EE FR
Florida suspends students more than any other state – at the elementary and high school levels SEE PAGE 8 AUTHOR TELLS STORY OF SURVIVING A RAPE SEE PAGE 5
Flagler historian weighs in on mandate on AfricanAmerican history courses SEE PAGE 3
East Central Florida’s Black Voice MARCH 5 - MARCH 11, 2015
YEAR 40 NO. 10
www.daytonatimes.com
Volusia schools embroiled in testing fiasco Computer difficulties cause halt at districts around the state BY ASHLEY D. THOMAS DAYTONA TIMES aysheldarcel@gmail.com
Standardized testing was set to start across the state on Monday but computer difficulties forced a suspension of the tests in Volusia County. More than half of all districts in
Florida faced those same problems. Nancy Wait, spokesperson for Volusia County Schools, explained that the Florida Standards Assessment (FSA) for Writing tests are administered to students in grades four through 10. Those in grades four through seven take a paper-based test. Students in grades eight, nine and 10 are all computer based. The computer-based tests are where all the trouble lies.
Deadline approaching “We have a two-week window starting this week and ending on the 13th to finish the exam,” Wait told the Daytona Times. “Not all of our schools started on Monday but those that did ran into issues logging on or being kicked off after logging on so we made the decision to suspend testing on Tuesday.” Wait says the problem with the testing was mainly the logon process. She says that the system was not able to handle all of the dis-
tricts logging in at one time and that caused some test administrators to either not be able to log on, or logging on only to be kicked off. A small percentage of students were able to take their tests. The state issued a statement on Tuesday that districts could start testing again. “We monitored the state and districts on Tuesday; they were still having issues,” Wait continued. “So we said our schools would start testing on Thursday.
We hope that when we log on all the other districts will have taken the tests so we won’t run into those problems.” According to Commissioner of Education Pam Stewart, the American Institutes for Research, the state’s testing vendor has taken full responsibility for the software-related problem and is working with the Department of Education to rectify the problems. “I believe we are over testing Please see TEST, Page 2
From brick and mortar to eight wheels
Dr. Edison O. Jackson, president of Bethune Cookman University, presents a Community Engagement Award to Cassandra CherryKittles and Ashley Thomas of the Daytona Times.
Bethune Grill to start selling wings, other favorites from food truck BY ASHLEY D. THOMAS DAYTONA TIMES aysheldarcel@gmail.com
Shannon Hines has experienced steady growth at Bethune Grill since 1998. But this Friday he will take the restaurant on the road with his state-of-the-art 26-foot food truck. “We’re going mobile,” Hines laughed. The restaurant known for Shamp’s Famous Honey Wing Sauce, was booming with business on Tuesday as customers got their first look at the new ride. “Once you taste the wings here, you don’t go anywhere else for wings,” Ray Wilson a sophomore psychology major from BethuneCookman said as he licked the sauce from his fingers. “I’m smiling just thinking about Bethune Grill on the road.” “Can you come park by my salon?” Glenna Doyle, owner of Salon 230 Spa asked as she waited in line.
PHOTOS BY DUANE CARL FERNANDEZ SR./ HARDNOTTS PHOTOGRAPHY
A gift for newspaper, community groups B-CU program includes film, presentations BY ASHLEY D. THOMAS DAYTONA TIMES aysheldarcel@gmail.com
Bethune-Cookman University presented Mary’s Gift: An Evening of Inspiration Through the Arts on March 1 starring the reverberating, laughter-filled singing voice of Daytona Beach resident Harry L. Burney III. The program began with a short film of the fictitious lawyer of the late Dr. Mary
Mcleod Bethune sharing her life in Daytona Beach. Three live theatrical acts followed the film, including “Mary’s Gift of Inspiration,” featuring the reoccurring singing role of T. Renee Crutcher as Bethune with students from Turie T. Small Elementary School as Mary’s kids – the famed five little girls who made up her Daytona Literary and Industrial School for Training Negro Girls created in 1904, in tow. The Orchesis Dance Ensemble and B-CU Tuba Euphonium Ensemble also performed. Please see B-CU, Page 2
A family business
T. Renee Crutcher, as Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, speaks to student actors from Turie T. Small Elementary.
The business was started as income for the family after Hines’ mom, Audrey Davis Hines, retired from the food industry. She died in 2010. “Our mom worked very hard,” sister and business partner Rosemary Jenkins shared with the Daytona Times. “But she wasn’t paid nearly enough for the hard work that she put in.” “She created Bethune Grill as a way to give our family stability,” Hines remarked. “And to give me something to do.” “It delivered me from some of the trouble I got in when I was Please see TRUCK, Page 2
Authors to gain publishing insight at seminar BY ASHLEY D. THOMAS DAYTONA TIMES aysheldarcel@gmail.com
A free seminar for aspiring authors and poets sharing insight on editorial services, self-publishing tips, marketing and legal guidance is being held March 7, at the Days Inn Palm Coast from 1 p.m.-7 p.m. Newly published author Orjanette Bryant will join Abundant Harvest Empowerment Christian Center to host the event in an effort to tackle some of the hurdles authors face when writing and publishing their first book. The Bethune-Cookman College graduate told the Daytona Times the agenda will include education
ALSO INSIDE
on the publication process with a Q&A session with Michael Pyle, an author and attorney who will talk about legal aspects to consider when choosing a publishing company and Heather Vargas, an intellectual property rights attorney of Cobb Cole discussing copyright protection. Dr. Evelyn Bethune, an author who started Bethune Publishing four years ago, will also sit on the panel.
First-hand experience Bryant says she wanted to offer the seminar after navigating through the process when publishing her first book “Nubia’s
Guide to Going Natural.” “You have to look at the contracts,” she said. “Consider what the publishing company can offer you.” “I read about five different contracts before choosing one,” Bryant continued. “You review the contracts, then you research lingo that isn’t common to those outside of the publishing world. Then you have to understand who owns what. There were some contracts I read where although your name is on the book, the publisher owns all rights to that book. This is something people need to know. You have to review the fine print contractual agreements between Please see AUTHORS, Page 7
ASHLEY D. THOMAS/DAYTONA TIMES
Author Orjanette Bryant stands with her book “Nubia’s Guide to Going Natural.” She is hosting a free book publishing seminar on March 7 at the Days Inn Palm Coast.
