Posted on 03/16/2005 9:23:32 AM PST by The Loan Arranger
HADDONFIELD, N.J. -- A speech by a top New Jersey state official is causing an uproar at a local Catholic school. Some parents and students think the remarks were racist and incited racist activity among the students.
Paul VI High School is predominantly white. Now, the Diocese of Camden and the local police are investigating possible racial threats against some African-American students at the school.
It all started last week when New Jersey Secretary of State Regina Thomas went to the school and gave a speech on racial justice.
Many students, faculty and parents said the speech was very confrontational, unprofessional and disrespectful.
"You're watching your back every second because you're scared," said Kristen Minoh, an African-American student.
"(My friend) had a crumpled piece of paper in her locker that said, 'KKK all the way,'" said another African-American female student.
Students at the school said racial tensions skyrocketed after last Monday's speech. Flyers featuring Thomas' picture and the words "Civil Rights for All" and "Discrimination Ends Here," were circulated throughout the school.
"I got a kind of a threat on my phone, where somebody said, 'I didn't appreciate the assembly,' and 'It's not going to be me, but there's going to be big problems in the school,'" said Sescily Coney, an African-American student.
Many of the white students condemned the flyers but believed the secretary's speech sparked the backlash.
"We were basically, like, accused of being racist (by the secretary)," a white student said.
"The point where she had to raise her voice and speak to us in more of a less casual tone, I guess, I thought was pretty inappropriate," said Allie McCrindle, a white student.
Even faculty members were taken aback by what they called an overly confrontational and disrespectful approach.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbc10.com ...
The article quotes other speakers, but the speech that started the fire is missing. Is it really that bad?
Using the color of one's skin to gain an advantage is racism in it's quintessential form... and it's getting old!
She probably began her speech with: "I'm from the government. I'm here to help you."
"We were basically, like, accused of being racist (by the secretary)," a white student said.
White Americans are getting a little sick of having their children taught that whites are the root of all evil so that minority children can feel good about themselves.
You're seeing here the tiniest tip of the racial fire left wing blacks have been playing with. When you keep basing everything on skin color, racial history, and "racial justice" you set up the groundwork for the white majority to start using the same arguments. And if that happens you are in a racial fight with the overwhelming majority.
Race, as MLK understood, is a very dangerous basis for anything.
No stranger to New Jersey politics, Thomas has served in three election cycles in New Jersey: Corzine for Senate in 2000, McGreevey for Governor, 1997, and Torricelli for Senate in 1996. For 12 years, she worked for the National Rainbow Coalition and its founder, Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, during his historic bids for the presidency in 1984 and 1988.
Explains it all, create race-baiting where it does not exist; need to invite the Coz to speak here.
It's been on our local news. I thought at the time it was that bad. I just don't remember the content now.
My daughter is in Middle School. Every year at open house EVERY SINGLE poster, report, video, and powerpoint on display is about Rosa Parks, the black shuttle astronaut, and a host of other African Americans. Fifteen minutes from Philadelphia there is NEVER a project on Benjamin Framklin, Jefferson, Washington, etc.
We're not racist, and have no problem with studies in civil rights, but it's become a joke already. The kids know the focus on race is excessive. My daughter recently submitted what must be her tenth essay on Rosa Parks, for which she got an A. She has NEVER done an essay on Franklin or any great non-black historical figure. It's not an option.
I do not understand why parents do not get involved in this, and tell their school boards enough. Conservatives, traditionalists, and Christians need to learn from the left and exercise thier power in numbers - the squeeky wheel gets the oil; we need to start squeeky real loud folks.
"Evil White Men stole us from our wonderful African Utopia and dragged us in chains to America to work in bondage.
We built everything in this country for white people to live in but we get no share of it and live incruel poverty.
To keep us from claiming what we should own, because we built everything, white people terrorize us, lynch us, and cheat us whenever they get the chance.
And even if you have not personally done any of this, you are still guilty because you are a white person."
Did I get that right?
http://www.state.nj.us/state/secretary/bios/secbio.html
My mother always used to say: Tell me who your friends are, and I'll tell you who you are.
:(|)
Oh, and there was no mention of Colin Powell or Condileeza Rice. But they were confused about Carol Mosely Braun and Shirley Chisholm and which was the first AA woman senator and which was the first AA woman representative. My husband told them.
I have no problem studying the contributions blacks made in America, and their history, but we are not even teaching American history first.
(My friend) had a crumpled piece of paper in her locker that said, 'KKK all the way,'said another African-American female student.
Unforturately, many KKK reports are later shown to be generated by Blacks seeking attention or leverage.
Yes, go tell the liberal democrat machine school board. They'll call you a racist and be very offended by your appearance. No one wants to be called a racist, but look at the racism being fanned at the school in this article. The leftists are playing with racial fire. The proof that we are not a predominantly racist society (against blacks and other minorities at least) is that blacks and leftists are able to push all this stuff ad nauseum, and whites are AFRAID to complain. But, the racial basis they are establishing for things is like a gasoline waiting to explode. Because race is always a bad way to approach any society. Race wars are the ugliest, and they can split people who have been living together peacefully for generations. That should be an important lesson from African history.
