It is best to be an equal opportunity hater, like I am.

[blpeterson]

We were discussing this case this evening. There is universal agreement that the school system has forgot what the civil rights movement was all about. It was not just to give the black citizens equal rights but it was to give all people equal rights. We are all created equal, it takes man to discriminate. The English language is a very concise language when used properly. Political Correctness is not a proper use of the language.

We all should be proud of our heritage but we are not hyphenated Americans, hyphenated Canadians or hyphenated anything. You are a citizen of whichever country you reside.

[egarrard]

Along the same lines... (http://www.washtimes.com/world/20040122-094839-1431r.htm)

BELFAST — Racist gangs in Northern Ireland are forcing black people out of their homes in part of an apparently orchestrated plan to "ethnically cleanse" Belfast.

Ethnic minority leaders have called for urgent government action to combat the wave of assaults and forced evictions.

Averaging about one attack a day, race-related crime has risen by more than tenfold since the signing of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, as loyalist Protestant paramilitaries appear intent on forcing the immigrant population out.

The concerted attacks have been focused in South Belfast where Asians, Chinese and Africans have been targeted.

The actions have been reinforced with graffiti of "Keep the Streets White" and, more sinisterly, a "Whites Only" message scrawled outside a primary school.

Nonwhite faces are a relative rarity in Northern Ireland, where the population of 1.7 million was 99.15 percent white just three years ago. However, recent waves of immigration to the province have increased the minority population.

The biggest ethnic group, according to the most recent census, is the Chinese (0.25 percent), who have been there since the 1960s. There are just 2,600 Africans. In one incident, a South African woman, who had lived in the sprawling Soweto ghetto during the apartheid era, was attacked inside her home in the Protestant working-class Village neighborhood in South Belfast.

Tandy, who did not want her last name published, answered a knock at the door to find a group of men who shouted, "Get the [expletive] out of here."

She ran out the back door, leaving behind her children, aged 13 and 2, who remained silent upstairs, as the family's television, kitchen, fireplace and video-game console were smashed.

Tandy, who moved to Belfast a year ago to study for a psychology degree, said, "I'm used to this coming from South Africa. I grew up to racism, but I am fed up with it here. I wanted to breathe the fresh air here, but then I came across racism again."

Loyalist paramilitaries had close links throughout the three decades of religious clashes with racist groups such as the National Front and Combat 18. A group called the "White Nationalist Party" has distributed leaflets in several areas with ethnic minorities and the nativist British National Party recently said it would field several candidates in the next council elections.

[eire1274]

Originally posted by egarrard
Along the same lines... (http://www.washtimes.com/world/20040122-094839-1431r.htm)
F***ing Orange Party BS. Sorry, mates, I'll make some enemies with this statement: Put the entirety of Ireland under the Irish Republican rule, and let the southern Catholics do their thing.

A good longtime friend of mine did New Years last year in Ireland. He's black. He said Dublin, Limerick, and Donegal were populated by the least bigoted people he'd ever met. He spent 10 minutes in the North before he left his (white) group and crossed back to wait for them. It was bad.

[bejohnson]

Originally posted by eire1274
F***ing Orange Party BS. Sorry, mates, I'll make some enemies with this statement: Put the entirety of Ireland under the Irish Republican rule, and let the southern Catholics do their thing.

A good longtime friend of mine did New Years last year in Ireland. He's black. He said Dublin, Limerick, and Donegal were populated by the least bigoted people he'd ever met. He spent 10 minutes in the North before he left his (white) group and crossed back to wait for them. It was bad.

I agree. Brandi's maternal grandparents were from County Kerry and my dad's maternal grandparents were from County Cork. Brandi and I spent a week in the two counties several years ago and the people are just fantastic.

Belfast on the other hand reminded me of Birmingham, Alabama in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The prejudice and hatred are not only racial but also religious and even economic.

I agree, let Ireland govern Northern Ireland (with the proper constraints because of the years of hatred).

[LordKappa]

getting back to the whole racial thing, I have to say that it isn't the whites who are being racist... (well maybe some are), but I know that I don't care who someone is or where they are from, everyone is the same to me.

What I DO hate is that blacks try and make themselves different from everyone. They can go around and have as many 'black only' events or awards as they want and nobody really says anything, but if someone had a white pride day, or white-only acheivement award they'd freak.

They're allowed to be publicly proud of being black while telling me that I'm not allowed to be proud of being white.

[Maniacmous]

Please do not take this the wrong way...as I am not a racist, or, more appropriately, a colorist, as we are all of the human race.

