District Apologizes To Student Identified As 'Black Girl' In Yearbook

[shawn703]

A North Texas school district has apologized to a student identified only as "Black Girl" in a high school yearbook photo of the school's National Honor Society.

All white students are identified by name in the photograph in the Waxahachie High School yearbook distributed Friday.

The teen identified as "Black Girl" is the only black student in the photo.

Waxahachie school district spokeswoman Candace Ahlfinger said the district and the school board issued an immediate apology when the caption was reported.


more...
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/education/4520186/detail.html?rss=dgo&psp=nationalnews

[Arugula Latte]

1. Wow.

That is truly disgusting and pathetic.

[GalleryGod]

2. Dick Armey's "Barney Fag" comment come to mind?

If I offended anybody by my remarks, I aplogize to them.

Typical Texas Shiite:puke: :argh:

[CottonBear]

3. Damn. That is so awful and racist.

I can't imagine how the minds of these people work.
:shrug:

edit: Add a comment.

"Ahlfinger said the caption apparently was intended as a placeholder until the yearbook staff could identify the student..."

How could they not have know the name of the only black National Honor Society member? There couldn't have been very many members.

[Solly Mack]

4. unreal

:banghead:

[JI7]

5. so what name do they use for placeholders for white students ?

was it only the black student they were unable to indentify ? if so why ?

what name did they use as a placeholder for white students they had yet to identify as ?

the whole thing just sounds weird. especially since it ended up in the actual yearbook. almost like it was intentional on the part of some.

[shanti]

28. i've seen them

make one up if they don't have one.

[Ian David]

71. The Top 10 List of Other placeholders they used

10)Fat Chick
9) Chemo Boy
8) Pimple-face boy
7) Handicapped kid
6) Pimple-faced person of unknown gender
5) Bastard child of mixed-race parents
4) Jew Boy
3) Lazy-eye
2) Other Black Girl
1) Our super-spectacular and wonderful Yearbook Editor

[tavalon]

111. Ow

but on the money.

[Dora]

6. OMG

White privilege raises its STOOPID flag yet again.

Reprinting four pages! Those fuckers should recall every single one of those yearbooks, and reprint every single page.

I hope she sues. Apologies aren't enough to prevent future stoopidity.

[Skittles]

49. yes, they need to bite it and reprint the yearbook

it's just shameful

[underthedome]

53. Suing only hurts the school system and is not the answer

If someone sues a public intuition every time one of their workers does something dumb then the system will break, it’s not the solution. How about mandatory cultural classes or something to that effect, not more lawsuits!

[Straight Shooter]

57. I disagree. I say sue, and let discovery depositions reveal the story.

Sometimes you need to learn the facts under oath. If it's stupidity, then it's stupidity. But if it's wanton disregard for the feelings of this girl, then it should be punished.

Sometimes people need to pay in order to get their conscience working properly.

[underthedome]

61. Is using the term "black girl" a punishable offense?

?

[Straight Shooter]

65. I don't know what laws are on the books. That's for a jury to decide.

How about "Jewish boy"? How about "Muslim girl"? How about "obese boy"?

To offend one of a group is to offend the entire group. This is not a trivial matter.

I'm sorry, I've got to go back to work. Peace.

[underthedome]

68. How are those offensive?

Black, Jew, and Muslim, aren't offensive terms in our society but real life lables, now obese is a perception and judgement call and may be found offensive.

Good luck with work. Peace.

[mwb970]

112. I'm having trouble seeing why "black girl" is offensive.

She is black, and she is a girl. Is it the combination that is so troubling?

If she was the only black girl, and they didn't know her name when they wrote the caption, I can see why they put that as a placeholder. But it was certainly a dumb, careless mistake to leave it in. They should reprint the book, especially now that there has been a fuss.

[LiberalFighter]

114. School size about 1300

Having attended a high school with about 1500 students I knew who were the high profile students whether they were jocks, brainiacs or otherwise.

[Karenina]

122. Honor Society student/ black female...

Being the only black face in a sea of white ones was my daily experience till 10th grade. No one on the yearbook staff knew her name??? Things that make ya go hmmm... (My senior class was more than 1500, HUGE BOOK!) But to quote the famous Judy Tenuto, "It could happen..."

My heart goes out to this girl, how simply AWFUL and HUMILIATED she must have felt. The school spokesman is correct in the points his apology covers, making no excuses.

HWNN posted this report from the local paper:

http://waxahachiedailylight.com/articles/2005/05/23/dailylight/news/06%205_23%20yearbook.prt

They handled it well, imho. Wish I could give the girl a (((BIG HUG))), knowing much too well how emotionally DEVASTATING those little "oversights" can be... :cry:

[Dora]

116. Speaking as a white girl....

If the tables were turned....

If I were a white girl in a black man's world...

If I were going to school learning about
- white history
- white politics
- white culture

If that history included learning that my white brethren
- were enslaved (within the last 150 years)
- were denied the right to vote
- were segregated
- were lynched
- were the victims of violence organized by groups of black men determined to prevent us from exercising our freedoms

If, in this predominantly black school, I was the only white student in an academic honors organization that (in all likelihood) has always had a majority of black members...

and they LABELED me "white girl" rather than taking the time to go to the registrar's office and learn my goddamn name...

You're damn straight I'd be "offended."

[Name removed]

128. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Bandit]

120. You don't believe this young girl has been emotionally scarred for life

Naive is the kindest thing I can say about your input.

[underthedome]

149. Oh God :eyes:

Scarred for life for being labeled a black girl, how insulting!!

[Karenina]

154. Your post

made me so sad...

[CarefullyLiberal]

72. Interesting solution...

Dora, I find your solution curious.

Tell me if you would, what is "black girl" going to sue for, was she harmed? And if she sues, who is she, I mean who is her lawyer going to sue? Sue the school, yeah, that's good. Sue the school so they have less money to spend next year. Sue an individual for making a mistake? How much should her lawyer sue for, 10 million?

It was a dumb mistake but it was minor. I doubt that Al Sharpton and Jessie "never part of the solution" Jackson would agree with me.

Personally I think they are going overboard by reprinting the four pages. An apology should be adequate.

Regards,

-Fergus

[onenote]

75. an apology is not sufficient

if for no other reason than the fact that the school owes it to the student involved that she get the recoginition that she earned to be identified as a National Honor Society member. Re-doing the pages is the right thing to do.

onenote

[CarefullyLiberal]

84. I was asking Dora...

but thank you for your opinion, onenote. Every bit of discussion helps.

-Fergus

[goclark]

108. This little black girl finds it offensive

and, as an educator, there is NO excuse for the student being identified in that manner.

[SemperEadem]

105. No, they should reprint

It is a matter of common decency, integrity and 'home training'. It's one thing to not have it--it's another thing to be very proud of the fact that you don't.

