Posted on 09/14/2002 1:39:33 AM PDT by Michael2001
ASHEBORO -- The Board of Education took no action Thursday on a request by the local NAACP to suspend all cheerleading after the chapter president complained that all of the students on the middle and high schools squads are white.
Wesley Fennell, the president of the Asheboro/Randolph County branch of the NAACP, asked the board to suspend cheerleading activities until a better way of selecting team members could be developed and implemented.
"The current selection process has resulted in the total elimination of African American cheerleaders from the Asheboro City Schools system," Fennell said.
The city schools have cheerleaders for sports teams at Asheboro High, and South Asheboro and North Asheboro middle schools, Fennell said. Total African American student enrollment in the system is 14.6 percent. Another 21.9 percent are Hispanic.
The board did not discuss Fennell's concerns and gave no indication of how it might handle them. Superintendent Diane Frost instead provided a copy of a letter she sent to Fennell on Aug. 30.
"Our goal is to provide a wide array of extracurricular activities for our students," Frost's letter stated. "We hope students will choose to participate in at least one school activity every year, because there is a strong correlation between participation and high student achievement.
"We encourage any student who is interested in cheerleading, or any other activity, to pursue it. We strive to have an inclusive process, and certainly encourage participation from all groups of students."
Fennell said he has also learned that no African Americans participated in selecting cheerleaders. He said that the college cheerleaders brought in to help judge high school tryouts come from predominantly white universities. He said the system should also bring in cheerleaders from historically black colleges.
"This could have served as an opportunity to expose this school system to potential future minority teachers, and to expose Asheboro school students to positive role models of all races," Fennell said.
Fennell complained that the $18 fee charged for Asheboro High School's Blue Comet Cheerleading Clinic to be held later this month could exclude low-income students from participating in cheerleading. The principal told him that no student would be excluded because of an inability to pay the fee, but Fennell said he was concerned that students who couldn't afford it would be too embarrassed to admit it.
"This certainly seems to contradict the concept of an inclusive process," he said.
Thanks for reminding me, in addition to all the $$$ I shelled out for middle school cheerleading, the medical bills we had when my daughter broke her collarbone at cheer camp in 8th grade.
Does the NAALCP want equality in broken collar bones?
Meyer, I think I'll go take a nap, too. The only thing a nap costs is time, and a bad dream on occasion. I'll take my chances!
And why does it come as no surprise that they're gleefully making up another story bashing Randolph County?
This is as much about the N&R as it is about the NAACP. Would a Freep on Market Street be in order? ;-)
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Basketball teams should be examined next.
Yes, we need some short Asians on college basketball teams.
Expand the cheerleading squad immediately by adding qualified Black and Hispanic students. Make the clinic free to all students. And add minority teachers to the committee that chooses the cheerleaders. Nuff said. It's fair, just do it.
My point exactly.
The NAACP should be doing something constructive, instead of destructive, like starting a community program for cheerleading instead of accusing people of racism.
Good point--I have a habit of viewing the likes of Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, Condi Rice, Ward Connerly, Clarence Thomas, Tiger Woods, Roy and Niger Innus et al, as Americans. Since the manner in which they conduct themselves doesn't force me to think of them in terms of skin color, I tend to see them simply as Americans doing extraordinary things and making lasting, positive contributions to our society.
Well, the NAACP certainly thinks it is an issue.
My guess would be that if the black community really cared that much about their girls cheerleading at the local schools, this would already be a moot point.
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