Posted on 09/01/2003 5:28:28 PM PDT by Paul Atreides
Small bits of 'culture shock'
Black students at mostly white Grissom see some ignorance
'I'm supposed to be a thug or a rapper,' minority grad says
09/01/03
By CHALLEN STEPHENS Times Staff Writer, challens@htimes.com
Kofi Gyasi will make a bet with himself while wading through the hallways at Grissom High School: I will see 20 faces before I see another black student.
He usually wins the bet.
"I'm like, 'This is a pretty segregated school,'" Kofi said. "This is a pretty white school."
Odds are he should pass 25 other students first. That's because Grissom had only 71 black students out of 1,838 last spring.
The math works out to about one black student per class. Most rarely encounter a black teacher, said several black students there who spoke to The Times last spring.
"I think (race) comes up a whole lot," said Stacey Brown, who graduated from Grissom in May. "Sometimes in a way just because of ignorance."
The awkward questions: Can you swim? Is that grease in your hair? Aren't you good at basketball? Is that a weave?
"I'm supposed to be a thug or a rapper," said Jarren Humphrey, who also graduated in May.
"They say, 'I don't mean to be offensive, but you're quiet,'" Stacey said. "'I didn't know black people could be quiet.'"
"They think I'm all black and stupid and thuggish," Mallory Schultz said. "Then they're like, 'Oh my God, she's smart.' Anybody can get good grades."
Some black students, such as Stacey, said they are emissaries, educating the isolated. Many praise the academic standards at Grissom. They say racism isn't a big problem. But there are slips. All were offended in February.
That's when a student used the school intercom to introduce a lunch menu as fitting for Black History Month. Fried chicken. Mashed potatoes. The student called it soul food.
"Then another student yelled out about the watermelon," Brian Harrold said. "This school is hell."
Few spoke as strongly as Brian. But none recalled any other commemoration of Black History Month.
"One (white student) asked me, 'Why do we get a month?'" Jarren said. "Somebody who hasn't been around whites would come here, and it's a culture shock."
Stacey said she patiently answered the odd questions about her hair. "I just go on and tell them. They get this wow look on their face."
Mallory said she gets along with everyone. Jarren said he slowly became the favorite of many white parents.
Still, it can be awkward, Jarren said. Talk properly and your white friends joke you're more white than they are. Have white friends and your black friends call you a sellout.
At Grissom last year, many black students ate at a separate table at lunch.
Most know each other. When a new black student arrives, some feel obliged to take him or her under wing. About half of the black students at Grissom transferred from another city school, Principal Tom Drake said.
Each black student interviewed knew someone who transferred to Grissom and quickly left. For some, the work was too hard, they said. Some were harassed, ended up in fist fights spurred by racism, they said.
Grissom "is a good school academically," Kofi said, "but it could probably improve more in diversity."
Kofi said he watched three black students join his homeroom and transfer out last year.
"I know this one guy who couldn't stand all the white teachers," Mallory said.
Grissom has 119 teachers. Five are black.
It would be better to have more black teachers than more black students at Grissom, Jarren said, because white students need to see black authority figures. Stacey disagreed. "Sometimes you are more influenced by your peers," she said.
Jarren's brother went to racially mixed Butler High School and hung out with black friends. "I hate to say it, but they changed him," he said. Jarren said his brother fell into a comfort zone where getting in trouble was accepted.
"I don't like to say it, but the education at Grissom or Huntsville High is better than Johnson," Jarren said.
Jarren's sister told him he should attend a historically black college to learn more about himself. At Grissom, Jarren said he had one black teacher in four years. Kofi said he had one in his first three years. Kofi said white students still ask why he doesn't swear or rap.
"If it was a better balance, that would be good," Jarren said. "I have maybe one class with another black person."
And in the meantime, find a mostly black school and see what the few whites there have to say. But that won't happen and we all know why.
I visited Grissom High School earlier this year. On its walls were posters that even Lennin and Mao would praise:They said: "The government requires you to get a license to drive, isn't it about time that it required you to get a license to have children"
Welcome to public school in America today, where commies get to use your tax dollars to teach marxism to your children.
That is a racist statement. Unless a teacher is harassing a student, it should not matter what that teacher's race is, as long as the teacher is doing the job.
Watch BET and get back to me!
As opposed to the black kids, who are absolutely incapable of ignorance in any form. /sarcasm
"I know this one guy who couldn't stand all the white teachers," Mallory said.
Sounds like you've got some ignorance issues to deal with yourself, chief.
It does no good for their image when the likes of Jesse Jackson want tests dumbed down, claiming that they can't keep up with white students.
But don't worry. Later in life, you can blame all of your life's problems on white people and they'll get blackballed and fired from their jobs for openly disagreeing. If you're black, it's okay to be racist.
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