The year he became Superintendent of the district (and as C.E.O. of North Central High School at the same time), I was hired to teach there. He came for a visit one day to address the students. His message was quite clear, that it was mainly the african-american students that were getting into trouble, had lower grades, and generally needed to take advantage of what the school was offering, an opportunity to succeed in life.
His address was not a matter of simple, idle comments and threats. Everything he said was backed by statistics gathered from test scores, discipline reports, and attendance records. He was armed with real information.
It has been several years since I was on staff there, so I do not know if his message has been received, but I do know that we need more administrators like Dr. White. He is not afraid to speak the truth, and not afraid to let the facts speak for themselves.
Unfortunately, if a white superintendent had made the same comments regardless of the facts, he would no longer have a job and would have been labeled a racist.