If they had any integrity at all, the person overseeing the book printing would have caught it. They had no problem getting all of the names for all of the other beige faces right---one black student AND a member of the honor roll and they can't get that one thing right? It's mediocrity in it's full glory.

Seems like they don't have enough integrity to cover a flea.

[Dora]

117. I hate to repeat myself (see #116) but I will anyways.

But I'll give you this with an addendum:

If the tables were turned....

If I were a white girl in a black man's world...

If I were going to school learning about
- white history
- white politics
- white culture

If that history included learning that my white brethren
- were enslaved (within the last 150 years)
- were denied the right to vote
- were segregated
- were lynched
- were the victims of violence organized by groups of black men determined to prevent us from exercising our freedoms

If, in this predominantly black school, I was the only white student in an academic honors organization that (in all likelihood) has always had a majority of black members...

and they LABELED me "white girl" rather than taking the time to go to the registrar's office and learn my goddamn name...

You're damn straight I'd be "offended."

I'd be on the phone with the ACLU and the NAAWP (Nat'l Assoc for the Adv. of WHITE People) so freaking fast your head would spin.

It is UNFORGIVEABLE in THIS DAY AND AGE for one of our PUBLIC SCHOOLS, which are supposed to be BASTIONS OF TOLERANCE, DIVERSITY, AND UNDERSTANDING, to be PERPETUATING THIS BLATANTLY RACIST bullshit.

Now, I understand that "black girl" was used only as an identifier, not as a derogative. But the THOUGHTLESSNESS and DISREGARD and DISCOURTESY required to make such a boneheaded maneuver MUST BE STOPPED so that this doesn't happen anymore.

And if that means suing the pants off the school district so that their administration and their lawyers wake up and smell the stink of racism coming off their campuses then so be it. Perhaps they'll have to pony up a few million bux. Perhaps no monetary award, but perhaps there would be mandated changes to curriculum, perhaps mandated diversity awareness coursework for everyone from the schoolboard to the custodial staff (though the custodial staff probably wouldn't need it as they're likely underpaid people of color themselves). It happened to Denny's restaurants, and it could happen to Waxahachie USD if they don't watch their asses.

BTW. Schools and districts carry insurance policies to cover their asses in cases like this. No money would be lost from precious activities like football or YK (Young Klan). And as far as monetary awards are concerned, what price would you put on your dignity? How much is your culture worth to you? How much would you be willing to sell your pride for in order not to rock the boat? These are rhetorical questions: don't bother answering them because I don't care.

[onenote]

118. why not diversity awareness for all?

You don't think racism has infiltrated the thinking and behavior of people of color? Then how do you explain this:

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2005/05/18/m1a_skyearbook_0518.html


onenote

[Dora]

121. Your question is off-topic

and a reference to a parenthetical and flip remark in my post.

Hereby deemed not worthy of response other than this: If you have a serious question, ask it.

[onenote]

129. excuse me

but I missed the flippancy in your comment and I don't think my post is at all off-topic. I think the publication of a yearbook identifying an African American student only as "Black girl" is very unfortunate and that the school should bear the cost of reprinting, at very least, the page(s) in question. However, my point is that yearbook screw ups happen all the time for a variety of reasons with a variety of motivations. I don't know enough to assess the intent of the parties that intentionally/unintentionally caused this to happen any more than I have the ability to assess what was in the minds of the white girl and African-American male that posed for the Florida yearbook. But my point is that if we're going to assume that anything that looks racially insensitive is in fact the result of racial insensitivity and should result in some sensitivity awareness training (which might well be a good idea), everyone could benefit from that training.

onenote

[Dora]

150. Here's an apology

for splattering my mood all over you.

I disagree with you. If somebody doesn't "mean" to make a racist comment, that doesn't excuse the racist nature of the comment. My boss makes classist and subtle but demeaning remarks to me often - I know that she doesn't intend to, but she doesn't intend not to, which is just as bad, if not worse.

The example you cited was oranges to this discussion's apples, IMO. It involved immaturity and differing senstivities between generations (mother/son), whereas the topic of this thread involves thoughtlessness and implicit racism on the part of the adults involved with supervising the production of a h.s. yearbook.

Speaking as a white woman, I know that it is my responsibility to stop white-on-color oppression in any way I can. That means calling out my husband when he uses a person's color to identify them, and making sure I don't use a person's racial/gender/political minority status as their sole identifier myself. It can be done. But it requires thought and awareness and personal discipline. And I believe that we should expect and demand these qualities from our educators and our schools, and if they are found lacking, taking measures to ensure that they aren't lacking in the future.

And, yes, racism is colorblind. So I agree with you there. But again, my remark was parenthetical and flip (next time I'll use the sarcasm emoticon). Everyone could benefit from learning how to stop the racist train from running. But in this country, it's the responsibility of the white community to take the lead on this. We can start by not making excuses for racist actions by saying "Oh, but they didn't intend it like that."

[CarefullyLiberal]

126. "don't bother answering them because I don't care"

Okay.

-Fergus

[doc05]

158. For the love of Christ.....

Stop breaking the prozac in half.

[wicket]

7. I worked on the yearbook in high school

We would proof, proof and proof some more- and then send off the proofs to the printing company and they would send back a test print that we would check for errors. How the heck did something like this get through?? I feel terrible for that girl.

[tammywammy]

14. I can see how this happened

I was the editor of my high school yearbook. And we did proof after proof. While making the page, on the computer we'd put unknown or something (never anything like "black girl"). Then after identifying the student, we'd place in her name.

Now, some times we were on a deadline to send that page off, if the only thing that was missing was the Unknown name, we'd send that page off to the printer, knowing we could correct it on the proof that came back. When we got the proof, we'd change the name on the page and disk and send it off for the final print for the book. (Also let me state that the high school I went to had over 4000 students, so it was entirely possible that we wouldn't not know a student's name, esp since we prided ourselves on not having a yearbook full of pics from only the "popular" people.)

Now what happened to us, is that we'd make changes on the proof (paper and disk) and those changes wouldn't get corrected at the printer. It happens, and my senior year, it happened a lot (to where the printer had to reimburse part of the printing cost to the school). We never had anyone left with Unknown, but we did have sections where no names were listed (on a group picture of the orchestra and other places).

On regular candid pictures, it was up to the photographer to get names and they could have lost those notes. But on professional group pictures, it was either up to us or the sponsor to name the students.

I think this was an unfortunate mistake, and I truly hope it was a mistake. But the school should be naming the unknown people unknown, or girl with blue shirt or girl in ponytail, not "black girl."

[Ratty]

45. I just can't see it as an "unfortunate mistake"

Though I understand your point I think. I don't think it's the fault of the school, and I hope the family doesn't sue them. But I do suspect they have somebody rather nasty on their yearbook committee. I'd like to think that person is caught and punished. They may not have intended the label to make it to print but simply putting it there in the first place is inexcusable.