COMMENTARY: JULIANNE MALVEAUX: DEMS STILL SEARCHING FOR WINNING FORMULA | PAGE 4 COMMENTARY: LEE A. DANIELS: THE GOP’S ACTING-THE-FOOL DYNAMIC | PAGE 4
7 FOCUS
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TRUCK
“I’m going to sell other items wings and things, but I’m not going to spread myself thin. The wings will remain.” Hines says the company also is looking at franchising the business and the brick and mortar location will be moving in the upcoming months. The location has yet to be disclosed since he hasn’t finished all of the paperwork but says it will be within a half mile of the current location on Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Boulevard. “We’re also looking at selling the sauce in other retailers. Right now it’s only online and at the restaurant. And now on the truck,” he added. “But we’ve been looking at Marshalls, TJ Maxx and Ross. Publix also has a program that helps minorities so that is one I’m looking into also.” Hines says that he encourages others to believe in their dreams. “We were just a couple of young entrepreneurs (Hines is in his early 30s) striving to keep a legacy alive. It can be done. The sky is the limit.” Keep up with Bethune Grill on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
from Page 1
younger. This business gave me a way out of that,” Hines added. The duo will debut the mobile restaurant during Bike Week, which starts March 6. “We will be over at the Cabbage Patch near the Daytona Flea Market off ISB (International Speedway Boulevard),” he shared. “This is the extension of her legacy. Before she passed I made her a promise that I would do this,” Hines continued as he talked about his mom. “I realized I could make it, that it could take care of me and my kids and could be as big as I wanted it to be. I never knew it would be this big though.’’
Secret recipe Hines wouldn’t share the secret recipe to his sauce but says that it was really an accident waiting to happen. “Mama came up with a recipe and somehow too much of an ingredient got put into the pot. Then it stuck and that’s what we kept,’’ Hines recalled.
MARCH 5 – MARCH 11, 2015
ASHLEY D. THOMAS/DAYTONA TIMES
Shannon Hines and his sister Rosemary Jenkins stand in front of Bethune Grill’s new food trailer.
TEST
from Page 1
“I have heard from teachers that it certainly has been chaotic,” Andrew Spar, president of the Volusia Teachers Organization told the Times. He says testing difficulties have caused some teachers to question the validity of the tests as well. “Teachers are always flexible so they are rolling with it, but it certainly underscores the issue with the computer-based testing. They plan on administering tests on a set schedule and then, of course, they weren’t able to administer those tests. Right now the only grades that were doing it online are eighth grade and high school, so that is where the biggest issue came from.” “Further adding to the concerns that teachers have and I think a lot of parents have is how valid is this system? And how valid are these tests when we can’t even get the technology to work appropriately?” he asked. “And that is a statewide issue. Let alone the fact that we don’t really have enough computers to effectively manage the testing. It just kind of adds to the high stakes nature of these tests.” Wait added about the test deadline, “We do still have all of next week. She feels confident that the district administrators will be able to administer the test to every student before the March 13 deadline and will attempt the test again on March 5. “It’s only a 90 minute test, and just one test,” she noted. Wait also said if a student is at school but unable to take the test he or she will be able to make it up in April.
“Yesterday, the first day of testing under the new and untested Florida Standards assessment, was nothing less than a disaster for school districts and students across the state,” Sen. Jeff Clemens (D-27) and Sen. Dwight Bullard (D39) wrote in a joint letter to Gov. Rick Scott on March 3. “We are calling on you to immediately suspend the administration of these tests and allow time for educators to work out the problems, instead of using our children as guinea pigs for a flawed system.” “Hundreds of thousands of students were unable to take the tests due to technology issues yesterday, as district after district suspended the administration of the tests after being unable to access the system,” the letter continued. “Worse, it was not as if this impending catastrophe came without warning. Superintendents, administrators, and teachers, as well as legislators, from across the state have continued to steadfastly declare that we, as a state, were not ready to handle this testing system. Their pleas were ignored by the Department of Education, which now claim that only a few thousand students were unable to test on March 2. “This is such a terrible twisting of the truth as to be almost unbelievable. While only a few thousand students who were able to take the test may have been unable to complete it, hundreds of thousands of students in districts such as Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Leon and over 30 others were completely unable to access the system properly, resulting in total suspension of the testing in many, if not most, counties. Further thousands of hours of instructional time have been wasted.” The FSA math and reading sections — many which are also online — are to be given starting in April.
F.R.E.S.H. Book Festival in Daytona Beach. “The seminar is a free service to authors who are ready to take that next step,” Bryant added. “The experts on the panel will offer a wealth of information and there will also be 12 published authors available to speak with. The process was so difficult and demanding I wish I had someone to go to. It is im-
portant to have a great support system. “My goal is to help someone in the community get published,” she concluded. “If I can do it, anyone can.” For more information, connect with Orjanette on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lovelynubian, via email at orjanettebryant@gmail.com or by calling 386-793-3379.
our students and should end tests that are not relevant to student success,” Representative Dwayne Taylor (D-26) told the Daytona Times.
Validity of tests questioned
DUANE CARL FERNANDEZ SR./HARDNOTTS PHOTOGRAPHY
Members of the Orchesis Dance Ensemble perform.
B-CU
from Page 1 “Who is Mary?” Six year-old G’Lia Foster was overheard asking the question of her grandmother Brenda Perry. Perry explained to G’Lia and her sister, 5-year-old Joyelle, that Mary was an educator who built her school “right here, a long time ago.” Following Act II: Mary’s Gift of Education, a special presentation from Dr. Alma Dixon was made: The 2015 Community Engagement Awards.
Community awards Among the recipients were the Daytona Times. Also receiving the award was the
Volusia County/Daytona Beach NAACP, the Daytona Beach Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and Food Brings Hope, a charity providing solutions to homelessness, poverty or unfamiliarity with community resources. The last act of the evening, Act III: Mary’s Gift of Transformation brought B-CU President Dr. Edison O. Jackson to the stage. Jackson hinted to a proposed transformation of the immediate area surrounding the school to include Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Boulevard via a partnership with the City of Daytona Beach. More information on the revitalization of the boulevard businesses will be forthcoming as talks continue.
AUTHORS from Page 1
author and the publishing company.” Bryant also noted that authors should not be afraid of negotiating contracts with the company they choose to publish with.
ASHLEY D. THOMAS/DAYTONA TIMES
Brenda Perry (center) and granddaughters G’Lia and Joyelle Foster wait for Mary’s Gift to begin.
