Flint high school students take college tour, get an unfortunate lesson on racism

[Newsjock]

Source: WJRT

What started off as an educational trip for a group of Flint high school students left them with an unfortunate lesson on racism.

Brittany Clerkley and a group of about 90 adults and teens were wrapping up a college tour. On their way back to Flint, their bus had mechanical issues. They ended up spending the night at the Econo Lodge in Live Oak, Florida.

Coordinator Blake Odum says right after dinner, is when the trip took a much different and disturbing tone. "It was owned by white people. And they started taking pictures of all the kids as we were walking in and out of the hotel," said student Melissa Blacque. "I heard one of the ladies, she said, 'If I see one more of them, I'm calling the law,'" Odum said.

Blacque says the students were peaceful, but felt uncomfortable at the hotel. "They were calling us the N word and called Blake the N word. We were just like 'whoa,'" Blacque said.

Read more: http://www.abc12.com/home/headlines/Flint-high-school-students-take-a-college-tour-and-get-an-unfortunate-lesson-on-racism--300024731.html

[forest444]

1. Oh, I wish I was in the land of cotton. Old times there are NOT FORGOTTEN.

Look away, look away, look away Dixie Land.

[villager]

2. "What do they *call* you in Philadelphia, boy?"

Not much has changed down Dixie way....

[forest444]

5. Tell me about it.

I lived in Oxford, MS, for several years (not far from the small town of Sparta referenced in the film). It's a college town and quite prosperous and cosmopolitan by Mississippi standards, and yet I lived there long enough to witness a black fraternity arson and a church bombing. You might also remember the riot that took place in Ole Miss on election night 2012 (which I wasn't there to see, fortunately).

In both cases, despite having fire stations within four blocks or so, the fire dept. took so long to get there, the several thousand square-foot buildings burned to the ground. These incidents both ultimately became "unsolved mysteries."

Even today, a controversy is raging over the firing of the school's current Chancellor, Dan Jones, for having voiced support for 'Obummercare'. Jones is a Republican, with impeccable good-ole-boy credentials and enormously popular among both students and staff. But he ruffled a lot of high-perched feathers by having the two brats that placed a noose around the James Meredith monument prosecuted (as opposed to playing possum, like his predecessor Gerald Turner did in the black frat arson case), and then committed the carnal sin of supporting anything with Obama's name on it.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/25/us/university-mississippi-ole-miss-dan-jones-ouster/index.html

[villager]

7. Ole' Miss. And by "Ole," we mean 1863 or so.

nothing, substantially, has changed.

[forest444]

8. While they don't all feel that way, a lot of right-wingers there really do pine for the Confederacy.

And will often tell you so to your face once they get a few drinks in them.

Someone else here on DU once described it as "Taramania" - you know, as in Gone With the Wind.

Definitely one of those "I wish I had come up with that one" moments.

[villager]

9. And frankly, we still give too much of a damn.

in terms of electoral strategy, political concessions, etc.

[forest444]

11. Not to mention federal dollars.

Mississippi, for instance, gets $2.34 in federal moneys for every dollar they pay into federal coffers; 44% of the state's budget is, in fact, paid for by Washington.

That makes them the most dependent state in the nation - and yet, Mississippians (to be fair, just the white Republicans) are some of the most vitriolic Americans you'll find against anything related to Uncle Sam. Unless you mention the military, of course.

I remember once reading Mississippi had the most casualties, per capita, in Dubya's wars than any other state.

It just never dawns on them. All they can think of is that other war - and how they lost to "them damn Yankees."

[villager]

12. Past is prologue. And for those white Mississippians, "past is future," as well....

n/t

[forest444]

14. Well said.

As Faulkner put it, the past is never dead; it's not even past.

And he should know. He had enough stories about the self-righteous local gentry to write a book (which, of course, he did).

[villager]

15. The Sound and the Fury, indeed.

And we keep living with the "Fury" part, watching our "democracy" corrode..

[forest444]

16. Yessir. That's the one.

If you're ever in Oxford, MS, in July, check out at least some of the Yoknapatawpha Festival - and of course the renowned Square Books. A true light in the darkness.

http://www.outreach.olemiss.edu/events/faulkner/

[villager]

17. Have only driven through it once. Years ago the Ex had a conference at U of Alabama.

We drove there and back while staying with a friend in New Orleans.

I still remember the sultry night. And watching all the people out in the evening.. going to McDonald's.

[forest444]

18. I remember those summers of theirs. Now that's the HEAT of the night.

Speaking of which, it's getting late for me.

Villager, I really enjoyed shooting the breeze. The most fun I've had on DU in a while.

Don't be a stranger, y'hear?

[greiner3]

49. In VA;

My GF's adult son said "Grant 'tricked' Lee into surrendering and that's why the South didn't lose the Civil War.

