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You are here: Home / Civil Rights / Racial Justice / Kiss My Black Ass / Arkansas High School Prevented Black Female Student From Being Valedictorian

Arkansas High School Prevented Black Female Student From Being Valedictorian

by Imani Gandy (ABL)|  July 25, 201111:11 pm| 92 Comments

This post is in: Kiss My Black Ass, Post-racial America, Looks Like I Picked the Wrong Week to Stop Sniffing Glue, Seriously

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Now THIS is some racist bullshit.

A high school in Arkansas would not permit a black female student with the highest GPA in her high school to be valedictorian of her graduating class, and appointed a white student with a lower GPA to serve as the black student’s co-valedictorian.

I wish I was kidding.   And yes, it is 2011.

When I first read this article, I figured it must be a joke.  I thought it was more life-imitates-The Onion theater.   It couldn’t possibly be serious, I thought, because: (a) it’s fucking ridiculous; (b) the high school is in Pine Bluff, which is less than an hour from Little Rock; and (c) the young woman’s name is Kimberly Wymberly (my apologies, you brilliant beautiful young woman, but I can’t let “Kimberly Wymberly” slide without comment.)

But nope! It’s not a joke.  It’s shameful and all involved should be fired.

Despite being told by school counselor’s that she had the highest GPA, Kimberly was not permitted to serve as valedictorian alone.  The girl’s mother claims to have overheard school personnel fretting about letting the Kimberly be the sole valedictorian for fear of causing “a big mess.”

That’s right. School personnel turned what would have been the proudest moment of Kimberly’s young life into sheer humiliation. And, to add insult to injury, when Kimberly’s mother showed up at a school board meeting to protest the decision, the school superintendent would not let her speak because she had filled out the wrong form — the ‘public comments” form instead of the “public participation” form.

Unfortunately, this is not a hoax:

A high school southeast of Little Rock would not let a black student be valedictorian though she had the highest grade-point average, and wouldn’t let her mom speak to the school board about it until graduation had passed, the graduate claims in Federal Court.

Kymberly Wimberly, 18, got only a single B in her 4 years at McGehee Secondary School, and loaded up on Honors and Advanced Placement classes. She had the highest G.P.A. and says the school’s refusal to let her be sole valedictorian was part of a pattern of discrimination against black students.

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.

[snip]

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.

(read the rest)

Do you see, white people?1 This is why we can’t have nice things.

1 ::blank stare::.* 2

2 You know why.

(h/t Nelly B.)

[via Think Progress]

[::tap tap:: ::ahem:: I will be adding another blogging gig to my roster.  As of last week, Joy-Ann Reid joined NBC News as Managing Editor of TheGrio.com and MSNBC contributor. And, much to my delight, she asked me to contribute because she’s awesome, (albeit slightly off her rocker, perhaps?)  So huzzah for me!  My inaugural post about the South Central Tea Party rally that I attended yesterday will be forthcoming, so stay tuned!  (Or don’t, for you crankypantses out there.)  –ABLxx]

[cross-posted at ABLC]
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Reader Interactions

92Comments

  1. 1.

    Linda Featheringill

    July 25, 2011 at 11:18 pm

    That is just mind-boggling. Can’t believe it.

    But it is in the federal court system, yes?

    What can the court do?

  2. 2.

    Mark S.

    July 25, 2011 at 11:20 pm

    My inaugural post about the South Central Tea Party rally that I attended yesterday

    Oh dear. That couldn’t have gone too well.

    But Congrats, ABL! That’s awesome!

    And you should follow this hillbilly principal’s example and delete the upcoming troll comments by Tim and Uncle by stating that they belong in the public participation forum, not the public comment one.

  3. 3.

    Cassidy

    July 25, 2011 at 11:21 pm

    But, but, but…you put up a picture of a fat, white guy and stated a brown skinned girl went “”rawr”. Both sides do it!

  4. 4.

    lacp

    July 25, 2011 at 11:21 pm

    The actions “could properly be classed as intentional?” Huh? What else could they conceivably be “properly” classed as? Jesus Christ.

  5. 5.

    rikyrah

    July 25, 2011 at 11:21 pm

    now this, is some RACIST ASS SHYT.

    and anyone trying to explain this away can go f-themselves.

    with you all the way, ABL.

    ps- PLEASE front page Walker of Wisconsin’s closing of DMV’s in DEMOCRATIC areas, right after they passed the VOTER ID VOTER SUPPRESSION LAWS.

  6. 6.

    Violet

    July 25, 2011 at 11:22 pm

    Wow. That poor girl.