Tough competition “These days it’s nearly impossible to break into the traditional publishing world,” author Sue Shanahan explained in a recent Huffington Post article. “The main reason for this is that book companies need a certain number of sales guaranteed. They are in business to make money and with the high cost
of advances and printing they’re much less willing to take risks. That means submissions from unknown authors, who lack a robust social platform, hardly get a glance.” “If you have a story to tell, it’s a wonderful time to be alive. Self-publishing gives authors creative control,” Shanahan added. The seminar will be emceed by Martha Coo-
per Hudson, motivational speaker, life coach, talk show host, author, and founder of Women of Greatness. The Q&A panel will also include award-winning musical guest/branding consultant- Mahoganee; Michael Ray King, the CEO of Clear View Press, a selfpublishing company in Palm Coast; and Donna Gray-Banks director of the
Legislators sound off
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MARCH 5 – MARCH 11, 2015 COMMUNITY DECEMBER 14 - 20, 2006
M A YNEWS OR
AACS leadership responds to mandate on African-American history courses Robert Whiting has enough reach to cover a recent mandate on the African-American history courses offered in the public schools. Whiting just completed his tenure as a director for the board at the African American Cultural Society (AACS). He is the chairman of the Sponsorship and Strategic Planning Committees. He is a historic cornerstone on ancient African history, specifically Nile Valley Civilizations as well as a lecturer in schools, colleges and universities. One of his greatest achievements is observing the “aha” moments in young people’s eyes after they discover that Africans laid the foundation for the civilization of the world in science, medicine, engineering, mathematics, logic, rhetoric, spirituality (religion), the arts, language, and the use of the spoken word. Whiting was part of a 14-member Civil Rights Action Team (CRAT) made up of senior managers in the federal government. The team addressed the long history of discrimination against Black farmers and laid the foundation for $1.03 billion in cash relief, tax relief and debt relief to successful claimants, and another $100 million included in the Farm Bill. He also is a front-line musician, leading his own band of Rob’s JazzExpress and playing in nightspots, festivals and other venues.
Concerns about course Whiting provided the following commentary on African-American history offered in the public schools: “Over the past eight years, the Flagler County School District has offered an African-American history course on a yearly basis. The African-American Cultur-
PALM COAST COMMUNITY NEWS JEROLINE D. MCCARTHY
al Society (AACS) had an instrumental role in the implementation of the African-American history course. “It came to the attention of the AACS Education Committee that end-of-course (EOC) exams were required for all high-school courses beginning in the school year 2014-2015. This new requirement resulted in the AACS Education Committee’s examination of the state’s course description and requirements for the African-American history course that was being offered by the Flagler County Schools. In doing so, the Education Committee had concerns. “The African-American history course offered by Flagler County Schools was a half-credit course, but it had been paired with Multicultural Studies so as to allow the course to be taught for an entire year, which provided students with a full credit. However, the new state mandate in 2014 would have diluted the AfricanAmerican history course in order for it to fit into one-isolated semester. “With the new requirements for end-of-course examinations, the Education Committee was concerned that the two courses would have to be separate classes, and in doing so, the teachers would not be able to teach all of the standards required for African-American history. “A comparison of the number of required standards for African-American history with other courses revealed that Afri-
COURTESY OF THE FLAGLER BRANCH OF AAUW
The American Association of University Women luncheon attendees lined up for a book signing following the authors’ presentation. At left is author Rosamond Parrish. Author Michael Pyle is on the right.
JEROLINE D. MCCARTHY/DAYTONA TIMES
Robert Whiting lectures at the African American Cultural Society and offers a commentary in the article on AfricanAmerican history provided in the public schools. can-American history had more standards than some of the other history courses, but had been allocated less time during the instructional school year to teach those standards, as well as less credit for successful completion of the course. It was very clear that inequities needed to be addressed. “The AACS Education Committee initiated several meetings with Flagler High School and Matanzas High School teachers of the courses. Subsequently, a letter was sent from the AACS, signed by President Stephanie
Ecklin, to the Superintendent of the Flagler County Schools, Jacob Oliva. “In a meeting with the Education Committee and President Ecklin, Mr. Oliva agreed with the AACS’ position and forwarded the letter to the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) with his cover letter of endorsement. “To everyone’s complete surprise, once the FDOE received the letter, it approved the African-American history course for a full credit and for the entire State of Florida to be taught for the entire year. “Kudos for a job well done to the AACS Education Committee and President Ecklin! “The AACS Education Committee is chaired by Lionel Holder. The committee members are: Robert A. Brooks, Bertrand W. Green, Donald Bryant, Edward H. Brown, Jr., and Robert Whiting.”
AAUW luncheon benefits local students The American Association of University Women (AAUW) has been an ardent proponent of educational, social, economic, and political matters. The Flagler County branch is keeping the
legacy alive. The branch held a recent authors’ luncheon to benefit local graduating students with scholarships and will be awarding $7,000 in scholarships this year. The luncheon took place at the Grand Club Pine Course and was a wrap-up of Black History Month. St. Augustine author Rosamond Parrish presented her book, “Lincolnville: A Sketchbook Journal of St. Augustine’s Historic Neighborhood” and Daytona Beach author Michael Pyle expounded on his development of characters in “White Sugar, Brown Sugar.” Responsible for a successful event were members Susan Stanco, Susan Baird and branch president Carmenda Laymon. ••• As always, remember our prayers for the sick, afflicted and bereaved.
Celebrations Birthday wishes to Jimmie Seward, March 6; Diedre Robinson, March 7; Errol Hooke, March 10; and belated wishes to Sybil Lucas, March 2; Carmel Hooke, March 3. Happy anniversary to John and Sybil Lucas, March 10.
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7 EDITORIAL
MARCH 5 – MARCH 11, 2015
Democrats still searching for winning formula Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel just got spanked. Despite a campaign war chest of more than $15 million and the support of President Barack Obama, the former Congressman and White House chief of staff could not avoid a run-off in the non-partisan election. Garnering 45 percent of the vote to runner-up Jesus “Chuy” Garcia’s 34 percent, he did not clear the 50 percent bar for victory. Emanuel, the darling of the mainstream Democratic Party, has earned the dubious distinction of being in the first Chicago mayoral runoff in nearly 20 years. He also runs the risk of being the first incumbent mayor ousted since Harold Washington beat Jane Byrne in 1983.
Strong base The man who delivered the Emanuel whipping, Chuy Garcia is a county commissioner and former alderman. His base is the poorer neighborhoods of Chicago, the Latino community, and the teachers’ union. He pounded on the theme of income inequality and exploited the widespread perception that Emanuel is arrogant and removed from poor people. Indeed, most of Rahm Emanuel’s support came from wealthy White voters who helped raise his large campaign fund. Garcia didn’t have a fraction of Emanuel’s money, but he had a large cadre of volunteers to help deliver his votes. There were three other candidates in the race, and their combined 20 percent of the vote will likely determine the outcome of
DR. JULIANNE MALVEAUX TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM
the April 7 election. Just a day after the election, both Emanuel and Garcia were courting their competitors, seeking their endorsements. So far, those opponents have been noncommittal. Emanuel’s loss is a major setback to the Democratic establishment. Voters are tired of income inequality being acknowledged, with nothing being done about it. Their only recourse is the vote, and on February 24 in Chicago, they used it.