Then he said just kidding but knowing him he only said that because he was always wanting something and feared that I would hold his views against him.

Damn racists, living in their own Nanny State mentality!

[forest444]

53. It's their leadership.

You know, I must have heard that one about Lee -verbatim- a dozen times during my stint in Mississippi.

It stands to reason though, since they're constantly encouraged to parrot the same lines by the town elders, the church pastors, the local chambers of commerce, some of their schoolteachers, and of course their parents (the Republican ones, anyway).

There are of course, as Martin Luther King, Jr. put it, "millions of people of goodwill" in the white South; but as Dr. King himself noted, "their voice is yet unheard, their cause is yet unclear" - and why?

Fear of being ostracized, fear of losing business, one's job, and even of having children taken away (or in the case of African-American "loudmouths", their life outright). I'm not sure about Virginia, but that kind of coercion still takes place in Mississippi.

Just ask Ole Miss Chancellor Dan Jones - and he's a bona-fide good ole boy!

[DeSwiss]

3. K&R

[tblue]

21. Yeah! Works for me.

I'm sorry to all the wonderful Floridians. But if Bugs Bunny was going to saw off that state, I wouldn't fight it.

[KatyMan]

48. o/t but I loved Bugs growing up (born 66)

and that was one of my favorite cartoons, loved it when I was little, the whole sawing off Florida, decides to be 'more obnoxious than anybody'...

[mackerel]

4. Econo Lodge gladly took the money though

[shenmue]

6. Ay ay ay ay

[LittleGirl]

10. oh my

That's just awful that those kids had to experience that.
edit word

[McCamy Taylor]

13. As I've said many times, I stay the hell out of small southern towns. NOLA, Houston,

Atlanta, DC---they're fine. But I never venture into the tiny towns. There are two souths, one of them progressive and one reactionary.

[tblue]

22. Even some small towns in CA have given me the creeps.

Yeah, I don't go to those places.

[paleotn]

27. Didn't the Eagles write a song about that....

[Spitfire of ATJ]

19. What the HELL was she thinking "the law" was going to do?

Slap the black off of them?

[brer cat]

25. Definately the thread winner.

What in the HELL was she thinking, indeed.

[Cha]

20. This is Disgusting that there are people like this in the world. You know the ones..

those who think they're superior beings because they're white and hot shit because they're racist.

[xfundy]

23. On the one hand, it's somehow good they had their grandparents' stories of discrimination confirmed

so they can move into the future willing to fight it.

On the other hand, why does this shit still exist.

[BumRushDaShow]

24. ^^ THIS ^^

And another generation experiences 1st hand, one of the subjects of "the talk" that we AAs are forced to give our children in order for them to survive in the U.S.

[peacebird]

26. On the positive side - it was covered by major media. Slap the ignorant racists publically.

How many Econo Lodges in Live Oak, Fl? I bet twitter can make them take notice.....

[peacebird]

33. Twitter is ripping econo lodge apart

[Alkene]

35. This one?

Enjoy affordable rates in a convenient location when choosing the Econo Lodge® in Live Oak, FL. Our pet-friendly hotel is ideally located off of Interstate 10 near many area points of interest...

6811 N. US 129 & I-10, Live Oak, FL, 32060, US
Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]



https://www.choicehotels.com/florida/live-oak/econo-lodge-hotels/fl380

[peacebird]

47. That's where the racists are, yep

[dembotoz]

28. oh the trip was educational

[blackspade]

29. Racist weirdos

Welcome to the South, y'all!

[City Lights]

30. Unfuckingreal!

These knuckledraggers need to crawl back under a rock until they are fully evolved.

[1StrongBlackMan]

31. The article indicated that the group was in contact with the Econo-lodge corporate HQ ...

Let me provide you their response:

"Oh my! That's terrible. That conduct, in no way reflects our corporate philosophy. HOWEVER, this is an independently owned franchise. We have no control over their conduct. There is nothing we can do (but continue collecting our franchise fee). Please accept out most sincere apologies ... and this coupon for 15 cents off your next stay at one of our thousands of fine properties.

Ya'll come back now ... ya hear?

Love,

The Management"

[Kelvin Mace]

34. You have control over whether they KEEP their franchise

don't you?

[1StrongBlackMan]

42. Not really ...

Franchisers and franchisees operate under contract ... I doubt there is a contract term indicating being a racist idiot is a violation of the franchise agreement.

[Kelvin Mace]

43. There are definitely

clauses in the contract that deal with actions by franchisee which damage or disparage the brand. Being a racist idiot would meet that criteria.

[1StrongBlackMan]

44. Yeah, that's probably true. n/t

[47of74]

71. I thought I read not too long ago of a franchisee being terminated for bad behavior

Franchisors can be really touchy about bad behavior on the part of franchisees and will act pretty quickly to put the agreements in the shredder. It's because one bad franchisee can bring down the entire system.