I worked on the staff of our high school's creative writing journal. There was limited space and though we tried to put as much as we could in, some things had to be rejected. We had some truly awful submissions as you can imagine. So we divided the submissions up and critiqued them. Among ourselves we were pretty callous in our critiques. Despite our jokes most of us had a good understanding of what a high school creative writing magazine was for and our responses to the applicants were measured, thoughful and above all kind. One member got carried away with the "fun" and his private comments made it, in writing, into the hands of some of the applicants. Needless to say the advisor was livid and it was a very ugly few days and something of a cloud surrounded the publication of the magazine.

Nowdays I'm very careful about private joking around in situations such as this. A professional attitude at all times, even in private, is the best bet.

[tammywammy]

92. If this was the result of a nasty student

I hope that they're punished, along with the advisor that over saw this. Our advisor, checked each page that went to print.

What would have been best, is using Unknown, not black girl. Also when the book came out the advisor should have looked over the entire book page by page. They should have caught this, and gotten stickers with her correct name and had students place that over "black girl" before any copy was handed out.

[proud2BlibKansan]

63. I was thinking the same thing

I was also on the yearbook. No way would this have happened at my high school.

[Ian David]

77. Let me share with you a page from my High School Yearbook

Each graduating senior got 1/2 page for their class picture, plus any other reasonable photos or text they wanted to include.

Look at what this guy did:



It wasn't readily apparent unless you held it at arm's length. But someone carefully entered his text precisely as he asked them to.

For his trouble, he was not allowed to attend commencement. He was also awarded something like a Certificate of Graduation instead of a Diploma.

[Bunny]

80. I'm sorry, I can't figure it out. What does it spell?

[shawn703]

87. F*** you all n/t

[Bunny]

93. Ahhhh, now I can see it!

Thanks!

[Hand]

119. HAR HAR HAR!!!!

OUTSTANDING! A big :toast: to this troublemaker genius! :rofl:

[HughBeaumont]

131. Who's "Molly Htchet"?

And it ain't like they didn't have enough space below or to the right where they could fit the group's name.

[cindyw]

8. Betcha I know how it happened.

I worked on a yearbook and I have worked in documentary research. Part of the process is to put your layout together and create the page or scene without the captions for all the photos. This is very similar to creating a power point with placeholders for the text to be filled in later. Often one puts placeholders there. In our case, if you don't know the person you often use descriptions like, unknown girl, girl in blue shirt or guy with shaved head. I assure you we never put black girl as a place holder, but you can see how in the process someone could forget to go back and change the text to reflect the persons name.

[Demit]

11. That's why they have fucking proofreaders, for BEFORE something is printed

That's why they have teachers overseeing yearbook production--to keep kids with no experience from making bonehead mistakes like this. That's why pros put the initials FPO on top of copy that isn't camera-ready. It tells everybody--the printer, at last resort-- this item is for position only and MUST NOT PRINT.

[cindyw]

13. Oh exactly, I was just trying to come up with a theory of how it got

there in the first place.

[Demit]

22. It's obvious how it got there. It doesn't require a theory.

ANYBODY who does print production knows exactly what happened. The school is egregiously negligent for not doing the first thing anybody involved in printing anything knows to do, and that is proofread. ESPECIALLY with teenagers whom you can expect might try to pull a fast one (not this, I mean, but some prank). Stupid, stupid, stupid.

[tammywammy]

20. I agree

but as I stated above, what happened to me (editor of the yearbook) we corrected something on the final proof, and the printer didn't correct it on their end before printing. It happens. Our school was on block scheduling (4 1-1/2 hr classes each day) and it's know in the yearbook as black scheduling. It was a typo, that was corrected that the printer didn't correct.
(BTW the printer had to reimburse a lot of money to the school because of said mistakes).

Oh, and this was also one of the top yearbook printers, not a mom and pop. So, I can see where this was just a mistake. And I fault the school for using a place holder of "black girl" and not "unknown."

[Demit]

25. Experienced print production people have a series of fail-safes

When you send back the marked-up proof, and corrections are only to the copy, you ask for a final blueline to make sure the AA's were made. THAT'S what you sign off on; THAT'S your contract proof. You take a chance signing off on something that's not letter-perfect.
If you corrected something on the "final" proof and didn't ask for a really really final proof, that was on you and you were damned lucky the printer made good. He probably just decided to eat it for the big client account and/or goodwill.

"Just mistakes" are expensive. As I hope this school finds out.

[tammywammy]

35. We didn't get another "final" proof

That's how it was. You got your blue line, and corrected it. We kept complete copies off all corrections and prints of what the pages were to look like. But that was it. I worked on the yearbook staff from junior high through graduation, and two different printers, and never did we get another blue line. Maybe things have changed in the 6 years since I've graduated, but this was how it was then.

And I'd say the printer ate his mistakes, because we were a big client. But then he also never sent another blue line for us to "double check" what was on their systems. The corrections we made to the blue lines weren't uploaded into their systems, they ran the originals sent off.

I'm just saying how it was when I did it. I can see how this mistake can be made, and it's horrible. But I also think labeling and unknown student "black girl" is horrible.

[Demit]

62. Then whoever was advising you screwed up.

You don't sign off on a proof in the hopes that the printer will correct whatever corrections you made to it. You demand a final proof. That's what the hell the word proof means--prove to me you made the changes. A "proof" is what's pulled from the plate that will be what the the final printed pieces are made from. Once you see that, you know you can put your initials on it, because that's the plate they're going to wrap around the cylinders of the printing press to print your yearbooks.

I am not questioning your experience as a schoolkid. I'm telling how the professional process goes, and whoever was overseeing yours didn't know enough about it. They were the ones who fucked up; not you, not your printer.

[Ian David]

78. May be an Urban Legend, but have you heard about the Rich Bastard letter?

The story is this:

A guy at a direct mail marketing firm was composing a letter targeted at a more affluent market.

Prior to completing the "Mail Merge," he used the phrase "Dear Rich Bastard" in the greeting.

Well, he replaced all the placeholders with their proper Mail Merge fields except for one.

Thousands of letters went out addressed to "Dear Rich Bastard."

Snopes rates is as "undetermined:"

http://www.snopes.com/business/consumer/bastard.asp

[Spazito]

16. And they couldn't think of a better descriptor than 'black girl'?

That says it all, imo.

[cindyw]

23. Oh no doubt. It certainly says something about the person who put

it there. Every once and a while people are caught revealing their stupid prejudice when they least expect it.

[gtar100]

51. Yep!! That says it all

I could come up with several. Gee, right off the top of my head pops "GET NAME OF THIS STUDENT" .... stands out for the proofreaders.

