hipstervader:

jonathan-cunningham:

Wimberly’s mother is the school’s “certified media specialist.” She says in the federal discrimination complaint that after her daughter had been told she would be valedictorian, the mother heard “in the copy room that same day, other school personnel expressed concern that Wimberly’s status as valedictorian might cause a ‘big mess.’”

McGehee Secondary School is predominantly white, and 46 percent African-American, according to the complaint. Bratton says that the day after she heard the “big mess” comment, McGehee Principal Darrell Thompson, a defendant, told her “that he decided to name a white student as co-valedictorian,” although the white student had a lower G.P.A.

Bratton says she tried to protest the decision to the school board, but defendant Superintendent Thomas Gathen would not let her speak, because she allegedly had “filled out the wrong form. Instead of ‘public comments,’ Gather [sic] said Bratton should have asked for ‘public participation.’” The superintendent told her she could not appeal his decision until the June 28 school board meeting; graduation was May 13.

(The superintendent’s name is spelled Gathen in the heading of the complaint, but is spelled Gather throughout the body of it.)

The last African-American valedictorian in McGehee School District was in 1989. Wimberly says the school discourages black students from taking honors and advanced placement classes, “by telling them, among other things, that the work was too hard.”

I hope she wins the lawsuit, but just the fact that the people in the school system thought it was okay to deprive this girl of recognition for her achievements simply because members of the community wouldn’t approve is absolutely mind-blowing. There should be an investigation and everyone with even a remote connection to this type of ‘good ‘ole boy’ system should be fired immediately. 

I find this entire matter a bit childish. This simply a lawsuit over bragging rights. Most colleges don’t look at class rank, but only at the GPA. But the GPA isn’t the complete focus. There’s also the essay, extracurricular activities, teacher recommendations, and so forth. In truth, if one fast forwards to about 5 years, no one is even going to remember who was valedictorian. I regard the title as pure bragging rights that last throughout high school. Sure, most high schools require that person to give the graduation speech which, I admit, is an honor, but no one will remember that either. No company will care if their applicant had the highest GPA in high school because it all comes down to their reliability as  an employee and how they performed in college. I love how this article doesn’t even mention the GPAs of both students. It could be quite possible that the girl’s GPA was, for example, a 3.98, and the other’s a 3.975 or what have you.

Would that make it okay, if it were true? You’re taking a clear-cut case of racism and pretending it doesn’t matter to anyone because it doesn’t matter to you. She worked her ass off to have the highest GPA and someone taking that away for no other reason than the color of her skin is inexcusably evil.

(via storiesofphilipp)