  7. 7.

    Betsy

    July 25, 2011 at 11:23 pm

    ABL, you rock. I come here to read you, and you deliver, again and again.

    That young lady has one heck of a Section 1983 suit, and should be able to get some considerable punitive damages in addition to compensatory damages.

    The due process claim speaks for itself. Not even allowed to speak at a meeting, prior to the decision, because a nominally wrong form was filled out? each of these aspects just *piles on* the substantive due process issue.

    I will LOVE reading about the decisions on these claims. LOVE.

  8. 8.

    lol

    July 25, 2011 at 11:24 pm

    I thought electing a black president gave my trustafarian white ass a license to be “ironically” racist?

  9. 9.

    Joseph Nobles

    July 25, 2011 at 11:25 pm

    Down at the bottom of the article, it’s mentioned that Kimberly is a mother. Marital status is not mentioned.

    So, yeah, can’t have the knocked-up black chick be honored academically. What kind of message is that going to send? That you can have a baby and good grades, too? Can’t be doing that in white-ass Arkansas.

    *stomping around*

  10. 10.

    AAA Bonds

    July 25, 2011 at 11:27 pm

    The kid was probably a factor and that makes it even worse.

  11. 11.

    Shinobi

    July 25, 2011 at 11:27 pm

    There are no words. I hope that entire school board has to pay.

  12. 12.

    beltane

    July 25, 2011 at 11:27 pm

    This really is a banner week for white people behaving badly. I bet these racist school administrators are the same people who are perpetually up in arms about affirmative action.

    I’m really not understanding people any more.

  13. 13.

    malraux

    July 25, 2011 at 11:28 pm

    Just moved away from Little Rock and this doesn’t surprise me at all. Racism and the whole “well that’s the way we’ve always done things” attitude really drove me crazy.

  14. 14.

    Exurban Mom

    July 25, 2011 at 11:28 pm

    FSM on a stick. This story makes me want to hurt people.

    .

  15. 15.

    Dennis G.

    July 25, 2011 at 11:28 pm

    We live in a world filled with assholes. This story just pisses me off, but thanks for putting it up.

    And while I wish it was a rare example, we all know that it is typical. This story made “news” because the young woman was smart and fought back. One wonders how many were beaten down by the institutional racism of this school and the thousand more like it in every state in the union.

    Be well ABL and congrats on the new gig.

    Cheers

  16. 16.

    beltane

    July 25, 2011 at 11:29 pm

    @Joseph Nobles: She should have gotten herself a grifting contract like that paragon of intellect and virtue, Bristol Palin.

  17. 17.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    July 25, 2011 at 11:30 pm

    Well one day Arkansas will join the 21st Century, maybe in the year 2295.

  18. 18.

    Jimperson Zibb (formerly Duncan Dönitz, Otto Graf von Pfmidtnöchtler-Pízsmőgy, Mumphrey, et al.)

    July 25, 2011 at 11:31 pm

    I wonder how many white assholes who screech and yowl endlessly about how awful affirmative action is are going to find some way to justify this shit. The truth is that most white people really don’t have anything at all against affirmative action in itself; I mean, shit, George W. Bush was about the worst affirmative action hire in history, but a shitload of whites never had anything to say about that. It’s only when the people who get helped aren’t white that they begin bitching about it. I’m about ready to give up on this country altogether by now.

  19. 19.

    Darkrose

    July 25, 2011 at 11:31 pm

    This is awful, but…I keep thinking, “Somebody should have slapped her momma for naming that poor child Kymberly Wimberly.”

  20. 20.

    burnspbesq

    July 25, 2011 at 11:32 pm

    What’s the statute of limitations on 1983 claims? Could this kid zip through undergrad and law school and sit second chair when the case is litigated (don’t want her to do it pro se, because pro se litigants can’t get attorneys fees under 1988, and I want these idiots to pay and pay and pay).

  21. 21.

    Ed Marshall

    July 25, 2011 at 11:32 pm

    I just did a family reunion down in Mississippi County, Arkansas, and I hadn’t been in Arkansas since I was a kid. The first thing I noticed were the bumper stickers: The Second Amendment is the Equal Rights amendment stuck in my memory. I don’t remember ever seeing a bumper sticker in Northern Illinois about shooting your political opposition, but it seems like that is where you go with your bumper stickers down there.

    Part of the tour was going by the old school (which is still functioning) where my grandparents and family went. I look up and there is this bundle of wires that must have consisted of the entire electric needs of the building just wrapped up together with electrical tape and kind of shoved into a hole cut in the side of the building. They must not have building codes down there.