You forgot, "and now you owe us"
She's a black democ-RAT. What else did they think she was going to talk about? Sheesh!
THis is sounds very similar to an incident that happened to me when I was in high school MANY years ago (1970). A professor from Ohio State came to speak to our suburban high school where the Black population (I use that term because that was the label of choice back then). He proceeded to say that he was not going to talk to any of the white students..that he was only talking to the Black students..and proceeded to look in the direction of the Black students only. He basically called all of us racists because we were white. Up to that point, most of us thought we got along well. OUr student body president, the son of head custodian in the school, was black; he dated a white girl without any backlash. We were stunned and hurt, and it caused problems for several months.
These adults come in with their own baggage and cause problems where few exist. I teach in a high school today and though prejudice will always exist among some, the VAST majority not only get along well but are friends!
Paul VI students still upset
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
High school to send letter to N.J. official over speech
By MATT KATZ
Courier-Post Staff
HADDON TWP.
Paul VI High School students tried to stage a walkout Tuesday to demand an apology from New Jersey Secretary of State Regena Thomas after her allegedly racist remarks in a speech here last week.
In a statement, the secretary, who is black, expressed "deep regret if anyone mistook my intentions." But she stopped short of apologizing.
Meanwhile, school officials will send a formal letter to Thomas telling her that faculty, students and administrators were offended by her "inappropriate" presentation, according to Andrew Watson, spokesman for the Camden Diocese, which operates the school.
"(They) perceived the presentation to be confrontational and disrespectful . . . in a sense that she was laying responsibility for racial injustice on them," Watson said.
There is no official transcript of the speech because Thomas speaks extemporaneously, her office said. But the freshmen and sophomores who attended the speech said the secretary yelled as she accused the school and students of being racist, and even used a slur against white people.
During the speech, faculty, followed by students, left in protest, students said.
Thomas' spokeswoman Regina Wilder denied Thomas said anything racist or used a slur in any context.
Wilder said Thomas, 47, spoke about her experiences growing up as a black woman without using inflammatory language. She was there on March 7 to present the school with a $3,000 Martin Luther King Commission V-Free grant to deal with violence, vandalism and victimization.ADVERTISEMENT - CLICK TO ENLARGE OR VISIT WEBSITE
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About noon on Tuesday, students said 30 to 50 juniors and seniors tried to walk out of the building but faculty locked the doors and stopped most of them. There were also posters plastered on school walls with an "x" on Thomas' picture.
In fact, Watson said a much smaller group of students left during a prayer service, held by the principal in response to the incident, and went outside to talk to the media.
In interviews, both black and white students said racism doesn't exist at the school. Some, however, said the controversy over the speech had caused tension.
Jessica Skorch, a senior, said she was not at the speech but could hear Thomas screaming from outside the room. She said she wanted Thomas to return to the school to explain her remarks.
"She's calling us racist?" Skorch asked. "She's completely racist."
Students emphasized that blacks and whites get along as friends, classmates and teammates at Paul VI.
"I've been to school for four years and there's never been an issue," said Lauren Craig, who is white. "It's a good school, it really is. And that's what we're worried about."
Black students interviewed agreed.
"The school is not racist at all," said Terence Reilly. "Everybody loves me."
Rashid Watson, a black sophomore from Camden who heard the speech, said although Thomas should apologize for offending people, he partially understood why she made the remarks.
"She was telling the truth about how her life is," he said.
The principal, Sister Marianne McCann, met with upperclassmen for more than an hour Tuesday to answer questions about the incident, Walton said. A letter about the incident was also sent home and should arrive today.
Other than that, life at Paul VI - including the junior prom Friday - will continue as normal, Walton said.
In her statement, Thomas said the purpose of the speech was to "impress upon the students the importance of diversity."
"It was never meant to be personal or critical of the students or school," she said. "Like you, I am disheartened by the way things turned out. I have prayed for resolution and understanding for all involved in this situation. . . . It saddens me that I could not reach (the students)."
Her spokeswoman, Wilder, said she would work with the school and parents to find a resolution. But she said she could not speak to students' requests for an apology and a return visit to the school.
As secretary of state, Thomas is charged with promoting and preserving the arts, history and culture of New Jersey. She makes regular speaking engagements at schools, often drawing from experiences growing up in Kentucky and struggling against discrimination.
Thomas was a star basketball player in high school and college who went on to become an important Democratic political operative specializing in getting the vote out in black neighborhoods. She was appointed to her current post in 2002.
Rodney Parish, a black freshman from Sicklerville, said the problem with the speech was "the way she phrased it all and put it together."
"She was just going back into the past," he said. "I've never had a race problem (at school). Everything is still cool. Everybody is still family."
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