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Tuesday, July 26, 2011
So the word is that discrimination still lives strong in Arkansas, which was clearly showing when A young African American lady had the highest G.P.A. of her class and was not able to be sole valedictorian.
I was too confused on how the principle was just able to elect someone else to be valedictorian with Kymberly Wimberly when the other student did not have the same G.P.A. It's almost like a slap in the face because Kymberly Wimberly put in work in school and only received one B in high school while taking multiple honors advance placement courses and then these people are going to put someone at the same level as her and say that they deserve the same honor as her because it looks better?
"Wimberly says that despite earning the highest G.P.A. of the Class of 2011, and being informed of it by a school counselor, “school administrators and personnel treated two other white students as heir[s] apparent to the valedictorian and salutatorian spots."Wimberly’s mother is the school’s “certified media specialist.” She says in the federal discrimination complaint that after her daughter had been told she would be valedictorian, the mother heard “in the copy room that same day, other school personnel expressed concern that Wimberly’s status as valedictorian might cause a ‘big mess.’”
McGehee Secondary School is predominantly white, and 46 percent African-American, according to the complaint. Bratton says that the day after she heard the “big mess” comment, McGehee Principal Darrell Thompson, a defendant, told her “that he decided to name a white student as co-valedictorian,” although the white student had a lower G.P.A.
Bratton says she tried to protest the decision to the school board, but defendant Superintendent Thomas Gathen would not let her speak, because she allegedly had “filled out the wrong form. Instead of ‘public comments,’ Gather [sic] said Bratton should have asked for ‘public participation.’” The superintendent told her she could not appeal his decision until the June 28 school board meeting; graduation was May 13.
The last African-American valedictorian in McGehee School District was in 1989. Wimberly says the school discourages black students from taking honors and advanced placement classes, “by telling them, among other things, that the work was too hard.”
“Because of defendants’ continuous disparate treatment of African-American students, defendants’ actions toward the plaintiff can properly be classed as intentional,” the complaint states.“Defendants did not support African-American students, and did not want to see Wimberly, an African-American young mother as valedictorian.“But for Wimberly’s race, defendants would not have selected a student with a lower G.P.A. than Wimberly to also be a valedictorian.”
She seeks punitive damages for constitutional violations, and an injunction declaring her sole valedictorian of the school’s Class of 2011. She is represented by John Walker of Little Rock." (http://bossip.com/424003/arkansas-school-bars-black-student-from-being-valedictorian-despite-having-the-highest-gpa30346/)
SMH this story is crazy because it doesn't make any sense for Wimberly to be disrespected and ignored. I hope that she wins her case because than people can see that it is not ok to give someone else's credit to someone who does not deserve it.
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