    This shit doesn’t shock me at all. My Aunt Polly (who is an extremely sweet, Pentecostal woman) informed me that her pastor had told her that Barack Obama was a Moooooslim, and that he was a man of God with the power of the pentecostal fire and that he wouldn’t lie. Furthermore, he was a nigger and she wasn’t voting for one of those either. They just need to nuke Arkansas from orbit, it’s the only way to be sure.

  22. 22.

    burnspbesq

    July 25, 2011 at 11:33 pm

    @Jimperson Zibb (formerly Duncan Dönitz, Otto Graf von Pfmidtnöchtler-Pízsmőgy, Mumphrey, et al.):

    But affirmative action hurt Clarence Thomas’ fee-fees and made him the bitter little man he is today.

  23. 23.

    Gus diZerega

    July 25, 2011 at 11:34 pm

    The only person I ever heard defend Southern slavery was a drunk Arkansas Republican, who said she thought we’d be better off if they still had it.

    More and more I wish they would secede, or that we could.

  24. 24.

    TaMara (BHF)

    July 25, 2011 at 11:34 pm

    Congratulations ABL! Exciting news. As for the rest of the racist bullshit…well I am a firm believer in truth will out and as we keep shining a light on the darkest corners, these racists will have fewer and fewer places to hide.

  25. 25.

    MomSense

    July 25, 2011 at 11:34 pm

    A terrible injustice. Inexcusable. I just don’t have strong enough words for this.

    Congratulations on thegrio and yes please do a story on the closing of DMVs in Democratic areas in Wisconsin.

  26. 26.

    burnspbesq

    July 25, 2011 at 11:36 pm

    @Jimperson Zibb (formerly Duncan Dönitz, Otto Graf von Pfmidtnöchtler-Pízsmőgy, Mumphrey, et al.):

    George W. Bush was about the worst affirmative action hire in history

    Umm, no. George W. Bush was (in Ann Richards’ memorable phrase) born on third base and thought he hit a triple, but under no definition of the term was he an affirmative action hire. What historic discrimination was remedied by him being set up in tha awl bidness in Midland?

  27. 27.

    Nick L

    July 25, 2011 at 11:37 pm

    And Ron Paul wants to deny her access to any federal courts. From the propagandistically-titled “We The People Act”:

    The Supreme Court of the United States and all other Federal courts–
    (1) are not prevented from determining the constitutionality of any Federal statute or administrative rule or procedure in considering any case arising under the Constitution of the United States; and
    (2) shall not issue any order, final judgment, or other ruling that appropriates or expends money, imposes taxes, or otherwise interferes with the legislative functions or administrative discretion of the several States and their subdivisions.”

    Seriously, fuck liberals who support Ron Paul.

  28. 28.

    lacp

    July 25, 2011 at 11:40 pm

    I hope this young woman wins a truckload of money, shakes the dust of Shitwater Creek or wherever-the-fuck-it-is from her shoes, and never looks back. Leave the noble white folks to traditional pursuits like inbreeding and blowing themselves up in meth labs.

    Am I being too harsh on white people? Oh, sorry….no, fuck that, I’m not sorry.

  29. 29.

    pkdz

    July 25, 2011 at 11:41 pm

    Picture of Obama and Ruby Bridges looking at the famous Rockwell painting: http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/photogallery/july-2011-photo-day

  30. 30.

    suzanne

    July 25, 2011 at 11:53 pm

    I think the fact that she has a baby was the icing on the cake.

    Racism always tastes better with some sexism on top!

    Jesus Hussein Christ.

  31. 31.

    MonkeyBoy

    July 25, 2011 at 11:54 pm

    I found the Court PDF (sort of) here. I was interested to see if co-valedictorians were usual for McGehee HS, but couldn’t find any info. One thing additional thing that doc says is

    Wimberly was out for three weeks of maternity leave during her fall semester of her junior year. She returned to school in time to take her semester exams and earned A’s in every class except for a “B” in English. She pulled her English grade back up to an “A” in the spring semester.

    Valedictorian fights can be quite nasty – so much so that many schools have adopted a multi-valedictorian approach.

    One nasty example was the Blair Hornstine case from 2003. I think she and her judge father won, but then later Harvard rescinded her admission because she plagiarized.

  32. 32.

    Jewish Steel

    July 25, 2011 at 11:57 pm

    @Joseph Nobles:

    Kimberly is a mother

    Ah, the light goes on. That must be their “big mess.”

  33. 33.