Something that I became acutely aware of as college approached, and now that I have gotten here, is the high level of separatism still prominent in this country, but as was said before, not so much on the part of whites as other minorities, and to some extent, women. Now please...before you get offended, allow me to explain.

I am a middle class white boy from rural Ohio, good grades in high school, and by all indications, with a bright future ahead of me, given sufficient work. I realized, however, when I went to fund my college experience, the extreme lack of scholarships for people such as myself. I mean, there are scholarships for almost any group you can come up with: blacks, hispanics, asians, even women have their own dedicated scholarships. Now while this is going on, there are no "white" scholarships, or no "men only" scholarships...because that'd be totally racist, or sexist or what have you.

I have no problem with anyone getting a college education, in fact, I believe everyone should have the opportunity to do so...but where is the equal chance to do that if people like myself cannot find the funding in order to go. It is like a reverse discrimination.

I'm sorry...but there is a huge flaw in that...America is a nation built upon its diversity. We have people from every culture, every background, specializing in just about every single thing humanly possible. Lately, however, it feels like everyone is using these differences to try and get their own chunk of money, life, whatever, instead of becoming a part of the society. A house divided cannot stand...and all that is happening is our people are dividing themselves based upon the smallest differences, instead of what makes us all the same, and this shouldn't stand.

Call me an idealist if you like, I'm fine with that; even still, isn't the idea of every man being created equal (and by man, I include women as well)...isn't what MLK, and *****, and Gandhi, and many others...to treat all men as such? There can be no equal treatment until everyone truly sees themselves as equals, and there can be none of that until everyone stops the divisiveness. By all means, be proud of your heritage, it is the combination of all our heritages that make this country great...but please, don't let it become a stumbling block and a point of conflict, as that not only hurts you and I and our nation, but it leaves our collective future in jeopardy as these lessons are passed onto the young.

[egarrard]

Originally posted by Maniacmous
Call me an idealist if you like, I'm fine with that; even still, isn't the idea of every man being created equal (and by man, I include women as well)...isn't what MLK, and *****, and Gandhi, and many others...to treat all men as such? There can be no equal treatment until everyone truly sees themselves as equals, and there can be none of that until everyone stops the divisiveness. By all means, be proud of your heritage, it is the combination of all our heritages that make this country great...but please, don't let it become a stumbling block and a point of conflict, as that not only hurts you and I and our nation, but it leaves our collective future in jeopardy as these lessons are passed onto the young. Good man! :thumb

[wazman]

Originally posted by Maniacmous
Please do not take this the wrong way...as I am not a racist, or, more appropriately, a colorist, as we are all of the human race.

Something that I became acutely aware of as college approached, and now that I have gotten here, is the high level of separatism still prominent in this country, but as was said before, not so much on the part of whites as other minorities, and to some extent, women. Now please...before you get offended, allow me to explain.

I am a middle class white boy from rural Ohio, good grades in high school, and by all indications, with a bright future ahead of me, given sufficient work. I realized, however, when I went to fund my college experience, the extreme lack of scholarships for people such as myself. I mean, there are scholarships for almost any group you can come up with: blacks, hispanics, asians, even women have their own dedicated scholarships. Now while this is going on, there are no "white" scholarships, or no "men only" scholarships...because that'd be totally racist, or sexist or what have you.

I have no problem with anyone getting a college education, in fact, I believe everyone should have the opportunity to do so...but where is the equal chance to do that if people like myself cannot find the funding in order to go. It is like a reverse discrimination.

I'm sorry...but there is a huge flaw in that...America is a nation built upon its diversity. We have people from every culture, every background, specializing in just about every single thing humanly possible. Lately, however, it feels like everyone is using these differences to try and get their own chunk of money, life, whatever, instead of becoming a part of the society. A house divided cannot stand...and all that is happening is our people are dividing themselves based upon the smallest differences, instead of what makes us all the same, and this shouldn't stand.

Call me an idealist if you like, I'm fine with that; even still, isn't the idea of every man being created equal (and by man, I include women as well)...isn't what MLK, and *****, and Gandhi, and many others...to treat all men as such? There can be no equal treatment until everyone truly sees themselves as equals, and there can be none of that until everyone stops the divisiveness. By all means, be proud of your heritage, it is the combination of all our heritages that make this country great...but please, don't let it become a stumbling block and a point of conflict, as that not only hurts you and I and our nation, but it leaves our collective future in jeopardy as these lessons are passed onto the young.

Freakin' idealist.

No, no, I'm just kidding.

I agree 100%. It seems so simple - I don't understand why people have such hangups over this.