Blacks will decide According to the Chicago Tribune, Emanuel rode to victory on the coats of Blacks four years ago with 58 percent of the votes in the six wars that are more than 90 percent Black. This time, he won 42 to 45 percent of those same wards. Blacks may determine the victor of the April 7 election. Another possible Democratic setback is looming as Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) weighs the possibility of challenging former Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton. Warren has been portrayed as a champion of the people, especially where consumer protection and financial matters are concerned. She has raised her voice against financial skullduggery by banking institutions, been a crit-
ic of attempts to weaken the Dodd Frank bill, and a defender of consumer rights. While Warren seems to have little baggage, Hilary Rodham Clinton seems less than invincible. Questions have been raised about the Clinton Foundation and the sources of its money, especially when this money has come from foreign governments that have mixed relationships with the United States. Other questions have been raised about the high six-figure speeches Clinton gives and the audiences she gives them to. Certainly, she is entitled to earn what the market will bear, but some say those who foot the bill are the very Wall Street scions that Elizabeth Warren rails against. After Clinton, the only competition Warren is likely to have for the Democratic nomination is Vice President Joe Biden. But Biden, at 73, may be considered too old to be considered a viable choice for president. Biden also has a history of both oral and behavioral gaffes. Voters are looking for alternatives and Democrats aren’t providing them. Instead, they are offering a party line that inhibits discussion of issues and hews to the inevitability of party favorites. Rahm Emanuel’s defeat and the Warren challenge to Hilary Clinton suggest that the party line is unsatisfactory.
Julianne Malveaux is a Washington, D.C.-based economist and writer. Click on this article at www.daytonatimes.com to write your own response.
Black dollars matter! The protest slogans addressing our latest struggle for justice and equity compel me to come up with a new phrase. The signs and T-Shirts emblazoned with “I Can’t Breathe!” “No Justice, No Peace!” and the latest, “Black Lives Matter,” carry connotations related to action. I often wonder what the folks who wear the T-shirts and hold the signs are doing to back up the slogans they spout. More importantly, I wonder who makes the shirts and who sells them. With that in mind, my slogan for action – economic action is, “Black Dollars Matter!” The “I Can’t Breathe” shirts worn by the Brooklyn Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers, for instance, were sold by NYC Customs, a shop in Long Island, owned by Helen Mihalatos, a friend of Rameen Aminzadeh, member of Justice League of NYC. The initial gesture and resulting “hook-up” came from Nets team member, Jarrett Jack, followed by help from LeBron James and Russell Simmons’ political director, Michael Skolnick. The shirts were ordered by Jay-Z, who bought 1,000 more shirts after the basketball game.
Matter to us JAMES CLINGMAN NNPA COLUMNIST
and “Shot Callers” had enough consciousness to give the profits to Eric Garner’s family. Now you would think that someone in this chain of events involving T-shirts that carry the last words of a Black man killed on the streets of New York City by police officers would be conscious enough to say, “Hold up! Let’s not just go for the symbolism of wearing shirts on the basketball court; let’s make a substantive statement as well, via a Black business transaction and a financial benefit for the Garner family.” Sound reasonable? In light of the hype of “I Can’t Breathe” and now the phrase, “Black Lives Matter,” the slogan we should emblazon on shirts, and instill in our brains, the one by which we should live and the one that, if inculcated into our daily lives, will move us from the rhetoric of freeNovelty threads dom to the action of freedom is, I truly hope those “Big Ballers” “Black Dollars Matter!”
Despite the wasteful and nonsensical spending by Black folks, from the poorest to the super-rich flamboyant celebrities, we must all realize that “Black Dollars Matter” and they should matter to us first. Right now, they matter most to everyone else; and other folks are doing everything they can to get more of our dollars with no reciprocity other than symbolic gestures that make us feel good. After the chanting, the marching, the protests and demonstrations, the outrage, the threats, and the unjustified killings of our people with impunity, if all we do is sit back and wait on the next crisis, why should we even bother with the above actions in the first place? We must be smarter and we must be conscious. We must always be aware that money runs this country and it has its place in everything, yes, even in the deaths of our people.
Jim Clingman is the founder of the Greater Cincinnati African American Chamber of Commerce. Click on this article at www.daytonatimes.com to write your own response.
Make me a woman One of my sheroes is Sojourner Truth. A brilliant but illiterate woman, she was a great orator and powerful presence who possessed great courage and determination. I often wear a pendant with her image and words: “If women want any rights more than they’s got, why don’t they just take them, and not be talking about it.” Sarye Huggins is a high school senior who knows her Black history and has also been inspired by Sojourner Truth. Read a few lines from her spoken word poem “Make Me a Woman:” Make me a woman in this world of poverty and deceit. They’ll know I’m a woman by the sounds of determination coming from my feet . . . Just make me a woman. Don’t you think the time has come? I can hear my ancestors summoning me by the sounds of their drums. A woman, me? Imagine that. Once you grant me this wish, I’m never turning back.
Familiar beginnings Sarye lives in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, a community disproportionately plagued by poverty and violence. As a smart, shy girl attending some of the poorest and roughest schools in New York
MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN NNPA COLUMNIST
City, Sarye didn’t always feel she fit in. Although she won awards in elementary school for being an outstanding student she also endured a lot of teasing and bullying from her peers and harbored much of the pain inside. The odds were stacked against Sarye as they are against so many of our Black girls and boys today. Black children are the poorest children in America; every other Black baby is poor and every two minutes a Black baby is born into poverty in our wealthy nation. Black children are less likely to live in two-parent families, are more likely to be abused or neglected or enter foster care, and suffer worse health outcomes than White children.
Sad statistics Black students fall behind in school early and do not catch up; more than 80 percent of fourth and eighth grade Black public school students cannot read or compute at grade level, and a
Black high school student drops out every 33 seconds during the school year. Black children and youths are at greatest risk of being funneled into the prison pipeline and are at highest risk of gun violence, the leading cause of death among Black children and teens ages 1-19. For many of the children in Sarye’s neighborhood, these odds have already proven too much. Sarye was blessed by her aunt’s unfailing support and by caring teachers during her freshman year of high school who began nurturing her potential. She says: “They just saw something in me that I didn’t even really see in myself at the moment, and I think that’s what I really needed.” Though still in high school, she’s maintained a 4.0 in her college classes while excelling in her high school courses. Sarye is one of five extraordinary high school students the Children’s Defense Fund-New York will honor next week for beating the odds. A scholarship will help ease their way on the path to college.
Marian Wright Edelman is president of the Children’s Defense Fund. Click on this article at www.daytonatimes.com to write your own response.