    PIGL

    July 26, 2011 at 12:01 am

    “when electricity came to Arkansas”

    Well, when it finally does come, we can apply the electrodes to the back teeth of these mouth-breathing, coon-hunting cousin-fcukers.

  34. 34.

    Dilford

    July 26, 2011 at 12:03 am

    Congrats on the Grio blogging gig (giglet? giglette? nah, gig) and thanks for posting this totally jaw-dropping story.
    Yr right, for most of the white readers this is a hard-to-believe story, but I’m pretty sure most of the black readers are a little less surprised. Would this have gotten any press attention, let alone wound up in the legal system (and I hope that school is judged fairly and harshly), if the mother of Miss Funny Name had not actually been in the school, hearing this bullshit discussed right in front of her?
    Can’t wait to read about yr tea party experience!

  35. 35.

    Dlb

    July 26, 2011 at 12:04 am

    This blatant discrimination and bulldozer over her rights as an American citizen and her rights as another human being has been turned over to the SPL. Good luck, mcGehee secondary school. I’m so disgusted I can’t even bring myself to capitalize your name.

    Signed,
    Congrats from TX, Ms. Kymberly Wimberly. Now show them what you got and kick a great future in their face.

  36. 36.

    ArchPundit

    July 26, 2011 at 12:05 am

    They sure avoided a big mess by naming a co-valedictorian didn’t they. Fail.

  37. 37.

    Throwin Stones

    July 26, 2011 at 12:07 am

    This is BullShit

  38. 38.

    PIGL

    July 26, 2011 at 12:11 am

    Dilford@34

    As one of the shocked white people (none whiter, few more shocked) I can say that I do not doubt the widespread existence of racism in North America. I simply imagined that the last 40 or 50yrs had discouraged its more overt and institutionally sanctioned expression. Obviously, this bunch of rednecks have not looked up from the football and/or cotton fields in some while.

  39. 39.

    freelancer

    July 26, 2011 at 12:13 am

    @Throwin Stones:

    This is BullShit

    In my head, I heard you say that with Lance Reddick’s voice.

    Agreed.

  40. 40.

    Mnemosyne

    July 26, 2011 at 12:14 am

    @pkdz:

    For some reason, this photo from the Flickr stream cracked me up, probably because I looked at that shirt and thought, “Yep, he’s from Hawaii, all right.”

  41. 41.

    Throwin Stones

    July 26, 2011 at 12:16 am

    @38 freelancer:

    might even be HorseShit

  42. 42.

    Citizen_X

    July 26, 2011 at 12:19 am

    What can the court do?

    Well, they damn sure can’t go back in time and let her give the valedictory address at her graduation. So here’s hoping she makes them pay.

    In happier news, congrats on the Grio thing, ABL!

  43. 43.

    Steeplejack

    July 26, 2011 at 12:22 am

    @burnspbesq:

    I believe that was Jim Hightower on the “born on third base” quote.

  44. 44.

    Cain

    July 26, 2011 at 12:27 am

    Wonderful news, ABL! Best of luck to you on your new gig! I’m very happy for you :-)

  45. 45.

    Carl Nyberg

    July 26, 2011 at 12:29 am

    What sort of legal advice is the school getting?

    I can picture some principal or superintendent making the initial mistake.

    But when it became clear the student and her family were contemplating litigation, didn’t the superintendent call a lawyer?

    What did the lawyer say?

  46. 46.

    PIGL

    July 26, 2011 at 12:31 am

    Carl Nyberg @ 44

    I can’t resist: “don’t trust your soul to no backwoods southern lawyer…”

  47. 47.

    Steve Gough

    July 26, 2011 at 12:33 am

    ABL, you rock.

    This all went down in McGehee, Arkansas, which is way down in the southeast corner, far from Little Rock, and in the hard core Delta, just across the river from Mississippi. These parts were over 60% black when the Civil War ended and are mind blowing bastions of racism to this day. I know, I went to high school in the next town to the west.

  48. 48.

    kwAwk

    July 26, 2011 at 12:35 am

    Congrats on the new gig ABL.

  49. 49.

    MonkeyBoy

    July 26, 2011 at 12:37 am

    I found this PDF student handbook for McGehee. In it is says:

    CLASS RANK
    __
    The determination of class rank will be:
    • Students will be ranked by grade point averages.
    • Grades from all four years of an accredited high school will be used; including Algebra I taken in the 8th grade.
    • The final senior ranking will be figured at the end of the school year.
    • If two or more students take the same or equivalent course work and receive the same grades of “A”, a student with a greater number of courses will not be penalized.
    __
    REQUIREMENTS FOR VALEDICTORIAN AND SALUTATORIAN
    __
    Students must be continuously enrolled at McGehee High School the last two semesters without transferring during this time to be considered in class ranking or eligible for valedictorian or salutatorian status.

