This Just In: Something Racist Happens in the South

#1

This Just In: Something Racist Happens in the South

Posted: 7/27/11 at 1:01pm

"A black Arkansas teen who graduated top of her class is suing her high school for racial discrimination after the principal decided to name a white student with a lower GPA as co-valedictorian."


Woman Denied Sole Valedictorian Status Because of Race, Lawsuit Says

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"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."

#2

This Just In: Something Racist Happens in the South

Posted: 7/27/11 at 1:04pm

Saw this a few days ago and showed it to my class yesterday. And how ironic is it that the girl's mother is the school's "media specialist"?

What I'm wondering is: If the white student who was named co-valedictorian allegedly agrees with Kymberly, why didn't she refuse the honor.

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"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe." -John Guare, Landscape of the Body

#3

This Just In: Something Racist Happens in the South

Posted: 7/27/11 at 1:12pm

Her name is Kymberly Wimberly. She may have more than this decision as reason to be so angry wangry.

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Art has a double face, of expression and illusion.

Updated On: 7/27/11 at 01:12 PM

#4

This Just In: Something Racist Happens in the South

Posted: 7/27/11 at 1:12pm

I agree, AC. If I were the "runner-up," there's no way I'd accept such a made-up honor.

On a silly side note: her name is actually Kymberly Wimberly?

#5

This Just In: Something Racist Happens in the South

Posted: 7/27/11 at 1:14pm

Her parents obviously hate her. Hasn't she suffered enough?

#6

This Just In: Something Racist Happens in the South

Posted: 7/27/11 at 1:27pm

LOL...Kyberly Wimberly!!!

Is she related to Milli Vanilli?

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"Carson has combined his passion for helping children with his love for one of Cincinnati's favorite past times - cornhole - to create a unique and exciting event perfect for a corporate outing, entertaining clients or family fun."

"In Oz, the verb is douchifizzation." PRS

#7

This Just In: Something Racist Happens in the South

Posted: 7/27/11 at 1:31pm

She works part-time at the Piggly Wiggly.

#8

This Just In: Something Racist Happens in the South

Posted: 7/27/11 at 1:34pm

And is she gay for pay?

#9

This Just In: Something Racist Happens in the South

Posted: 7/27/11 at 1:43pm

Marcy Darcy is outraged...

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"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg." -- Thomas Jefferson

#10

This Just In: Something Racist Happens in the South

Posted: 7/27/11 at 1:47pm

She's a real shady lady.

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"Carson has combined his passion for helping children with his love for one of Cincinnati's favorite past times - cornhole - to create a unique and exciting event perfect for a corporate outing, entertaining clients or family fun."

"In Oz, the verb is douchifizzation." PRS

#11

This Just In: Something Racist Happens in the South

Posted: 7/27/11 at 1:49pm

And gay not just for pay for for every day and in every way.

Updated On: 7/27/11 at 01:49 PM

#12

This Just In: Something Racist Happens in the South

Posted: 7/27/11 at 1:49pm

"managed to maintain the top GPA, even though she gave birth to a daughter during her junior year"

I'm sure this shouldn't bother me - I'm sure of it! - but it does. A lot.

#13

This Just In: Something Racist Happens in the South

Posted: 7/27/11 at 1:51pm

My thought was the fact that she was a mother was probably as much of a factor in this mess as her race is.

#14

This Just In: Something Racist Happens in the South

Posted: 7/27/11 at 1:53pm

sure of it.

#15

This Just In: Something Racist Happens in the South

Posted: 7/27/11 at 4:28pm

How does a school name a valedictorian? Isn't it the person with the highest GPA? There shouldn't be grounds for arguing. Second highest GPA is the salutatorian.

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Pretty pretty please don't you ever ever feel like you're less than f**ckin' perfect!

#16

This Just In: Something Racist Happens in the South

Posted: 7/27/11 at 4:57pm

::And how ironic is it that the girl's mother is the school's "media specialist"?::


I am curious, too. In what way is that ironic?

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Twitter @NamoInExile Instagram none

#17

This Just In: Something Racist Happens in the South

Posted: 7/27/11 at 5:03pm

Isn't a media specialist what we used to call the librarian?

#18

This Just In: Something Racist Happens in the South

Posted: 7/27/11 at 5:36pm

Yes, the switch to calling them Media Specialists was made to reflect the fact that most are in charge of information technology (and teaching students how to use it) as well as books.

I'm not sure where the irony is.

"My thought was the fact that she was a mother was probably as much of a factor in this mess as her race is."

Agreed, I wouldn't be surprised if the "big mess" the administration was worried about was the possible bad press from having a teenager with a child as the valedictorian.

#19

This Just In: Something Racist Happens in the South

Posted: 7/27/11 at 5:43pm

"I wouldn't be surprised if the "big mess" the administration was worried about was the possible bad press from having a teenager with a child as the valedictorian"

Then the school should have done a better job educating their students.

JG2- Many schools now rank students not just on GPA, but also based on the classes they take. If one student has a 3.9 and took 4 AP classes, and another student gets a 4.0 but they took no AP classes, the first student is ranked higher. There has been a lot of arguments about this recently all over the country.

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David walked into the valley With a stone clutched in his hand He was only a boy But he knew someone must take a stand There will always be a valley Always mountains one must scale There will always be perilous waters Which someone must sail -Into the Fire Scarlet Pimpernel

#20

This Just In: Something Racist Happens in the South

Posted: 7/27/11 at 5:55pm

I'm a total idiot. I had no idea that "media specialist" meant "librarian." I thought it meant someone who deals with the media.

At the university where I teach, we still call them librarians.

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"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe." -John Guare, Landscape of the Body

#21

This Just In: Something Racist Happens in the South

Posted: 7/27/11 at 6:29pm

"media specialist" is typically librarian without the degree

My alma mater's School of Library Science has been rechristened as School of Information

#22

This Just In: Something Racist Happens in the South

Posted: 7/27/11 at 6:45pm

"'media specialist' is typically librarian without the degree"

No, they're not. Media Specialist has become the accepted title for school librarians, many of whom have a Masters in library and/or information science. I can't attest to the standards for all school systems, but I initially went to library school intending to be a media specialist, the designation has nothing to do with whether one has a degree.

#23

This Just In: Something Racist Happens in the South

Posted: 7/27/11 at 6:50pm

gotta have a teaching cert AND a library degree to be a k-12 school librarian in my neck of the woods

#24

This Just In: Something Racist Happens in the South

Posted: 7/27/11 at 6:51pm

Yoda, is there a distinction in the kind of education one receives in Library School that sets apart Media Specialists, or is the term just synonymous?

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"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe." -John Guare, Landscape of the Body

#25

This Just In: Something Racist Happens in the South

Posted: 7/27/11 at 7:15pm

It all depends on the program and often the requirements in that state, but many library science programs have a school libraries/media specialist concentration. The one I attended required classes in children's and young adult literature, school library management, media integration, administration of resources, etc.

Really Media Specialist is just a title, they're still school librarians. The professors I had felt that school librarian didn't fully cover the wide variety of things media specialists do.