VISUAL VIEWPOINT: HUMAN RIGHTS AND CONFLICT
PARESH NATH, THE KHALEEJ TIMES, UAE
The GOP’s actingthe-fool dynamic Among the formal definitions for “acting the fool” are: one who is deficient in judgment, sense or understanding. Perhaps the dictionaries should add a new one: today’s Republican Party. February was a great month for those who think the GOP has become a dustbin of ideological extremists with no commitment to actually getting things done in Washington, elected officials easily led into ethically questionable dealings, and officeholding crackpots with bizarre beliefs about some of the most important issues of the day. For example, in the Congress the GOP leadership has been frantically trying to tamp down House conservatives’ threat to force a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security over President Obama’s executive order on immigration. At the 11th hour, they kicked the can down the road by providing only a week of additional funding.
Crime and comedy On the crime front, Maureen McDonnell, Virginia’s former First Lady, drew a lenient sentence of a year and a day in prison for her participation in the tawdry petty corruption scheme that also led to the conviction last year of her husband, former Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell. Once considered a prime contender for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, McDonnell himself had been sentenced in January to two years in prison. For comic relief, there was the Idaho Republican state representative who, seemingly confused about the female anatomy, asked a doctor during a legislative hearing whether women could swallow small cameras to help doctors do remote gynecological exams. Even more hilarious was Nevada Republican legislator Michele Fiore expressing her belief that cancer is “a fungus” that can be cured by “flushing, let’s say, saltwater, sodium carbonate” through the body. While that comment immediately raced around the Internet, too, many news media felt compelled to note, as the Washington Post did: “Cancer is not a fungus. It is the uncontrolled division of abnormal human cells within the body. Saltwater cannot cure cancer.”
Attacking Obama But a lion’s share of media at-
LEE A. DANIELS NNPA COLUMNIST
tention on the GOP for much of the month was, rightly, devoted to former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s claiming that President Obama “doesn’t love America” because he “wasn’t brought up the way you were brought up and I was brought up through love of this country.” Amid the immediate blowback, Giuliani then made the cable news show rounds the following days to double down that his comments couldn’t be called racist “since [Obama] was brought up by a White mother, a White grandfather, went to White schools, and most of this he learned from White people.” The “this,” he implied, was Obama’s “socialism or possibly anti-colonialism.” By February’s last week, however, Giuliani had penned an oily op-ed in the Wall Street Journal meekly stating he “didn’t intend to question President Obama’s motives or the content of his heart. My intended focus was the effect his words and his actions have on the morale of the country and how that effect may damage his performance.” Of course, the article was a sure sign that conservative movement chieftains had warned him of the damage he was doing to Republican efforts to get its 2016 presidential primary sweepstakes off to a good start and deal with its intra-party rebellion in Congress. New York Daily News columnist Linda Stasi had the best succinct take on Giuliani’s actions in suggesting “Perhaps it’s megalomania-infused narcissism with an overlay of overt racism?” That’s why, during the Obama presidency, acting the fool has become the Republican Party’s chief operating principle.
Lee A. Daniels is a longtime journalist based in New York City. Click on this article at www.daytonatimes.com to write your own response.
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5 7
M ANATION YOR
MARCH 5 – MARCH DECEMBER 14 - 20, 11, 20062015
Beyond survival: Life after rape ‘I Will Survive’ author tells how she made it through horrific abuse Editor’s note: This is the fifth and final story in a series on rape by Jazelle Hunt, Washington correspondent for the National Newspaper Publishers Association. BY JAZELLE HUNT NNPA NEWS SERVICE
WASHINGTON – “On May 15, 1995, two men ran up behind me as I approached my apartment building and one of them pointed a gun at my head. In the hour that followed, I was blindfolded, gagged, tied facedown to my bed and raped by both.” Eight years after that horror, Lori Robinson published those words as an introduction to her guidebook for Black survivors and their loved ones titled “I Will Survive: The African American Guide to Healing from Sexual Assault and Abuse.’’ Since then, Robinson, who moved from Washington, D.C. to Detroit, has enjoyed a fulfilling, happy life. But on that night 20 years ago, she didn’t know how, or if, she would recover. “I remember asking if, after such assault, women went on to have normal lives, get married, have children, be happy,” she writes in “I Will Survive.’’ “It sounds silly to me now, but on May 15, 1995, I found it inconceivable that someone could be normal, much less happy after experiencing what I had.”
Silence and other hurdles to healing The circumstances around Robinson’s assault were atypical – there was more than one assailant, they were strangers, and there was a weapon involved. In more common circumstances – when the people know each other or are related; when alcohol is involved or there has been previous sexual/romantic involvement; when the perpetrator is a prominent figure; or when the survivor was became pregnant – the decision to report a rape can be even more agonizing. “I respect whatever anyone’s choice is about whether or not to disclose, because everyone’s doing the best that they can, at the time, with the information they have. And not everyone is in an environment where they get good information and support,” Robinson stated. “There’s still too much silence, but it’s not the fault of the survivors. It’s because we as a community, as individuals, as a society, haven’t done what we need to do to make disclosure a safe and preferable choice for anyone who experiences sexual assault.”
‘A gradual process’ The men who raped Robin-
son had stolen her car, electronics, and her landline cord. After carefully freeing herself from her bed, she mustered the courage to knock on a neighbor’s door so she could call the police. After the police, she called her sister, who picked her up and took her back to her home. The following day, she called the DC Rape Crisis Center hotline. Later, her mother and sister accompanied her to her first counseling session. That evening, Robinson told her boyfriend and the next day he accompanied her to counseling, the first of several occasions. Her memory is a blur after that first week. “For like a good year after I was raped – I don’t have many specific memories from that year. It’s very fuzzy,” she says. “[Healing] was a gradual process – it wasn’t like I finished therapy and it was over.”
Springboard for book A journalist, Robinson slowly channeled her pain into her work. About a year-and-a-half after the assault, she agreed to write an article on a freshman Spelman College student who maintained that four Morehouse College students – three of whom were on the basketball team – had gang raped her. Spelman was Robinson’s alma mater; her own rape occurred the same week as her 5-year class reunion. The article, “Rape of a Spelman Coed” was published in Emerge magazine almost exactly two years after Robinson’s assault. It became an award-winning story and the springboard for “I Will Survive.’’ “After that article, [the magazine] got a really powerful response,” she recalled. “So the idea [for the book] came from having written an article about sexual assault; realizing that this was a huge problem in the African American community; that we didn’t have culturally specific resources available to us; and that we just didn’t know how to deal with sexual assault.”