    I see no plurals in here so I guess the rules say class rank #1 valedictorian and #2 = Salutatorian.

  50. 50.

    Marshal T

    July 26, 2011 at 12:57 am

    She needs to just roll on and forget about these grits.

    Seriously, America needs every valedictorian it can get. Put this woman’s brain to work somewhere they will actually appreciate it.

  51. 51.

    Marshal T

    July 26, 2011 at 12:57 am

    She needs to just roll on and forget about these grits.

    Seriously, America needs every valedictorian it can get. Put this woman’s brain to work somewhere they will actually appreciate it.

  52. 52.

    Felanius Kootea

    July 26, 2011 at 1:13 am

    Congratulations on the new gig ABL!

    I guess the idea of a black single mother being valedictorian sent a few officials at that school around the bend. Here’s hoping they pay.

  53. 53.

    RalfW

    July 26, 2011 at 1:27 am

    Did I end up in the wrong century? What the fuck happened to the last 40 years?

    Canada really does look good this time of life.

  54. 54.

    Karen

    July 26, 2011 at 1:29 am

    ABL

    Oh noez! Don’t you know, racism doesn’t exist according to a lot of Balloon Juicers!

    /snark

  55. 55.

    nastybrutishntall

    July 26, 2011 at 1:30 am

    Is this post-post-racial America or pre-post-racial America? My time machine has malfunctioned. I am lost.

  56. 56.

    Yutsano

    July 26, 2011 at 1:32 am

    @RalfW: You can marry a Canukistani you know. And you’re pretty much an instant citizen. What that does for your current boyfriend could get complicated.

  57. 57.

    Baron Jrod of Keeblershire

    July 26, 2011 at 1:50 am

    “Oh noez! This young black woman overcoming discrimination and hardship to become valedictorian doesn’t jive with our sacred ideals which hold that black people and women are simply inferior to white men. Panic! Why, after something like this happens we white men might actually have to improve ourselves and achieve things in order to feel good about ourselves! It can’t happen. OK, what if she was just co-valedictorian? Would that be enough to keep us dumb crackers from having to apply ourselves? Let’s try it.”

  58. 58.

    J. Michael Neal

    July 26, 2011 at 1:52 am

    Yutsano: That’s a decent idea. Unfortunately, my inability to date, let alone marry, an American doesn’t bode well for my chances of hooking up if I try a population one eighth the size.

    I do, however, think that all Canadians should consider it their moral duty to divorce each other and marry an American who wants to escape.

  59. 59.

    Yutsano

    July 26, 2011 at 1:54 am

    @J. Michael Neal: Oh my dear sir, we may need to introduce you to the concept of arranged marriage. It’s been around for thousands of years but doesn’t get used much anymore.

  60. 60.

    LanceThruster

    July 26, 2011 at 1:57 am

    If you remember the pics from Little Rock, the anti-desegregationists had faces apoplectic with hate as the Nat’l Guard escorted them in (at least a proud moment for the Guard). Nowadays, a new breed of coward gives in to that same level of hatred bubbling just beneath the surface, with the added rage that it can no longer be so blatantly out in the open like in the “good old days.”

    [HEAVY SIGH].

  61. 61.

    Jennifer

    July 26, 2011 at 2:14 am

    Glad to see Steve Gough @ 46 already corrected the geography error. McGeehee is indeed in the heart of white plantation/landowner, black sharecropper land. While Arkansas certainly is no paragon of enlightenment, things in that corner of the state are worse than in most areas (excepting Fort Smith, which is full of white teabagging serfs, and Benton County, full of Walton ass-kissers). When ABL reported this as something that happened in Pine Bluff, I was very surprised, because while racism is certainly alive and well there, this isn’t something I would expect to happen in Pine Bluff – it has a larger and much more empowered black community. Not so much in McGeehee, where pretty much everything is owned by the white folks while the black folks just have to live there. The legacy in that area is that first African Americans were slaves, then they were sharecroppers, then with the mechanization of farming in the 50’s & 60’s, they were just poor and unemployed. And the whites in the area made sure that they never had access to schools good enough to teach them how to do anything other than work for cheap on the farms, so when that happened, there was nowhere for them to go and no way to improve their lot. And the whole region is still paying for that to this day. Just another example of stupid white head-up-the-ass syndrome.

