[rickmichaels]

I think it's relevant to point out that the student is white.

[stuck_in_new_orleans]

bump

[Mr. Silverback]

Good news: Would be glad to freep any racist, especially at Westside, which is my wife's alma mater.

Bad News: Need more than this to go on. Do you have a news story you can point me to?

[Ken522]

The kid from South Africa doesn't know what it means to be black in America - automatic disqualification!(sarcasm ON)

[KineticKitty]

Is there more information on this in an article or another link somewhere?

[bolobaby]

I just like the fact that they were finally forced to say, "OK... we meant black!!!"

[NewHampshireDuo]

Outstanding sub-Saharan indiginous African-American?

[rovenstinez]

Then in Africa, if they had an American-African award, would by nature, the recipient need to be Caucausian? What if a Mexican in the USA on Hispanic day was really WHITE. Racism is different than cultural preference.

[litany_of_lies]

Additional e-mail addys of people quoted in the omaha.com article:

prupprecht@westside66.org
phutchings@westside66.org

---

My e-mail to those two (sent Thursday)--

Dear Ms. Rupprecht (cc: P. Hutchings),

Subject: You're Famous Now (re: African-Amercian award)

Your disciplinary action against those who put up posters promoting an African-American student born in South Africa for "African-American Student of the Year" made "Best of the Web," which you can link to from opinionjournal.com, or specifically:

http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110004584

From the facts as I see them, unless you have rules against postings of any kind regardless of content, you and your school are way out of line. The student in question is African (by birth!) and American (a citizen). By what stretch does encouraging students to support him (it would appear they can't vote themselves) constitute a reason for disciplinary action (again, unless you have rules against postings of any kind)?

Your goal apparently is to ensure that a black student receives the award. I suppose you could "fix" your "problem" by changing the name of the award to Black Student of the Year. Perhaps that's not PC enough--maybe, Person of Color of the Year? Oops, that won't work if you have persons of Oriental descent who excel (immature students like Ms. Tylena Martin might be offended). Black Student of the Year would open up the possibility that someone from the Caribbean might win-can't have that either. Boy, you've got a mess on your hands, don't you?

How about this? Have a Student of the Year, without consideration of skin color, only on accomplishment and content of character (sounds familiar-someone we celebrated a holiday for a couple of days ago was into that idea). What a concept.

Even if the students deserved discipline for unallowed postings, your attitude and your handling of the incident is what is "inappropriate and insensitive" (your quote from the omaha.com article), and your punishment of a person circulating a petition of support is straight from Orwell's Thought Police.

It appears that you've singlehandedly done more to alienate people from each other than any of the students involved ever could. Way to go.

---

FYI-Tylena Martin was one of the black students quoted in the Omaha.com article saying she was "hurt" and "offended" by the postings.

[Triple Word Score]

Beam me up, Scotty!

[Dante3]

White settlers arrived in South Africa in the 17th century. Isn't that long enough for them to be considered Africans?

[Lawgvr1955]

It sounds to me like the school is SOL as far as a legal basis for its actions. Hope the wrongly suspended students and the African-American kid sue the pants off the school.

It has long bothered me that the libs have an almost genetic need to turn things on their head. Brave soldiers are Nazis; Ted K. is a great American instead of the coward of Chappaquiddick; MLK's message of judging a person by the content of his heart instead of the color of his skin has been bastardized, etc.

[TheBattman]

Why was he suspended? I don't see how being nominated for something could make you guilty of anything- much less bad enough to get suspended.....

[the_daug]

Here is the article on th Omah Worl Herald web site.


http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u_pg=1640&u_sid=983292

[sistergoldenhair]

.

[ladylib]

This story from opinionjournal tops the awards fiasco as far as I'm concerned. I think the principal of the school would probably agree with the property manager. Seems like they're both cut from the same cloth:

"France is of like mind with Mary Jane Fullam, a property manager in Boynton Beach, Fla. Orlando's WKMG-TV reports that Fullam is ordering a pair of renters to remove the flag they've hung in their window or hide it behind the blinds. "That's why we give them the blinds," says Fullam. "If we let them hang their flag, then someone else could say, 'Hey, the people at 6107 have a flag. I worship the devil, so I should be able to fly my devil flag.' "