From surviving to thriving To her knowledge, Robinson’s assailants were never caught and are thought to be responsible for at least three other rapes. Still, in 1996 she marked the one-year anniversary of her survival with a celebration. “I’d experienced the most horrific thing I could possibly imagine, and I am still standing. I am still going to work; I still have my right mind, for the most part. It absolutely was a celebration of my survival,” she remembers. Today, she has become a noted activist and speaker on the issue of sexual assault, speaking at more than 100 events in more than 20 states and in three countries. She has lived and taught in Ecuador, Brazil, and other parts of Latin America, and is still en-
Lori Robinson is shown with her husband, Ollie Johnson. She was dating him when she was raped in 1995.
WHAT TO DO IMMEDIATELY AFTER A RAPE
• Get somewhere safe. You may be feeling confused, devastated, in disbelief, or trapped. If you are in immediate danger, call 911. If you need help getting somewhere safe and stable, call someone you trust or call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1800-656-4673. • Go to the hospital, even if you are undocumented or uninsured. You will not be asked about, or turned away for these reasons. You may have unseen injuries, and you will need testing and treatment for possible STDs and/or pregnancy. Do not change clothes, use the bathroom, or tidy yourself or the location in any way. Let the emergency dispatcher or first contact at the hospital know you were raped. A specialized nurse will examine you, and if you want to, will collect forensic evidence. You can have this evidence collected even if you do not want to report the rape to police — your evidence may aid a previously reported case. • Call someone you trust. Allow that person to care for you through this difficult moment. Try to communicate what you want, or if it’s easier, communicate what you don’t want. • Seek emotional/mental care. Talk to someone. Consider professional counseling. The National Sexual Assault Hotline (800-656-4673) or chat online at online.rain.org. It will connect you to your nearest rape crisis center; most offer free counseling and over-the-phone support.
RESOURCES FOR HEALING
Rape Abuse Incest National Network (RAINN) National Sexual Assault Hotline. For resources and listings of local organizations and crisis centers, 800-656-HOPE (4673). www.online.rainn.org to talk online “I Will Survive: The African American Guide to Healing from Sexual Assault and Abuse’’ by Lori S. Robinson “No Secrets, No Lies: How Black Families Can Heal from Sexual Abuse’’ by Robin D. Stone “Beyond Betrayal: Taking Charge of Your Life after Boyhood Sexual Abuse’’ by Richard B. Gartner “Healing the Incest Wound: Adult Survivors in Therapy’’ by Christine A. Courts “NO! The Rape Documentary’’ (2006 film) by Aishah Shahidah Simmons www.notherapedocumentary.com “Boys and Men Healing’’ (2010 film) by Kathi Barbini bigvoicepictures. com/production-3/boys-and-men-healing www.MaleSurvivor.com Chat rooms, support groups, self-help resources and more, for male survivors in the United States and Canada www.1in6.org Testimonies, library, and online support for men who have experienced sexual assault www.StopItNow.org For education on child sexual abuse for families, and interventions for adults have or may sexually abuse, call 888-773-8368.
joying a career as an award-winning bilingual journalist and educator.
Strong support She also married Ollie Johnson, the boyfriend who had been there with her through it all. “We weren’t married then, but I definitely thought of us as a couple. You come together, you support, you love, you struggle, you handle it, you get through it. That was my mental-emotional framework,” he said. “I’ve had various crises and
challenges with my own family, but nothing like what happened to Lori. So I didn’t have any direct experience with supporting or helping or loving survivors. But I just kind of knew that was the right thing to do.” When Robinson first began writing “I Will Survive,’’ her husband thought it was a great idea and logical next step from the Emerge article – until it became clear that the research, interviewing and writing caused Robinson to relive her trauma. “I recommended that she con-
sider dropping it or suspending it on several occasions, because it was so painful…. She would always say that she had to do it. And she worked through it,” he said. “I was very impressed with her strength and resilience through the whole process and still am just amazed that she could handle everything the way she’s handled it.”
Talk to someone Robinson encourages survivors to seek healing, whatever that may mean for them. “Not every survivor necessarily needs therapy, but based on my personal experience, I highly recommend that survivors reach out to someone. It’s so important to be able to tell your story, let it out, [to] be able to talk to someone who can empathize with you, support you, and encourage you,” she said. “Take care of yourself. Think of mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual self-care. What feels nourishing to you? What feels safe to you? What makes your body feel good? Do that.”
Not your fault Every survivor’s experience is profoundly personal. At the same time, millions of survivors are all fighting through the same devastation of this rampant trauma, often in shame and silence. Robinson wants them all to remember one thing “What happened to you is not your fault. No matter what the circumstances were – no matter what you wore, or what you drank, or what time it was, or where you were – the only person who was responsible, the person who deserves all of the blame, is the person who forced unwanted sexual activity on you,” she said. “You are no less perfect, or sacred, or beautiful because of what happened to you.”
The project was made possible by a grant from the National Health Journalism Fellowship, a program of the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
Racial and ethnic disparities persist in teenage pregnancy rates BY TERESA WILTZ STATELINE.ORG
WASHINGTON — It’s a problem once thought to be intractable, and yet pregnancy and birth rates for Black and Latina teens have dropped precipitously in the past two decades — at a much faster clip than that of White teens. Despite this, Black and Latina girls are more than twice as likely as White girls to become pregnant before they leave adolescence. This glass half-full, half-empty scenario is a dilemma that continues to confound states. The racial and ethnic disparities surrounding teen pregnancy are stubborn, often a cause and consequence of poverty and a complex array of societal factors. Teen pregnancies are usually unplanned and come with a steep price tag, costing U.S. taxpayers up to $28 billion a year, according to the Office of Adolescent Health, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Some states like Mississippi have found innovative ways to tackle the problem by targeting specific populations, while others like Kansas are serving up bills that make it more difficult
for teens to access sex education, which is a critical component of preventing pregnancy in adolescence, according to advocates such as the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.
Multipronged approach To truly solve the problem, these advocates argue, there needs to be a multipronged approach involving funding from the federal government and from the states, as well as intensive community outreach and culturally specific programming. “You can correctly point to the extraordinary, off-the-charts success in reducing teen pregnancy and childbearing in the African-American and Latina communities,” said Bill Albert, chief program officer for the National Campaign. “But these rates remain far, far higher than among Whites. And that needs our full and undivided attention. There’s a role for state and local efforts — and not all of it costs money.” According to Kate Blackman, a research analyst in the health program at the National Conference of State Legislatures, “states do a lot to raise awareness. We’ve seen some reductions in teen pregnancy — when it’s been a priority.”