[ChKFlores]

Originally posted by Maniacmous
Call me an idealist if you like, I'm fine with that; even still, isn't the idea of every man being created equal (and by man, I include women as well)...isn't what MLK, and *****, and Gandhi, and many others...to treat all men as such? There can be no equal treatment until everyone truly sees themselves as equals, and there can be none of that until everyone stops the divisiveness. By all means, be proud of your heritage, it is the combination of all our heritages that make this country great...but please, don't let it become a stumbling block and a point of conflict, as that not only hurts you and I and our nation, but it leaves our collective future in jeopardy as these lessons are passed onto the young.

That doesn't sound idealistic to me. Christ Himself broke down racial barriers with the Samaritan woman. D*mn political correctness... :Mad

[lespaul50]

Being PC is racist.

[Maniacmous]

Originally posted by lespaul50
Being PC is racist.

And a complete waste of my time, uncouth and inappropriate as it may seem sometimes, we need more people to just speak the honest, blunt, truth.

[wazman]

Political correctness eally rubs my hide. You are what you are - change the things you don't like that you can change and accept the things that you can't change. Yeah, it's hard to change. Yeah, you may have to give things you really like up. Yeah, you might have to lose before you win. But you're not going to be somebody else no matter how hard you try.

Like me - I'm fat. I'm not "horizontally challenged". I'm overweight - fat. If I want to be thin, I'll lose weight. Sure, calling me fat hurts. But to think I'll be spared a few hurt feelings by calling me horizontally challenged, or whatever the PC word for it is, is asinine and insulting to me. I know I'm overweight. It's not like I can hide it. I'm also tall, wear glasses, and suffer from hypertension and depression.

This is the person I am, and this is who I'm going to be until the day I die, turn cold, and fade to dust. To pretend anything else is a waste of my time and energy. I've got too many good things in my life to futz around with being politically correct - I am what I am, and you are what you are. Deal with it and move on.

[Maniacmous]

Originally posted by wazman
Political correctness eally rubs my hide. You are what you are - change the things you don't like that you can change and accept the things that you can't change. Yeah, it's hard to change. Yeah, you may have to give things you really like up. Yeah, you might have to lose before you win. But you're not going to be somebody else no matter how hard you try.

Like me - I'm fat. I'm not "horizontally challenged". I'm overweight - fat. If I want to be thin, I'll lose weight. Sure, calling me fat hurts. But to think I'll be spared a few hurt feelings by calling me horizontally challenged, or whatever the PC word for it is, is asinine and insulting to me. I know I'm overweight. It's not like I can hide it. I'm also tall, wear glasses, and suffer from hypertension and depression.

This is the person I am, and this is who I'm going to be until the day I die, turn cold, and fade to dust. To pretend anything else is a waste of my time and energy. I've got too many good things in my life to futz around with being politically correct - I am what I am, and you are what you are. Deal with it and move on.

Well said my friend...we all have our flaws and issues: this is the crux of what makes us all human. I'm glad to see at least that you (and some others) have learned to come to grips with certain truths of life that the PC world is running from. :thumb

[bejohnson]

Originally posted by Maniacmous
And a complete waste of my time, uncouth and inappropriate as it may seem sometimes, we need more people to just speak the honest, blunt, truth.

How are you getting by in the PC world of higher education?

[Maniacmous]

Just fine...bucking the trends and the norms, like everywhere I go. I like to think of myself as a walking reality check, but more or less, I'm just an off-the-wall creative thinker that absolutely loves forcing people to think...and that I believe I'm doing in spades. College, aside from the extreme amounts of BS inherent in the system, is a good experience overall, and I thank you for asking. How've you been holding up Ed, with Brandi not around to keep you in check? :D

[bejohnson]

Originally posted by Maniacmous
Just fine...bucking the trends and the norms, like everywhere I go. I like to think of myself as a walking reality check, but more or less, I'm just an off-the-wall creative thinker that absolutely loves forcing people to think...and that I believe I'm doing in spades. College, aside from the extreme amounts of BS inherent in the system, is a good experience overall, and I thank you for asking. How've you been holding up Ed, with Brandi not around to keep you in check? :D

Careful, the next thing you people will be comparing you to me.:jawsdown

I'm keeping busy with her gone but I hope to see her next weekend in the Caribbean. I just talked with her a few moments ago; she's doing workups down there and doing a bit of drug interdiction just for practice.:) The crew has been doing drills virtually around the clock and she tries to get into port every 10 days or so for the crew to have a bit of liberty. I'm observing a troublesome output tube in my NTSC transmitter at the moment but I think I'm going to call it a night.