[slackmaster]

69. I did something along those lines at work ONLY ONCE

I was in a hurry working on a draft of an Instructor's Guide for a technical class. Naturally some of the information I needed was missing, so I typed in:

"Some other crap goes here."

It went out to the client that way. That was embarrassing.

:scared:

[TroglodyteScholar]

115. L - O - L ! (n/t)

[Demit]

9. They didn't mean it maliciously, you see.

They just meant it in a "who cares who she is? She's not one of us" kind of way.

Insert drippy sarcasm icon here.

[WI_DEM]

10. An Apology?

more than that should be done. Who was in charge of the yearbook? I'm sorry but that is unacceptable.

[postulater]

18. How about the school pays her four years in college?

[underthedome]

55. ??? uhh no

....

[oasis]

12. Waxahachie makes a leap backward to the times of "Places in the Heart".

Or did they ever leave?

[jojo54]

15. I bet there would be holy hell to pay

if this happened to a fundie. The caption would have said "right wing bible thumper" and the radical right would have had a field day in court!

on edit>this girls family should sue the pants off the school. It's their responsibility to make sure everything is in order!

[sui generis]

17. not condoning it, but it would be kind of cool

talk about a one of a kind yearbook!

If it was me, I'd show up at the next highschool reunion wearing a nametag that said, "Girl, Black"

I don't buy the "missing name" placeholder story though. Some ugly little human probably thought it would be funny to do a setup like that and then forgot it was in the galleys.

[oasis]

21. Since you think it's so cool, you can still do that.

:eyes:

[sui generis]

24. oh please roll your eyes somewhere else

if someone put "gay boy" under my picture I'd laugh about it too - what's the point of taking it so seriously? It's wrong, got that, but the harm continues if you continue to take harm from it.

:eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes:
:eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes:
:eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes::eyes:

[oasis]

29. It's not a news item because the girl, her family or the school district

thought it was a laughing matter, it's a news item because of the insensitivity (racism).

The "harm continues" when we don't consider the harm that insensitivity does to others.

:pals:

[sui generis]

33. I wasn't trying to be insensitive

and I know that some better (less lame) explanations need to be put forth by the yearbook company, as well as a plan to keep something like this from happening again, but there is also some lemonade that can be made from this.

Personally, after I got over the dismay I would have thought it quite unique! Even though the "mistake" removed my individual name, it would still be a one-of-a-kind memento. I'm pretty well adjusted - and so are my friends. It would take more than a yearbook caption under one photo to make me have a bad life - and I'd sign as many yearbooks as I could get my hands on, with both my real name and my captioned name. Give my kids something to talk about! Now I have some yearbook photos that I'd kill to have replaced . . . but I can laugh at those too.

:pals:

[Tansy_Gold]

86. A high school yearbook is a one-time thing

It's your memento of what may have been good or may have been bad times.

This girl may (or may not) have been the first in her family to achieve NHS membership. What does she have to show for it?

I can't imagine any group picture being submitted to a yearbook staff without all individuals being clearly identified. I can't imagine any reason, other than perhaps latent racism, for even TEMPORARILY identifying one person as "black girl," "tall geek," "kid with glasses." You put in "UNKNOWN" until you get the name, and you get that name right away.



(edit typo)

[Karenina]

123. Ohhh, TG it's just a tiny mistake...

a little "oversight..."

The school administrator was correct in saying "We can never minimize the damage..." Some seem unable to empathize or identify with how incredibly DESTRUCTIVE these inadvertent "errors" are. Given a strong support system, "Black girl" may look back at this and laugh. I pray that she figures out how to handle it. (I never have.) Being subjected to these "misunderstandings" repeatedly (she's smart and motivated so she certainly WILL BE) produces its own particular post-traumatic stress...

[sui generis]

124. Nonetheless

the damage has been done. All I can say is what I would do if it were me.

I never said it wasn't some form of racism, and no doubt there is a solution, but the damage has been done. In my mind, how you deal with the incident after the fact is more important than the fact that the incident happened at all.

Again, all I can say is what I would do if it were me. Suing the world for being racist is not the answer.

And once you get old enough to figure out that life is full of "once in a lifetimes", yearbooks take on less and less importance in the scheme of things. She is going to have to get over it, and I'm sure she will. This incident is not endemic of the real world and quite frankly we're the ones being the most hysterical about it.

:puffpiece:

[Karenina]

132. You're a funny kid

I think I'm in love. :silly: :loveya: :silly:

You're spot on up to "This incident is not endemic of the real world..."
It IS, IS, IS!!! This is just another public manifestation. However, that reality supports your point about finding a way to DEAL WITH IT.

I think where sensitive people get their chains jerked is at the immediate attempts to minimalize the incident. "This town isn't racist, it was just an honest regrettable mistake." It was quite likely a senior prank. Shit happens. Yes, the damage has been done.

[genieroze]

19. What the heck is wrong with these people?. eom

[0007]

27. Only Bill O'Rielly knows!

[SemperEadem]

107. what's wrong with them? No integrity.

[ogradda]

26. I guess "Jane Doe"

Isn't stylish anymore.:shrug:

[Horse with no Name]

30. Before everyone gets their panties in a wad

My kids attended Waxahachie High School.
It is NOT a redneck town full of racists. There are alot of nice people in this town. I cannot think of one incidence of racism during the entire time we lived there.
There are a substantial number of minority kids in this town of all varieties and they were equally represented in clubs and organizations. It is NOT a small school so I could understand one of the kids not knowing another kid's name.
My daughter marched in the Macy parade with this school and the band alone has over 300 kids in it and I would venture to say that some of them did not even know each other's names--even as close as they were.
I don't believe this was anything more than a stupid mistake done while putting together a yearbook, which isn't an easy task.
It was wrong--no doubt, but I have a hard time finding that it was malicious after having lived there.

On edit: One of their students that went to school with my kids was killed in Iraq. He is of Albanian descent. This is what these kids do in remembrance of him, even though his family moved and he ended up graduating in Ft. Worth. Do you think if this town was redneck and racist, that they would celebrate the life of a minority student?

http://www.tascosoccer.org/2006Tournaments/Women/2nd_annual_ervin_dervishi_memori.htm

[AirAmFan]

32. Really? In Texas? "Not one incidence of racism?" I wonder whether

"Black Girl" agrees with you. For one thing, I wonder how many photos and pictures of the Confederate Swastika are in that yearbook.

[Horse with no Name]

34. Did you deliberately attempt to hijack what I said?

I never said there wasn't "one incidence of racism in Texas"
what I said was there wasn't one incidence of racism that I was aware of when my kids went to school there.
I've lived in racist towns in Texas--and I would tell you which ones they were. This doesn't happen to be one of them.
As far as your concerns of swastikas--I can assure you there aren't any.