  62. 62.

    Ash Can

    July 26, 2011 at 5:10 am

    Gah. Thanks so much for posting on this, ABL, painful as it is. And congrats on the new gig!

  63. 63.

    Triassic Sands

    July 26, 2011 at 5:27 am

    Requiring a white student to have the highest GPA in order to be named valedictorian is flat out racism. The title valedictorian should be given to the white student who is most popular. I don’t know what the world is coming to when being a good student is made a requirement for being named valedictorian. Ronald Reagan wouldn’t stand for crap like that and it’s heartening to see the good administrators of Pine Bluff, Arkansas standing up for meaningless standards.

  64. 64.

    Johannes

    July 26, 2011 at 6:23 am

    Congrats on the new gig, ABL. And thanks for this story, even though starting the day with rage isn’t good for one…

  65. 65.

    EconWatcher

    July 26, 2011 at 7:01 am

    If this happened, it’s completely outrageous. But these are allegations by a plaintiff in a civil complaint. They may or may not be true. We weren’t there, we don’t know the people involved, so we don’t know yet.

  66. 66.

    jpe

    July 26, 2011 at 7:30 am

    What EconWatcher said. If true, it’s insane and the school should get pwned in court. That said, it is a plaintiff’s complaint, so we don’t know for certain that it’s true. It wouldn’t surprise me if it were, but one can’t take complaints as gospel.

  67. 67.

    PurpleGirl

    July 26, 2011 at 8:35 am

    burnspbesq @ 26: George W. Bush got into Yale and then Harvard as a Legacy. One definition of “Legacy” is affirmative action for rich, dumb white boys. GWB fits that to a T.

  68. 68.

    Jon Marcus

    July 26, 2011 at 8:51 am

    This sounds f-ing insane. If the facts are as described, I hope they roast the board & administration.

    That said, there may be a couple of caveats: The superintendent is black. (And he’s the one who wouldn’t let the mother speak.) Plus I think the mother works in the school?

    So I wonder if there could’ve been other issues than racism involved. (Personal animus? Or maybe sexism: The “old boys club” unhappy to the daughter of “that uppity woman” getting to be valedictorian?)

  69. 69.

    RalfW

    July 26, 2011 at 9:21 am

    Relatedly, this AP story: Census data show wealth of whites is 20 times that of blacks, widest US gap in quarter-century

    http://www.startribune.com/nation/126155148.html

  70. 70.

    Sasha

    July 26, 2011 at 9:28 am

    The hard bigotry of high expectations.

  71. 71.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    July 26, 2011 at 9:54 am

    @Carl Nyberg:

    What sort of legal advice is the school getting?

    Very poor at the time, obviously. One would hope that the school district had counsel who understands section 1983 liability, but in fairness to said counsel, these dumbfucks may actually have been too stupid to seek legal advice before making the decision to lighten the median melanin load of the valedictorian slot.

    Absolutely horrifying. And as stated, this is one we know about only because the victim could know of the details and fought back.

  72. 72.

    daveNYC

    July 26, 2011 at 10:15 am

    Seriously, America needs every valedictorian it can get.

    Well technically every high school will produce a valedictorian, doesn’t mean that they’ll be worth a damn.

  73. 73.

    ET

    July 26, 2011 at 10:15 am

    Hell, now that everyone knows the story don’t think that the student who got the gig in Kimberly’s place doesn’t know they were second best and only got the gig by default.

    So to avoid one mess they created another. Right. Guess they would prefer to be considered bigoted than listen to some mutter about how she only got it because she was black.

  74. 74.

    Paul in KY

    July 26, 2011 at 10:23 am

    Sad for the young lady. Hope she gets some satisfaction.

    Kudos on your Grio gig, ABL!

  75. 75.

    John M

    July 26, 2011 at 10:24 am

    To echo some of the last few comments, this is a complaint. These are allegations, not facts. This is one side of the story. If the allegations are true, this is repugnant. On the other hand, absent any public response from the school, it’s hard to know, at this early point in the litigation, exactly what happened. Anyone who has practiced law, including ABL, knows or should know that the allegations of a Complaint often do not hold up to closer scrutiny.

    It’s not hard to come up with alternative explanations. It’s quite possible that there is some confusion about how GPA is calculated, i.e., perhaps there was some dispute about whether a particular grade is to be weighted, and so on. Also, as the Complaint notes, the superintendent, who is one of the individual capacity defendants and was the final decisionmaker according to the Complaint, is African-American. I suppose, as the Complaint intimates, he could be nothing but a toady for a virulently racist school board, but why would a racist school board hire a black superintendent? Again, I’m not saying that the presence of a black superintendent means that the decision couldn’t have been racially motivated. But it at least should be in the mix, right?