Nationwide progress Over the past two decades, the teen pregnancy rate, defined as the number of girls per 1,000 girls aged 15-19 who become pregnant, has been steadily decreasing. Progress has been made in all 50 states and among all racial and ethnic groups, according to Albert. Since 1991, the overall teen birth rate has declined by 57 percent. The most dramatic decreases were among teens of color. Since 1991, teen birth rates among African-American girls declined 67 percent; among Latinas, it declined 60 percent, while among American Indian/Native Alaskans and Asian/Pacific Islanders, it declined 63 percent and 68 percent, respectively. Birth rates among White teens declined 57 percent during that time.
Factors for decline A variety of factors contributed to the decline. Since the 1990s, there has been an increased use of highly effective, low-maintenance birth control methods like the IUD and contraceptive implants, according to Albert. The Obama administration’s
Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative, which awards $105 million in grants to programs tackling adolescent pregnancy, has been successful in helping reduce birth rates because it funds programs that have been proven to work, Albert said. Above all, teens are having less sex for a variety of reasons, from the Great Recession to peer pressure to watching cautionary horror stories on reality TV.
The birth rates But when you look at actual rates, they demonstrate a stark reality: Girls of color are much more likely to become pregnant. Among non-Hispanic White teens, the birth rate in 2013 was 19 births per 1,000, while among Black teens, it was 39 births per 1,000. Latina teens have the highest birth rate, at 42 births per 1,000 teens. The birth rate for Native American teens was 31 births per 1,000, while among Asian/Pacific Islander teens, the birth rate was 9 births per 1,000. Poverty and geography play major roles. Rural teens have higher rates of pregnancy than do urban and suburban teens. Southern states, which tend to be poorer and have the highest rates of HIV infections, also report the
highest number of teen births. Education and access to contraceptives play a larger role in teen pregnancy rates than do cultural or religious differences, teen advocates suggest. Poor teens of color are less likely to have access to quality health care and contraceptive services, and are much more likely to live in neighborhoods where jobs and opportunities for advancement are scarce, according to Gail Wyatt, a clinical psychologist and sex researcher at UCLA.
Teens exploited Many teen girls having sex are being exploited by older men, Wyatt said. Many underprivileged girls face peer pressure to have sex early — sometimes egged on by girls who aren’t yet having sex themselves, she said. Then, too, teen pregnancy is often cyclical, said Lee Warner, associate director for Science in the Division of Reproductive Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “A lot of the kids having kids are the kids of teen parents themselves. It’s generational.” According to the National Campaign, the daughters of teen mothers are three times as likely to become teen mothers themselves.
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7
M SPORTS AYOR
MARCH 5 – MARCH 2015 DECEMBER 14 - 20,11, 2006
NCAA MEN’S TOURNAMENT MOCK SELECTION
Grind it out — hands-on taste of how a bracket is born BY TEDDY GREENSTEIN CHICAGO TRIBUNE
INDIANAPOLIS — At NCAA headquarters, the basketball enthusiasts view Selection Sunday as Christmas morning. This mock selection exercise would be akin to Thanksgiving. “So let’s eat,” says Dave Worlock, the NCAA point man for this event. And so it begins. Twenty media types gathered for about 13 hours over two days in Indianapolis recently to earn degrees in bracketology. Using results of games that ended the week of Feb. 15 and informed of projected conference tournament results (way to go, Colgate!), we selected the participants, created a seed list of 1-68 and slot every team to create a bracket. The real 10-person committee, made up of the likes of Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis, will spend five days creating the real bracket, which will be revealed March 15 (aka Selection Sunday). They will follow a painstaking four-step process:
Step 1: Report card Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller and I represent Stanford athletic director Bernard Muir, who will report on the MEAC, Southland and West Coast conferences. All are likely “AQ” leagues — meaning that only the Automatic Qualifier (conference tournament champ) will get to dance. But we mention that Stephen F. Austin from the Southland and BYU and St. Mary’s from the WCC are worthy of atlarge consideration. The most intriguing leagues? The Atlantic-10, with a four-way tie at the top, and the Big Ten, with a six-pack (Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan State, Iowa, Illinois, Purdue) of intrigue beyond sure things Wisconsin and Maryland. “The Big Ten,” reports a mock committee member, “has a chance to be as messy as any league.”
Step 2: The nitty-gritty We’ve whittled down the 333 eligible Division I teams, and now it’s time to construct a field. We vote via mouse click for our top eight among 45 teams “under consideration,” and a remarkable thing happens. All 10 voters have the same top eight: Arizona, Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Villanova, Virginia and Wisconsin. “We have history, folks,” Worlock says. Determining the other at-larges will prove way more difficult. And tedious. We use “team pages” to analyze the resumes, and the home, road and neutralcourt factor is prominent. So is a team’s record against foes in the RPI 1-50, 51100, 101-150, 151-200 and 200-plus. What doesn’t matter — conference record or conference RPI. Kansas, despite four losses, actually has a higher RPI than undefeated Kentucky. Why? Because the Jayhawks have not played a single opponent with a bad (200-plus) RPI. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” Worlock says. Homing in on the Big Ten, Maryland (5-4 vs. RPI top 50) and Indiana (eight wins over RPI top 100 before Sunday’s victory over Minnesota) get early nods. Ohio State is solidly in despite having feasted on nine RPI 150-plus teams. Iowa gets in thanks largely to a road victory over North Carolina and two-game sweep of Ohio State. (Remember, this was decided before Sunday’s loss to Northwestern.) The Hawkeyes got drubbed at Wisconsin on Jan. 20 and someone asks if that should be considered a bad loss. “It was,” says Mike Tirico, who should know. He called it for ESPN. Illinois and Michigan State will be considered for the final 3-5 spots. Purdue will not be, thanks to one mock committee member’s description of “pitiful home losses” to North Florida and GardnerWebb, both outside the RPI top 150. But fear not, Purdue fans: The Boilermakers have every chance to play their way into the real thing, thanks to upcoming games against Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan State and Illinois. The final five in our field are Dayton,
Illinois (“no bad losses”), Michigan State, UCLA, Oregon and “my” Stanford Cardinal. When Stanford was on a ballot, Miller and I were not permitted to participate. The last to make it is Oregon, and the Ducks will only go if SMU (in either way) beats mediocre UConn in the final of the American conference tournament. In 2008, the committee prepared six brackets based on the results of Selection Sunday conference title games. The first two out: BYU and St. John’s.