[snpsmom]

32. They could have stayed in Michigan

and gotten treated similarly. In the rural part of the state where I live, there are plenty of white folks who would have treated them the same way.

[amandabeech]

37. I'm from a small town in Michigan, and I visit frequently.

A chaperoned high school group from Flint would have been treated politely at our Comfort Inn.

Not all small towns in Michigan are alike.

[snpsmom]

54. Well in the Thumb,

not far from Flint, it's very racist. Plenty of N-word to go around.

[amandabeech]

65. I never heard the "N" word growing up. n/t

[snpsmom]

69. We still hear it,

And we shut it down when we do.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

41. I lived in Battle Creek and even in the 70s the races got along great.

[MrScorpio]

51. My earliest experiences with racism came during my forays across 8Mile Road back in the day

In the 70's and 80's crossing the border out of Detroit into the suburbs was scary at best. Whites screaming "nigger" at me from passing cars, I even had cops stop me while I was on my bike as I was riding back home from Eastland Mall, because they want to check to see if I "stole" the bike that I bought with my own damn money.

Since I came back to Michigan in 2008, I have had these experiences, as black folks are more commonly seen up this way.

Funny thing, during my time down South, although I've seen plenty of Stars and Bars, no white person ever called my a "nigger" face. Suffice it to say that I never went to any small, out of the way, backwoods hamlet. I stuck to the bigger cities. As a matter of fact, Virginia was like a second home to me. I was very comfortable there.

However, I guess in Podunkistan, things change more slowly.

[treestar]

59. This is true

There are small towns everywhere in which this could happen.

[snooper2]

36. Phone: [phone]

Home > Florida > Live Oak
Econo LodgeSelected FavoriteGet Hotel Info
6811 N. US 129 & I-10, Live Oak, FL, US, 32060
Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]



Losers aren't answering the phone

[UpInArms]

40. cowardly bigots

this just makes me so mad

I thought our world would progress since 1970, but no.....

ABC12 reached out to the Econo Lodge, but our call was never returned.

"They should not get away with treating people like that," Clerkley said.

We asked Odum for the reason why the group did not switch to another hotel.

"The bus company put us at this hotel even though we advised them against it. We were advised by the daughter of the owner of the bus company. She said her dad wanted to put us there because that was the most cost effective. And we were looking at what was the most safe. And they didn't take that into consideration," he said.

[heaven05]

38. Not surprising

in the least....especially given THE FACT it was in zimpig territory.......

[jtuck004]

39. How dare they speak their minds? You should travel over in the West, and North. There

they won't say things like that to your face.

You will still be treated the same way, and the police will be a bigger threat if you try to come through without white skin, and if you look around there will be nearly no one who looks like you (take a hint). They will take your money, however. They aren't stupid.

But mostly they won't call you names. To your face, anyway. Just don't turn your back.

It helps us pretend the South is a more racist place so we can ride off on our high-horse of self-righteousness.

Don't you be fooled.

[demwing]

60. Research Proves The South IS more racist

Don't fool yourself -

This Study Said the South Is More Racist Than the North
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/06/south-more-racist-north

"Is it the government's submission that the citizens of the South are more racist than the citizens of the North?" John Roberts, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, asked that in February during oral arguments over the fate of the Voting Rights Act, a 1965 civil rights law.

<<SNIP>>

Certainly plenty of people outside of the South are racist, and plenty of people in the South are not. But here's the trouble: There's social-science evidence that, 150 years after the Civil War, Southern states do have bigger racism problems than states outside the South. And many of them are the same states that the VRA requires to seek federal approval before changing their voting laws.

The key study on this subject is new. In May, Christopher Elmendorf and Douglas Spencer—law professors at the University of California-Davis and the University of Connecticut, respectively—released a paper arguing that the list of states required to obtain federal approval under the VRA "remarkably" mirrors "the geography of anti-black prejudice" in the United States. "What we have generated," Elmendorf says, "is an answer to the question that the chief justice asked during oral arguments and was either unable or unwilling to answer." The answer, they argue, is yes.

[oberliner]

64. The South has way more diversity than the North

The 10 states with the highest population of African-Americans (by percent of total population) are all in the South.

The 10 states with the lowest population of African-Americans (by percent of total population) are all in the North.

In Vermont, for instance, African-Americans make up less than 1 percent of the population.

In Mississippi, African-Americans make up close to 40 percent of the population.

[demwing]

67. What are you saying?

Read the Mother Jones article. The research is real. Racism is greater in the South.

To say that the Northern and Western states are less racist because they have less racial diversity is only a step away from saying that racial diversity causes racism.

So again, what are you saying?