[Orion The Hunter]

36. I hate to burst your bubble...

Horse with no name, but I think you meant to say "not one <OVERT>incidence of racism" in the town in which you live. Clearly this "black girl" reference could be a symptom of underlying prejudice lurking beneath the surface (a fact which plagues all of America, not just your home town).

[Horse with no Name]

39. Not bursting a bubble

Just trying to clarify that not all towns in Texas have knuckle dragging, sheet wearing certified members of the KKK as members and I totally resent the stereotype. That is just as offensive to me as notating "black girl" is to you.
As I stated, it was wrong, however after living in the town, I think it was simply the fault of poor judgement and not one of maliciousness. There is a difference.
Not sure if you have kids in high school--but I see very little if any prejudice lurking beneath the surface of kids in high school these days. Many kids come through my house and they are all very sensitive to prejudice and certainly don't practice it. But then again, my kids tend to hang around kids of liberal values.
The prejudice that I see is mainly in their parents and grandparents.

[msmcghee]

38. HWNN - Your version makes more sense to me.

If there were several students in that group and only one was black - I can understand a student staffer using "black girl" as a placeholder since that is probably the most obvious characteristic that could be easily seen in the photo by students working on the layout. As in, "Don't forget to get the name of the black girl in this group" - which someone obviously failed to do.

Prejudice comes in many forms. One of those is to assume that anything like this that happens in Texas is due to racism.

BTW - I attended Richardson Junior/Senior High back in the fifties and was in the marching band (tenor sax).

[Lerkfish]

37. so...the logic being since you know of no other examples of racism, this

one is invalid?

sorry, that doesn't play well on my logic victrola.

[Horse with no Name]

42. When racism exists

It doesn't exist in a vacuum.
It tends to raise it's ugly head more often than one isolated incident and it's very hard to miss.
I have lived in racially bigoted towns here with 100% caucasion population and I have lived in racially entertwined towns here such as the one I am living in currently with 47% caucasion population.
I can tell you there is a huge difference. Racism is difficult to hide.
I would venture to say if this were racially motivated, the words "black girl" would have been replaced by much more colorful rhetoric of which I won't go into here.
With that being said, I will tell you that Waxahachie is a town that is founded on the heritage of the American Indian and celebrates that history.
I'm sorry--I don't see this racially motivated by the persons that did this, but I see it racially motivated by people that are trying to turn this into a racial issue.
It's really a shame that people refuse to see the good in the kids of today because of the evils done by the the kids of yesterday. Says alot about us as individuals when we would crucify a kid for making a dumb mistake.
I guess we'll be calling for the death penalty of the racist high school yearbook editor who made a stupid mistake? Perhaps he/she should be forced to join the military and forego college because he mistakenly called a black girl a black girl?:sarcasm:
Sometimes I just don't get people here.

[AirAmFan]

46. "People that are trying to turn this into a racial issue"

Are they "outside agitators", Horse?

Are they trying to take away the Stars and Bars logo from the yearbook?

[Lerkfish]

48. I find your post very odd.

what don't you get?

you cannot be a witness to all acts of racism in a community. Even if this incident were isolated, it does not excuse it, nor does it render it invalid.

For you to say that YOU don't think the community is racist is very bizarre...for one thing, all communities have some element of racism, on a spectrum. Sometimes its only institutional racism, which is more stealthy.

Are you yourself african american? If you are not, it becomes easier to "not see' racism around you. As an african american coworker educated me one day "If your'e white, its only about racism some of the time..if you're black, it always is"

now, I don't mean he meant blacks misperceive themselves to be in a racist situation constantly, but he meant that because it affects them, they are hyperaware of it.
If someone is white anglosaxon, that person might be aware of the more glaring obvious examples of racism and completely miss the institutional or "accidental" racist events, like the one this thread is about.

to use an analogy, say you buy a red volkswagen beetle. Suddenly, you notice what seems like an invasion of red volkswagen beetles on the highway. Has the number increased, or have you become more attuned to seeing them, now that you own one?
In the same way, if you are NOT from a minority group, there could be racist events occuring all the time around you (volkswagens were always there), but you might not notice them, since you aren't the target. But, start hanging around with people from minority groups and I guarantee you will get your eyes opened as you see how they are treated, sometimes in very subtle ways.

For example, there is a bookstore next to my place of work. I and my african american coworker frequented there often, separately. I was never asked to check my backpack. I'm white.
Then, one day, both he and I enter the store, and he was asked to check his backpack. I mentioned I've never been asked to do so, and only THEN did the clerk hurriedly ask for mine as well. But as we stroll the store, we see lots of white people with backpacks. There is only one clerk. Now, if I had NOT been with my coworker, I would have been completely unaware of this racist situation, right? That's why minorities have a better handle on how this is universally a racist society, just more or less racist depending on the situation.

[Horse with no Name]

56. Please don't misunderstand me

I am aware that racism continues to be a problem in this country.
I am only speaking of my experience of my kids in this particular high school and the kids they associated with.
My kids were active in quite a few activities and knew lots of kids which means lots of kids coming in and out of the house and there were kids of all colors.
The kids talked about all kinds of things--since we tend to have a political home--but I never once heard the kids discuss racism as something they endured in the school system.
In sectors of that particular county, certainly, because it does exist.
Whites are in the minority where I live.
My daughter went to college registration and stood in line for single parent assistance for daycare, mileage, and book assistance. Most of the people ahead of her were black. According to the information we were given, my daughter qualified. However, it also said that there was a limited amount of assistance.
The lady that made the decisions regarding the assistance was also black.
Every black person standing ahead of my daughter was granted full assistance. My daughter and a couple of the other white girls, however, were not.
Was this reverse racism? I think it probably was.
Would this bother you more if it was the other way around? That the white kids got all of the assistance given by a white person?
Personally, I believe that reparations should have been paid for slavery, so it doesn't get my ire up when I see things like this happen.
Our country has a long way to go to make things up to black people.
However, personally, I believe we do everyone a disservice to make a huge deal over what was probably an innocent mistake, especially when flagrant and vindictive racism does exist in many other venues. Our energies are better directed to those incidents rather than something like this. Just my opinion--FWIW.

[Lerkfish]

85. you're retroactively changing your statements...

you originally stated:

It is NOT a redneck town full of racists. There are alot of nice people in this town. I cannot think of one incidence of racism during the entire time we lived there.

which I disagreed with the logic of that. NOW you are saying there IS racism in the community, but not in the school system. I still disagree with your logic, but I applaud your attempt to be more reasonable.

[Horse with no Name]

89. No. You misread.

I said "county".
Not city. Some of the counties in Texas are quite large.

[Lerkfish]

103. *sigh*

whatever.