    These are serious allegations, and I hope ABL will continue to update us on the litigation as it progresses, but it’s far from clear what happened.

  76. 76.

    Nick L

    July 26, 2011 at 10:56 am

    @ John M

    The “Gathen is black, therefore a high school couldn’t possibly be racist” defense is pretty silly, since being a superintendent he’s at least somewhat of a politician and probably doesn’t want a racist shitstorm on his hands. Actually, this whole thing seems political, designed to placate racist parents rather than reflect racist administration. I know, I know, that’s a shitty distinction, but it’s good to realize where the problem is.

    Not that your overall point isn’t correct – we should refrain from casting a final judgment. But I find it hard to believe that someone would sue without actually having the highest GPA – if the rules are so convoluted that “there is some confusion about how GPA is calculated,” that itself is a problem. Besides, the majority of American public high schools rank their students – if a federal court hears her case, she probably has a transcript that says “1 of [whatever].”

    But, having grown up in Oklahoma, I find it awfully plausible that white people in Obama-era Arkansas might throw a fit at a graduation with a black valedictorian. What if some jackass shouted “affirmative action” during her valediction? It wouldn’t have happened in 1989, and probably not under the Bush years, but America’s Inner Racist really shone through during the Clinton years and definitely Obama’s first term.

  77. 77.

    Rick Massimo

    July 26, 2011 at 11:21 am

    McGehee Secondary School is predominantly white, and 46 percent African-American, according to the complaint.

    That means they’re 54 percent white at most. That’s not “predominantly.”

  78. 78.

    John M

    July 26, 2011 at 11:32 am

    Yes, the “Gathen is black, therefore a high school couldn’t possibly be racist” is silly. That’s why I didn’t assert that defense, nor did I claim the superintendent’s race is decisive of the case. Still, it is relevant, right? Sure, superintendents are and have to be politicians. But it would take a very screwed up person to, despite being African-American, give in to the racist hordes and deny a black student her rightful place at the top of the class if it were clear that it was her objective entitlement (it would be screwed up if he were white, too, but easier to believe).

    Also, your final paragraph suggests that you may have missed a detail of the story. She was not demoted from being valedictorian. She remained one of two valedictorians, and according to one account that I read did give the customary speech at graduation. I still think she has been harmed if indeed this was a race-based decision. But she was a “black valedictorian.” Just not the only one.

    If you find it hard to believe that someone would sue absent good evidence, then you should come work in my office sometime. Be prepared to be surprised at the unsupportable nonsense that people put in complaints.

    As for the GPA issue, here’s what jumps out at me in the complaint. The guidance counselor calculated the final GPAs and told the mother, her co-worker, that her daughter was the valedictorian. I would guess that is not the usual protocol. I can’t imagine that the guidance counselor is the person who certifies the valedictorian. Perhaps the rules aren’t convoluted at all. Perhaps she made a simple miscalculation. I don’t know. I’m playing devil’s advocate. I don’t disbelieve the student, but I think it’s way premature to demonize the school, the community, and the state when only those involved, and perhaps not even they, know exactly what happened.

  79. 79.

    ed drone

    July 26, 2011 at 11:46 am

    Is this post-post-racial America or pre-post-racial America? My time machine has will have malfunctioned. I am lost.

    FixED

  80. 80.

    debg

    July 26, 2011 at 11:49 am

    I saw this last night on Courthouse News and was hoping you’d pick up on it, ABL. Thanks for pushing it, and congrats on your new gig.

    This young woman’s story makes me mad enough to spit.

  81. 81.

    daveNYC

    July 26, 2011 at 12:10 pm

    I suppose, as the Complaint intimates, he could be nothing but a toady for a virulently racist school board, but why would a racist school board hire a black superintendent?

    Because Michael Steele was available?

    Thanks folks, I’ll be here all week. Tip your waitress and try the veal.

  82. 82.

    JR

    July 26, 2011 at 12:54 pm

    Here’s another kind of education story, no racism but rural sadness all over it.

    Over in the county seat, in the only “city” [pop. > 1100, barely!] in the county [pop > 20000], teachers got to work at that location via political swing as opposed to ability. The local district HS, really rural, always posted how many hundreds of thousands of dollars were won by their students in academic scholarships.