[oberliner]

68. Racism often manifests itself when different races encounter one another

I did read the Mother Jones article. It addresses only one study.

That study concludes "Southern states do have bigger racism problems than states outside the South" - which I am not disputing.

I am just suggesting that one would expect to find more incidents of racism among populations that are not 99 percent white (like Vermont).

One is not born a racist. If one lives in a world where one does not encounter anyone of another race, I would imagine one would be less likely to hold the racist attitudes indicated in the survey.

What do you think accounts for the people in northern states holding less racist views than those in southern states?

[frylock]

45. Today in post-racial America

[lark]

46. Lake City is an awful place.

It's just ole' country boy n girl rednecks. Few full sets of teeth are seen. I try to avoid that part of the state.

[shireen]

50. we need to map places like that

The officer pulled me to the side and said, 'You know, I just want to let you know this area right off the interstate, people aren't too accommodating to you all.' And he said, 'If you know what I mean.' I said, 'Black people?' And he said, 'Yeah,'" Odum said.

I'd love to see a map of the US with such areas identified. They need to be exposed.

[Maedhros]

52. Someone should make a BigotFinder app for smartphones. [n/t]

[oberliner]

55. They took a bus from Michigan to Florida and back?

Obviously the racism displayed is disgusting, but I'm trying to get a sense of the trip.

Is this during the school year? That's a lot of days on a bus. I'm not sure I understand the logistics of this college tour.

[csziggy]

56. It sounded as though they were stopping at various colleges on the way

To Florida and back. That could be an efficient way to let a lot of kids look at a lot of college choices.

When my oldest sister was checking out colleges, my parents planned a route that took us from Florida to North Carolina to Houston, Texas with stops in between. She ended up choosing one and hour away from home for her undergraduate but the trip to NC paid off when she picked Duke for her graduate program.

[oberliner]

57. Right, but is that something done through the high school?

It seems unusual to take 90 kids out of school and take them on a tour of colleges via bus from Michigan to Florida and back. Unless it was done over a break or something - but then was it a school sponsored trip?

This is not to take away or deflect from the seriousness of the racism these kids encountered, I just am trying to understand what the deal was with this trip. Flint to Jacksonville is over a thousand miles. Assuming they were stopping at various colleges along the route, the trip had to take a couple of weeks, right?

I've just never heard of a high school doing something like that - maybe it happens all the time, that's why I'm asking.

[bigworld]

58. No, it's a privately organized weeklong thing

where they seem to stop at a few colleges, Daytona Beach, and a civil rights museum. Price: $400

http://blakeodum.weebly.com/annual-college-tour-info.html

[oberliner]

62. Thanks for posting that!

Makes total sense now.

[csziggy]

61. It may be something that schools pushing students to go to college promote

I found an article about this tour from when they were doing fund raising for it:

Spring Break College Tour turns to crowd-funding to help students visit colleges across country
By Kurt Nagl | [e-mail]
on February 10, 2015 at 5:31 PM, updated February 10, 2015 at 5:32 PM

GENESEE COUNTY, MI - The Sixth Annual Spring Break College Tour aims to give more than 100 high school students a chance to see the world, and educational opportunities, outside of Genesee County.

The trip, organized by the Blake E. Odum Motivational Foundation of Flint, aims to introduce students to a variety of out-of-state universities to help broaden their scope of potential colleges.

Trip organizer Blake Odum said usually 50 students and 10 chaperones go on the trip, but this year there will be 110 students and 15 chaperones.

<SNIP>

Slated for April 6 to 12, students on the trip will travel to Florida and visit these universities: Fisk University, Tennessee State University, Meharry Medical, Alabama State University, Alabama A & M University, Florida A & M University and Bethune Cookman University.

http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2015/02/spring_break_college_tour_turn.html

I've heard that many students only consider colleges close to them even if those are not the most likely to provide scholarships or the best for their planned majors. A college tour like this would show them more possibilities. And as mentioned in the article having the students meet with the admissions people at the colleges can improve their chances of being admitted.

If they were visiting Florida A & M, I wonder how they got to Lake City? Maybe they went to University of Florida as well?

[oberliner]

63. Sounds great

It's a shame the students on such a cool trip had to deal with such blatant racism and hatred.

[csziggy]

66. Lake City is a pit, but so is Perry, Florida

And those are the two towns you have to go through when going from Tallahassee (where I live and where Florida A & M University is) to the rest of Florida. Since I hate interstates, we end up driving down US 27/19/98 and through Perry and a bunch of little towns. I can see how for a bus taking the interstate and going past Lake City is preferable.

If they hadn't stopped in Lake City, the next place would have been Valdosta, Georgia which may not have been much better.

Racism sucks.

[47of74]

70. I hope that hotel's franchise agreement is making a one way trip to the shredder.