[sui generis]

67. I agree that I think we are overreacting

the outrage is getting a bit shrill and out of proportion to the incident.

Racism exists. Somebody did something possibly racist, possibly stupid or some combination of both. If they had truly intended to do something outrageously racist there are much worse things they could have done.

We're wasting our energy here making more of this than it deserves. Our great outrage today isn't going to cure racism and it's not going to change the caption on that young woman's photo. The only people who can handle that in any meaningful way are the young woman herself, and her circle of friends and family, and if they can't handle it now then they're going to have a tough time with reality later.

I grew up among military brat mutts in a foreign country; where white was by far the minority. I know that you can't be responsible for anyone else's sensitivity or sensibility, so we should at least stop attacking each other here.

[Lerkfish]

83. whom have I attacked? back that accusation up

I've attacked no one.
I've only said that the assertion that there is no racism in a community is absurd and illogical. I gave examples to make my point.
whom did I attack, and how?

[sui generis]

125. hey byotch!

let's throw down and fight! just kidding, calm down, it was a general reference to the teeth marks everyone seems to be leaving in everyone else here.

My "tone" is probably calmer than my writing leads one to believe; please don't take it personally. :hi:

I do think that there are more important things for all of us to get excited about; and this is just getting way too much microfocus.

[Lerkfish]

137. thanks for the clarification.

it makes it difficult when one replies directly to me, but is referring to the whole thread. It sound more specific than you intended, apparently.

[conflictgirl]

73. I totally disagree with that

You said: "When racism exists... It doesn't exist in a vacuum. It tends to raise it's ugly head more often than one isolated incident and it's very hard to miss."

That's only the racism you NOTICE. If you're white, I'm certain that there is a lot of racism that you don't notice. I'm not saying all racists are bad people in every aspect of their lives, but when people are used to being the majority they often say racist things or do racist things without being aware of why they're being offensive. In many cases, if you asked them they would even tell you they weren't prejudiced because they truly believe they aren't.

BTW, I have a friend who went to school in Waxahachie, and she would definitely disagree with you that racism never happens there. Really - find me ANY place that racism never happens. Such a place does not exist.

[tjdee]

43. That kid was white, LOL.

Albanian descent as minority....that's hilarious!
(on edit: I didn't mean to sound too snarky there, so I hope I didn't.)

But I do agree with you that it was probably a dumb mistake--it is though, curious that they managed to ferret out the names of every other person in the club.

I don't think it's as big of a deal as some DUers are making it.

I would also just say that just because *you* didn't hear/see any racist remarks doesn't mean they didn't happen. Which I'm sure you know....I'm just sayin'. I lived in northern NJ and had someone in a passing car scream 'nigger'....I didn't tell anybody, but it still happened.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

144. Heh. Defensive much? (nt)

[Book Lover]

31. Textbook example why you never type in words for a placeholder

I once had up on my wall at work a printed live magazine page that had the headline "Type Some Shit in Here". Because it was words and not the standard "XXXXXXX XXXXXX" it made it through all proofs. I wonder if they're going to recall the printed books to make the correx.

[Horse with no Name]

70. They should use bright pink sticky notes

:)

[KamaAina]

40. As long as whoever pulled the stunt was captioned "Racist Bigot"

that would just about have made the nut.

[GOPFighter]

41. I'm not buying it

The teen identified as "Black Girl" is the only black student in the photo...Ahlfinger said the caption apparently was intended as a placeholder until the yearbook staff could identify the student.

The reason I don't buy the placeholder excuse is the fact that she was identified as "Black girl" not "black girl" People hardly ever use capital letters for placeholders. Not only that but when there's only one African American in the honor society, it's hard to believe people don't know who she is. Still, I believe most of the people in Waxahatchie are upset and understand how embarrassed the girl must feel. My heart goes out to her because this is how many of her classmates will remember her, not that she was an honor student.

[onenote]

44. thin reed

"People hardly ever use capital letters for placeholders"? Can you back that up in any way? And if they sometimes do (as even you suggest) how can you be so sure that this wasn't one of those times? My understanding is that the high school involved is very large. The notion that some kid working on the yearbook (who might not even be in the same grade as the girl in question) would necessarily know her name because she's in the National Honor Society is another stretch. Should it have been relatively easy to find out her name by contacting the appropriate teacher/sponsor at the school -- sure. But these are kids and the notion that some kid wrote down an ill-advised and insensitive placeholder for someone whose name he/she didn't know and then didn't get around to "fixing" it isn't that hard to believe. Could it have been a malicious joke by one student -- possible and, if so, that student should be penalized. But I wouldn't condemn an entire school over it.

onenote

[msmcghee]

50. Agreed, and as HWNN said . .

. . if it was a racist act - they could certainly have come up with something more demeaning than "black girl" which is not demeaning in any sense that I know of.

Some people here want to believe it was racist because it happened in Texas - and that fulfills their worldview wherein all Texans are racists - and that feels good to them.

I would hope that some wise teachers might use these posts in a class discussion of racism and prejudice as part of a learning experience.

[Horse with no Name]

59. I think what some are missing

is where this occurred.
Not everyone is Texas is a racial bigot.
If this had happened in Vidor or Jasper, you could almost be assured it was racially motivated.
But then again you can almost be certain it would not have just said "black girl".

[Demit]

54. I certainly would condemn the school, and they deserve it.

These are kids? Of course! That's why there is oversight of what kids might do. This is a textbook example of not providing oversight of what kids do. There's a process in place for overseeing things that are about to go into print. Even if you're telling me this is the first time that this school has ever put out a yearbook, and that this is the first time that anybody at that school has ever heard of having to proof--i.e., CHECK TO MAKE SURE--what is about to go to the printer's, I still have to condemn the school's administrators. How foolish of them to not oversee properly what it is they let their kids do.

There are professionals who know how to oversee the print production process. The fact that this sort of thing passed through may not be one kid's fault; it is most definitely an adult's fault. There's no way this would have gotten through if the proper professional ADULT had been exercising the proper care.

[onenote]

64. so condemn a teacher that failed to do his/her job

but not the entire school and by extension the entire town and state, which is what I've seen in some of the posts.

And, by the way, while I haven't seen this yearbook, given the fact that the school has been described as quite large, i would suspect the yearbook is pretty voluminous. Should this have been caught by a faculty advisor: yes. Does the fact that it wasn't indicate anything malicious: not necessarily. It seems like once or twice a year I read about some photo or other material getting into a high school yearbook that turns out to be inappropriate -- Should it happen? No. Does it happen? Of course. Does it mean that the faculty advisor in these cases wanted it to happen? Probably not.

onenote

[Demit]

76. It doesn't matter how big the school is. What matters is the yearbook file

A file that was about to go to the printer. You check it. The printer makes his plates, then sends you a proof. You check it. If the printed piece comes back wrong, somebody screwed up.