    In the politically defined school, the valedictorian went to college, and had to take remedial English and Math! Front page story at the time.

    Since then the state board took over the local county board, appointed a professional super, as opposed to politically connected, and things aren’t quite so bad, I don’t think.

    But honestly, isn’t it sadder for a valedictorian to need remedial college classes than for school administrators to mess up graduation honors?

    Not that my heart doesn’t bleed for the woman in the story, who worked really hard and deserves a scholarship to a real college, somewhere this kind of thing doesn’t happen.

  83. 83.

    Bobby D

    July 26, 2011 at 1:06 pm

    We had a similar deal when I graduated…not with race, but with the two highest GPA people not being named Valedictorian, the #3 person was named.

    My experience was due to AP classes not having weighted grades they just counted like a normal class, and the two who had the higest GPAs hadn’t taken any AP classes, while #3-11 (I was #8, so I remember this all pretty well) all took every AP offering available at the school.

    I think most schools, even back then, gave a weighting to AP classes, but not mine. So there was a little grumbling from the “top 2”, mainly their parents, but even college admissions told the tale…with 1&2 going to some no-name third tier regional schools and the one chosen Val went to Dartmouth or Stanford IIRC.

  84. 84.

    Arclite

    July 26, 2011 at 3:05 pm

    Googling this story shows that this was the biggest site to pick the story up. Thanks for that.

  85. 85.

    cooptimo

    July 26, 2011 at 3:53 pm

    I think I have to go with the “wait and see” crowd. It is entirely possible that the this young woman was the victim of a group of bigots who don’t deserve the slightest bit of mercy. But….. I work in a high school. I have seen wonderful caring parents who do whats best for their kids and I have seen parents that completely lose their minds, dignity and sense over trivial matters. It’s almost certainly more complicated than it seems and only after things get fully investigated should we draw conclusions. Like others have said the business of weighting GPA and arguments about what counts as a grade sometimes make things less than clear. There could be other factors as well. Let the system play out. Not that the system is perfect mind you, but the light of day is a beautiful thing.

  86. 86.

    4jkb4ia

    July 26, 2011 at 4:11 pm

    @86: Cheer.

  87. 87.

    4jkb4ia

    July 26, 2011 at 4:14 pm

    Congratulations, ABL, on the new gig.
    This is an awful story. I can imagine how proud the St. Louis American would have been of her had she been allowed to speak.

  88. 88.

    Original Lee

    July 26, 2011 at 8:08 pm

    This poor girl. I hope this lawsuit is at least partly her idea and not her mom going all Tiger on the school system.

    I thought the principal of the school is the one who has final say on the valedictorian slot, though. The superintendent usually doesn’t have the ability to interfere in those decisions.

    Valedictorian fights can be really ugly. My alma mater no longer has the valedictorian speak because things have been so ugly in the past. My year was especially bad because the salutatorian pitched a fit about a class he had gotten a D in back in the fall semester. (He had failed the one and only test the teacher gave the first marking period through being hung over but didn’t protest it until it was obvious he wasn’t going to be valedictorian.) So now the School Board invites a local luminary to give a speech (a whole ‘nother ball of ugly, but at least it involves alleged grownups).

  89. 89.

    Death Panel Truck

    July 27, 2011 at 4:28 am

    my apologies, you brilliant beautiful young woman, but I can’t let “Kimberly Wymberly” slide without comment

    I can, because it has fuck-all to do with the substance of the story. Just because the fruit hangs low doesn’t mean you should be assholish enough to whack at it.

  90. 90.

    bradley irvin

    August 1, 2011 at 4:51 pm

    first of all this is not a white black thing, it is the black girl agaist the school board. the young white lady didnt have anything to do with writing the handbook.by the way is it mentioned the the superintendent of mcgehee high school is black and he is behing the rules layed out in the handbook. get a grip, yall got obama

Comments are closed.

Trackbacks

  1. Links, 7/26/11 | emptywheel says:
    July 26, 2011 at 4:02 pm

    […] though they distrusted me, I ultimately got to accept the honor. Not so Kymberly Wimberly, (h/t ABL) an 18 year old black woman in Alabama who had the best GPA in her class, but nevertheless was […]

  2. No, It Hasn’t Gone Away « From Pine View Farm says:
    July 27, 2011 at 10:08 am

    […] But they didn’t go as far as an Arkansas school district did just this spring. They gave the award to those who earned it; within a couple of years, a black girl earned valedictorian (in fact, I think she may have been in my brother’s class): A high school in Arkansas would not permit a black female student with the highest GPA in her high s… […]

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