History Lesson Used Black Students as Slaves

By: EURweb.com

Parents and teachers at a North Carolina school are protesting a history lesson in which African-American students visiting a plantation with their class were told to pretend they were slaves as their white classmates looked on. 

 

History Lesson Used Black Students as Slaves....    

Obama's Speech Had Biggest Lesson for Black Boys

By: Tonyaa Weathersbee

I hope that the black boys who heard President Barack Obama urge students to make the most of their education yesterday caught the other lesson that was unfolding all around them.

That lesson is also instructive – and it’s one that they can ill afford to miss.

Obama's Speech Had Biggest Lesson for Black Boys....

THREATS UNNERVE BLACK STUDENTS AT NIU

Members of the Black Student Union at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb say they feel unsafe on campus following the discovery of a racial slur and a reference to the Virginia Tech shootings written on the bathroom wall inside a residence hall, reports the Chicago Tribune.

The university cancelled classes Monday as a security precaution, but reopened the following day. The school's Web site said "university police are satisfied that the anonymous message no longer represents an imminent threat to students, faculty or staff."

Although the school has forged forward with a business-as-usual approach, many of NIU's black students – which compose nearly 13 percent of the university's 18,816 undergraduates – remain uneasy about the incident. School officials estimate that some 200 students have left campus, many heading home.

One of the text-message-style rants scribbled on the wall read: "Tell those n*****s to go home." Another read: "The VA tech shooters messed up w/ having only one shooter...."

Sam Kresen, 18, a freshman from Mt. Prospect, said of the messages: "Maybe it's someone who wanted to get out of finals, but after the Virginia Tech shootings, you can never be too sure. I talked to my parents. They were very nervous. They wanted me to come home right away, but I said, 'I'll be fine.'"

Police have yet to announce a suspect in the case. More than 100 African-American students who said they feared for their safety held a news conference Monday to express frustration with University President John G. Peters for denying them a meeting the day before, although he was at the group's Monday morning appearance before the media.

"This threat did not come out of the blue," said Mitchell Gaddis, president of the university's NAACP chapter. "It's unsafe for us to walk down Greek Row ... and we're tired of it."

GA PROGRAM GETTING MORE BLACK MALES IN COLLEGE

For reasons which educational authorities have had some difficulty in explaining, there has been a drastic decline in the number of young Black males attending college over the past decade.

Recent studies show that on many of the nation's college campuses, Black females outnumber Black males by better than two to one.

However, a program in Georgia appears to be bucking the disturbing trend.

In fact, a report released recently showed that Black male enrollment in the University System of Georgia jumped by 25 percent over the past five years.

Officials are crediting African American Male Initiative programs for the success. The programs are active on every university campus in the state.

Albany State University Executive Assistant for the Center for African American Males explained the success recently to a local television station:

"Here at the center, there is a mentoring program where we bring in college students. We help them make the transition from high school to college ... Our hope is to foster and nurture these guys ..."

BET WANTS BLACK KIDS THINKING ABOUT COLLEGE

Network launches initiatives to introduce funding sources.


The Sallie Mae Fund and BET Networks are collaborating on two new initiatives to generate awareness of scholarships and other college-funding resources among African-American students.

"On average, college graduates earn $1 million more than high school graduates in the course of a lifetime," said BET CEO Debra Lee. "Increased awareness is the key to helping more African Americans realize their dream of going to college and, in turn, access that greater earning power."

On Tuesday, BET launched the "Next Level" scholarship competition, which will award $25,000 in Sallie Mae Fund scholarships to deserving students. Applications will be accepted on BET's Web site through Dec. 21. Winners will be announced in February.

In addition, a new directory will provide African-American students and their families with easier access to hundreds of college scholarships and millions in scholarship dollars. Sponsored by The Sallie Mae Fund and BET and produced by the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education, "Black College Dollars," available at www.blackcollegedollars.org, offers a free, comprehensive listing of more than 300 scholarships designed for African-American students.


For more information about the "Next Level" scholarship competition, visit www.BET.com/nextlevelscholar.

ARE SUSPENSIONS AND EXPULSIONS OF BLACK STUDENTS RISING?

According to a University of Maryland study, school suspensions and expulsions, especially of Black boys, are soaring in the state with Black students now two and a-half times more likely to be kicked out of school than white students.

Lead researcher Peter Leone blasted the rising suspensions saying students who are suspended "are more likely to end up in the criminal justice system."

Meanwhile, a review of relevant news reports by Washington, D.C.-based Taylor Media Services found that the disproportionate suspension and expulsion of African American students appear to be nationwide in scope. From kindergarten to high school, suspensions have risen. A major reason is the new "zero-tolerance" programs against drugs and weapons at school. But many more students are being suspended for simply arguing with or showing "disrespect" to teachers.

Leone asked during a forum last week sponsored by the Open Society Institute in Baltimore: "When kids are suspended from school, what do you think they are doing?" He answered his own question saying "they are more likely to get in trouble." For example, a separate study of 555 teenagers in the juvenile justice system found that 85 percent had been suspended from school.