All the provocative things you bring up--the "entire school"; the town and state; was it malicious; did they want it to happen--have nothing to do with my point. My point is, there is a process in place that anybody who knows how to oversee printing knows to follow. If this school had done that--what is in truth Production 101--they would have caught this in the stages of preparing files for printing, and would not now have to be wiping the egg off their faces and defending themselves against accusations of racism.

Maybe next time they'll put somebody in there who knows what they're doing. I'm pretty sure this will teach them that lesson.

[tammywammy]

109. From my experience

We worked the system just like that. Made all corrections. And they were still printed wrong. It doesn't surprise me that Jostens was their printer, because they're the ones that shelled out a lot of money b/c of the mistakes in my senior yearbook.

And we didn't have some flunky advisor, she'd work on many magazines before going into teaching yearbook and creative writing.

[noamnety]

113. That's not necessarily how it works nowadays

I'm a yearbook advisor, we use Jostens.

There are no plates sent to us, no proofs. We submitted everything online last year, never saw a printed proof.

This year we submitted on a CD, again, never saw a proof except for the cover. And our desktop printer was down at the crucial deadline, so it was proofed on a computer screen. Personally, I use an underscore for missing text so I can spot it quickly:

Mary, John, ______, Eric

But I can definitely see how it could happen. One wrong file saved to a CD, and you'd never see a printout to know it was the wrong version saved. All it takes is one kid who accidentally saves the revised version to her hard drive instead of the shared network.

[GOPFighter]

82. I wrote that I'm not buying it

That's just my opinion. My gut reaction was that it didn't ring true. Since you seem to know a lot about Waxahachie, maybe you can tell me how many other students had to have placeholders until they could be identified...and did they use capital letters in those placeholders?

I didn't condemn the whole school, in fact I wrote that most people in Waxahachie are probably upset and sympathize with the girl, so I think you're being a bit over-defensive here.

My wife is African American and believe me, petty acts of bigotry, often unintentional, still occur frequently. These acts sting. What we often don't realize is that when it happens it's hard to determine if it was done intentionally or whether it was just a dumb mistake. But most people seem to agree that if "Black Girl" was a placeholder, it was a poor choice. The only way I know for people to learn that is for someone to speak out.

[MsUnderstood]

95. WOW this is wild

Okay, a staff of high schoolers (not adults people, these are kids) are putting together the yearbook. You have 30 kids working on all these pages all year long.

1 or 2 kids are assigned to this one section. They get the photo, put in the names and don't have a name but must put a placeholder in.

Not being schooled in the political correctness that oozes from the pores of every other red-blooded American they type "black girl" cause that is how many people still refer to African Americans. It is an accurate description--it identifies unique characteristics that she has.

The program they use capitalzes the first letter of these items (smart technology eh) and then the "Black girl" has a caption assigned.

The text is read over, but lets face it, Honors Society is nothing compared with sports, dancing, Seniors, etc so there is a mistake overlooked.

Now why in the hell do you want to sue the school? How is that going to encourage racial harmony in this area? Hey kids, love to update the chemistry lab but we have to shell out money cause the damn yearbook staff is too dumb to check their information. . .and they called a student black. . .

Maybe I'm missing a point here? This wasn't the School deliberately trying to offend a culture in a deliberate and malicous manner it was a student staff making a mistake and then it being overlooked by other students. . A MISTAKE.

Oh and lets not even go down the road of blaming the yearbook teacher who should have never let this through because last I checked teachers are human too.

Geez we need bigger battles than this.

[sonicx]

97. The person you responded to said nothing about suing

They also said nothing about objecting to using 'black' to describe someone. They also said most of the people in the town probably felt bad about the incedent.

[donheld]

47. No apology can make up for this

I hope they sue them naked.

[DelawareValleyDem]

52. Unbelievable

Maybe the other members should have been identified as White Student 1, White Student 2, etc.

[Horse with no Name]

58. Do you have the other placecards to prove they weren't?

[DelawareValleyDem]

60. The yearbook is the proof that they

weren't identified as such IN THE FINAL PRODUCT. That's what's most significant

[onenote]

66. and if there was only one white student

that would tell someone which student in the picture was unidentified. It would be equally insensitive, but equally understandable. If all of the students in the picture had been male except for one, and the placeholder read "girl" -- would that be sexist?

onenote

[sonicx]

79. If noone thought enough of her to find out her real name...

before final publication...yes.

[CTLawGuy]

88. yes

because it is wrong to identify someones gender. :eyes:


Can we talk about ACTUAL racism please, such as black people being beaten and harassed by cops, or the drug war which is designed to throw black people in jail in large numbers, or GOP idiots who put signs in black neighborhoods to scare them away from voting.

This was obviously a mistake. She was the only black student in the NHS (which in itself, in a racially mixed school, a problem, but thats another issue) and that's how they decided to identify her. It shouldn't have made it into the yearbook, but its not the second coming of Bull Connor.

[sonicx]

90. subtle or small racism counts too

I don't know whether or not i'd call this situatuon racism, but it's silly to say that something is not racism becuase it doesn't involve violence or widespread harrassment.

Again I ask, why didn't anyone think enough of her to get her real name? Hell, why didn't they put something like "Need to Find Name" so that they'd remember?

[Catherine Vincent]

74. Unreal.

<shakes head>

[Bunny]

81. A guy in my class entered his name as Mick Jagger next to his

picture. Our yearbook advisor caught it, and he was an old senile guy who had no clue who Mick Jagger is.

[derby378]

91. That blows my mind

Waxahachie is only an hour away from us.

I guess I should be happy they didn't caption her photo with a more offensive alternative.

[Horse with no Name]

94. From the Waxahachie Daily Light Newspaper

http://waxahachiedailylight.com/articles/2005/05/23/dailylight/news/06%205_23%20yearbook.prt

>>>>snip
"Josten's is reprinting four pages of the yearbook as soon as possible," district spokesman Candace Ahlfinger said this morning. "We will never be able to minimize this damage, but this will change it so that it is not a constant reminder, so it won't be a forever."
>>>snip
When word reached the dis-trict early Saturday that a mistake had been made, immediate apologies were issued by the administration and school board.

"It was a very poor choice to use as a placeholder for a student's name that was not known at the time," Ahlfinger said Saturday. "It was not meant maliciously nor was it meant to be printed.

"We apologize to the community, the family, the parents and especially the student."

[tammywammy]

104. Well, well, it was Jostens

That doesn't surprise me at all, since they printed our high school yearbook, and my senior year it came back full of mistakes.

[paula777]

96. In my high school yearbook they ran a photo of a guy on the diving team

mid-air in a dive (upright position - photographer pool level) and you could totally see his gonads through his swim trunks. I bet he didn't want that yearbook being passed around.