Step 3: Scrubbing We’ve seeded the teams based on our 1-68 seed list, and now we’re going to revisit nearly every one. Should Wisconsin be No. 4 — the last No. 1 seed — ahead of Gonzaga, the top No. 2 seed? This debate feels real, with committee members pointing out that Gonzaga’s lone loss came on the road, by three points, to a top-10 RPI team in Arizona. Plus the Bulldogs have been blowing away their WCC foes by double digits. “Wouldn’t Wisconsin do the same if they were in that league?” one committee member asks. One committee member, though, insists that Gonzaga has better players (aka “the eye test) and wonders if the Zags should get credit for attempting to schedule hard (Memphis and UCLA were expected to be better). Worlock says the scheduling intent “can come into play” and, as for the eye test, “this is why every one of us watches hundreds of games.” We also wonder: Does a team get credit for “hanging with”‘ a tough opponent? And what’s more significant — a good win or a bad loss? (The answers to both: It’s up to each committee member.) The Badgers ultimately win out because of their 5-1 record against the RPI top 50 (impressive that Wisconsin played and beat Oklahoma, Georgetown, Boise State and Green Bay in the nonconference) and the ugly 67-62 loss at Rutgers is mollified because of injuries — Frank Kaminsky was out with a concussion and point guard Traveon Jackson left with a foot injury after 26 minutes. We keep scrubbing until we reach 19 and 20 on our seed list. Northern Iowa jumps Providence for the higher spot, with faux committee member Brian
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Hamilton of SI.com pointing out that the analytic KenPom.com rates the Panthers’ offense and defense among the nation’s 30 most efficient. “Plus,” as someone points out, “they killed Iowa.”
Step 4: Bracket buster The NCAA software is so cool. Run a cursor over Kentucky, No. 1 on our seed list, and we learn the mileage distances to the four regional sites: Los Angeles (2,167), Houston (1,002), Cleveland (332) and Syracuse (662). The best teams play closest to campus for the benefit of players and fans, but time zone is also a consideration. This also comes into play for sub-regional sites.
(Arizona is actually closer to Omaha, Neb., than Portland, Ore., but of course the Wildcats would rather stay west.) The overall consideration here is fairness. The committee wants the regions to be balanced (based on adding up the corresponding number next to each team on the seed list) and not force a highly seeded team like Gonzaga to have to travel to Charlotte, N.C., from Spokane, Wash. The process debunks the conspiracy theories, such as: The NCAA committee loves Duke, so it gets an easier draw. The principles and emphasis on geography reveal how little leeway there is in bracketing 68 teams, and sometimes the process requires teams
to go up or down one seed to complete the bracket. We do have one opportunity to create a juicy matchup: Valparaiso is among the No. 13 seeds that can be chosen to face No. 4 Baylor. That would create a coaching clash of brothers — Bryce Drew versus Scott Drew. We’re told that the real committee would never seek to do such a thing, but some of us are media types who realize there’s an entertainment component to all this. Worlock shakes his head but complies. “It’s your bracket,” he says. It is, indeed. Now bring in the pros.
R8
7NATION
MARCH 5 – MARCH 11, 2015
Blacks bear brunt of school suspensions Florida suspends its students more than any other state, both at the elementary and high school levels
greater use of suspension,” the report showed. “To the contrary, these data, along with several studies that tracked behavior ratings of students as well as disciplinary outcomes suggest that Black students are punished more harshly and more often for subjective minor offenses. Instead, researchers conclude that school policies and practices more than differences in behaviors, predict higher suspension rates.”
BY JAZELLE HUNT NNPA NEWS SERVICE
WASHINGTON (NNPA) – According to a report released last week, 3.5 million K-12 public school students were suspended in the 2011-2012 school year – enough to fill every stadium seat in Super Bowl 1 through Super Bowl 45. And Black children are bearing the brunt of these excessive suspensions. The report, “Are We Closing the School Discipline Gap?,” states, “Demographically, the seven highest-suspending districts all had majority Black enrollment, although the range was from 26 percent to 99 percent Black. Only one [of the seven highest], Taylor, Fla. was majority White, at 67 percent.” The research, conducted by the Civil Rights Project at UCLA, offers a detailed analysis of public school suspension over the last few years, with the data broken down by elementary and high school, district and state, race and gender, and language and learning ability. In the past two to five years, schools have made a concerted effort to avoid out-of-school suspensions for elementary schoolchildren, though it still happens. The reversal is not happening as fast at the high school level.
Black boys highest Black high school boys are suspended at the highest rate of all groups – 28.4 percent, compared to the 10 percent national average. Black high school girls follow at 17.9 percent (Native American and Latino boys come next, with 15 and 14 percent, respectively). Between 2002 and 2006, the suspension rate for Black girls increased at the highest rate of all groups.
State rankings
MIKE SIEGEL/SEATTLE TIMES/TNS
In the “ Focus Room” at Mill Creek Middle School in Kent, Wash., Assistant Principal Regina Hauptmann, left, works with a student who was serving an in-school suspension. For Black students with disabilities, the rates are even higher – 33.8 percent for Black high school boys, and 22.5 percent for girls – “shocking” enough to suggest that these students’ civil rights are being “unlawfully violated.” Out-of-school suspensions also feed the racial and economic achievement gap, and have farreaching effects on future outcomes. “…higher suspension rates are closely correlated with higher dropout and delinquency rates, and they have tremendous eco-
nomic costs for the suspended students, as well as for society as a whole,” the report explains. “Therefore, the large racial/ ethnic disparities in suspensions that we document in this report likely will have an adverse and disparate impact on the academic achievement and life outcomes of millions of historically disadvantaged children.”
Harsh punishments The starkness of the data has led schools, administrators, teachers and parents to believe
that Black children must be earning these suspension rates. But an examination of the data at the state and district level shows does not support this belief. For starters, Black students are enrolled in almost equal numbers in both high-suspending and lower-suspending states. Since 2009, suspensions in the 35 school districts with the lowest suspension rates have continued to decline. “In other words, readers would be wrong to assume that something about the behavior of Black elementary students requires
In addition to a race and gender analysis of the suspension data, the researchers examined and ranked the data, district by district and state by state. Florida suspends its students more than any other state, both at the elementary and high school levels. Other K-12 high suspending states with high suspension rates in both elementary and high schools were Mississippi, Delaware, Alabama, and South Carolina. Notably, Missouri is home to three of the highest-suspending school districts in the nation and has the highest Black-White discipline gap. Michael Brown, the unarmed Black teenager killed by a White policeman in Ferguson, Mo., was a graduate of Missouri’s Normandy School District, where students are suspended at a 48.4 percent rate. The worst districts for Black students in particular are Oklahoma City in Oklahoma, Cahokia CUSD 187 in Illinois, and Greenville Public Schools in Mississippi – where Black kids are suspended at 64, 63, and 59 percent, respectively. In Oklahoma City, that number is 75 percent for Black boys; in Cahokia, it’s 58 percent for Black girls. There were also districts that have done well in reducing outof-school punishments, especially among Black children, including: Edgewood ISD in Texas, Richmond County in Georgia, and Lawton County, Oklahoma. States with large Black populations that have improved over the last few years include Maryland, Pennsylvania and California.