[progressoid]

98. Hey, that's perfectly normal way to identify a person....

A HUNDRED YEARS AGO!!

Holy crap.

[AirAmFan]

99. Inside typographer joke: "Lorem Ipsum" would have been a better choice

than "Black Girl", if the misprint wasn't an intentional "Senior Prank".

See http://lipsum.com .

[Submariner]

100. Racist Republicans

no surprise. I hope the "black girl" sues their asses off.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

101. "Deep in the heart of Texas"

[onenote]

106. and connecticut and ohio and maryland and illinois and florida

Go google "yearbook" recall and see all the places where some student, thinking it would be funny, puts a racist or otherwise derogatory remark in a yearbook. This one is pretty mild compared to some of the others. Heck, just last week there was a situation in Florida where a photo was run in a yearbook of a white girl holding a black guy by a leash...now was that a statement about prisoner torture, a foully racist photo, a joke? The black student was a willing participant. Does that make a difference? His mother doesn't think so..she's really upset.

My point: why go slamming a whole state for something that you don't know very much about....

onenote

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

110. I don't know Jack. And I'll prove it.

Yes, racism exists everywhere. Seen and unseen in the hearts of man.

And it damn sure exists in Texas. By the truckload. If it doesn't apply to you or ones you know and love, then no offense should be taken. If it does apply to you...(see my previous post)

[intheflow]

102. Aplogy NOT accepted!

She needs to sue their asses right this second!

:grr:

[Name removed]

127. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[CarefullyLiberal]

133. Do you think a lawsuit is enough?

A lawsuit for damages doesn't seem like it's enough.

Maybe everyone involved with the yearbook, the entire faculty and custodial staff should be sent to Texas' famed Death Row!

That'll teach 'em a lesson! Serves them right for making a mistake.

-Fergus

[Name removed]

134. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

135. big difference between massive payout and capital punishment

nt

[CarefullyLiberal]

142. Geeez, ya' think????

It was a stupid, stupid mistake, nothing more, nothing less.

An apology should be adequate.

-Fergus

[SlavesandBulldozers]

155. hey you were the one equivocating

sometimes you have to pay when you cause an accident.

[alarcojon]

130. my two cents

I think this represents more ignorance and carelessness that racial malice on the part of the perpetrator(s) and editors. However, this incident unfortunately falls very neatly into one of the most persistent manifestations of racism - that white people are individuals, while minorities are merely representatives of their racial or ethnic group. This young lady was in the National Honor Society, the result of years of hard work, yet the net effect of the ignorance and carelessness of others was to reduce her to a "black girl." People must be VERY careful to prevent these kinds of errors from making it to print.

I am glad to see the apology and admission of how hurtful this must be to the student involved, her family, and to all African Americans who learn of this incident. Personally I think the yearbook should be recalled and a new one printed out. Also, the possibility that there WAS malice involved should be investigated and appropriate action taken if this was indeed the case (keeping in mind how hard these things are to "prove").

[marshall]

136. Couldn't spell her name?

I've not seen it mentioned anywhere, but an Africa-American colleague of mine who was talking about the incident said maybe they couldn't spell her name--Shadoiya Jones. My friend has a fairly common name while her sisters have less common names. One sister has a religious name and the other has a name their parents invented. She said her sisters have lots of problems that she has not encountered.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

139. you are kidding right?

:rofl:

please tell me you are kidding. your "African America colleague" thinks that's a rational excuse?

[marshall]

143. Reason vs. Excuse

I wouldn't call it an excuse, which I think of as an apology leading to the event being overlooked. More like a reason for something this egregious happening in the first place. As has been noted, the young lady in question must have been a well known person in her school.

[noiretextatique]

140. i'm black, and my name is k-a-r-e-n

i met a white girl yesterday named kertisha :shrug:

[DoNotRefill]

138. Ummm...isn't that what they're doing?

Having the four affected pages reprinted, the offending pages removed, and the correct ones substituted?

Read the end of the article....that's what it sounds like to me...

[alarcojon]

148. Please read more carefully

if you are going to try to "correct" someone. The article refers to reprinting the offending pages, where I clearly refer to reprinting the entire yearbook. In addition, I don't see where the article refers to an investigation to see if malice was indeed involved.

[marshall]

153. Malice?

It's hard to imagine even a malicious person stupid enough to pull this stunt on purpose. Certainly the ones who are most suspect would realize the trail would lead to them.
I could see somebody putting the placeholder term in temporarily as some kind of private "dig" against her, with the intention of taking it out later.
Are there only so many places in the National Honor Society, depending on the number of students in a school? Somebody could have been upset about her getting such high recognition.

[noiretextatique]

141. sounds like the sitaution is resolved

and some pages in the yearbook will be reprinted. good that young lady won't have that reminder for the rest of her life (how many in society view her, that is).

[ContraBass Black]

145. "[PLACEHOLDER]"

There now, that wasn't so hard, and what's more, it's difficult to miss during final editing.
Accident or not, several people on that yearbook staff are unbelievably stupid.

[RunningFromCongress]

146. ehh....I think it was a honest mistake

Had the picture been 10 black students and 1 white student; with a un-removed placeholder saying "white boy" no one would bat an eye. This was an editorial mistake IMO. The only reason it's in the news is b/c it can be twisted to seem like some horrible crime and take attention away from REAL news.

There is vast racism still in this country. This is NOT an example of it

[marshall]

151. Honest but Lazy

I agree it was an honest mistake. Even if the yearbook crew did harbor racist anger toward their fellow student they undoubtedly had enough common sense to know they would get raked over the coals for flaunting those feelings. I think they just got a little lazy and forgot to follow up on finding out about her name. The only African American student in the National Honor Society at that school? You would think her name would be as well known as the quarterback on the football team. They could have asked any teacher, she was probably the darling of the faculty.
But I do think people have to go a little overboard to make sure even the appearance of racism is avoided. Behaviors and comments we might not mean as racist can sometimes be read as such by others.
I know when I was teaching I tried to avoid the stereotypical things I grew up hearing about. In one class I had two African American girls and I was worried in the beginning when I was learning names that I would accidentally call them by each other's name. Not that I thought I would be reported to the principal or that it would make national news like this, but I didn't want to offend the girls.

[Toucano]

147. Maybe she was wearing a cape and has super powers?

"Black Girl" indeed!

This is really horrible, but there's a lot of comedic potential here.

[Dora]

152. I don't believe this....

but I actually think your response is funny!

I see a new graphic novel in the making.

[Toucano]

156. I guess we're making lemonade?

Black Girl: So powerful, even her secret identity is a secret!

[Dora]

157. with the bitterest of lemons...

so many spoonfuls of sugar to make this bad medicine go dowh, eh?

:toast: