In Diversity Push, Top Universities Enrolling More Black Immigrants - washingtonpost.com

In Diversity Push, Top Universities Enrolling More Black Immigrants - washingtonpost.com: The nation's most elite colleges and universities are bolstering their black student populations by enrolling large numbers of immigrants from Africa, the West Indies and Latin America, according to a study published recently in the American Journal of Education.

Immigrants, who make up 13 percent of the nation's college-age black population, account for more than a quarter of black students at Ivy League and other selective universities, according to the study, produced by Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania.

The large representation of black immigrants developed as schools' focus shifted from restitution for decades of excluding black Americans from campuses to embracing wider diversity, the study's authors said. The more elite the school, the more black immigrants are enrolled.

Demand for English Lessons Outstrips Supply - New York Times

Demand for English Lessons Outstrips Supply - New York Times: A survey last year by the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials found that in 12 states, 60 percent of the free English programs had waiting lists, ranging from a few months in Colorado and Nevada to as long as two years in New Mexico and Massachusetts, where the statewide list has about 16,000 names.

The United States Department of Education counted 1.2 million adults enrolled in public English programs in 2005 — about 1 in 10 of the 10.3 million foreign-born residents 16 and older who speak English “less than very well,” or not at all, according to census figures from the same year. Federal money for such classes is matched at varying rates from state to state, leaving an uneven patchwork of programs that advocates say nowhere meets the need.

UCLA Expert Challenges The Asian-American “Model Minority” Assumption

UCLA Expert Challenges The Asian-American “Model Minority” Assumption: ... Even though Asian Americans the model minority theory persists because examples of academic success, including the fact that most of the University of California campuses having student bodies that are over 40 percent Asian, those examples mask the experiences of Asians who are not doing as well.

“I agree that there is a need to disaggregate data on Asian Pacific Americans and to examine the very real and significant differences among ethnic groups, income levels, generations, etc. Hopefully, one can do this in a constructive manner,” Nakanishi said.

He also addressed the diversity of Asian American high school students and the obstacles they face in getting into college.

“A large number of Asian Pacific American students attend multiracial, low-income, as well as low-performing schools, and yet they are oftentimes compared with Asian Pacific American students who attend stronger academic schools, families with college-educated and more affluent parents, etc.,” Nakanishi says.

“I think there are admissions officers who are aware of the tremendous differences among Asian Pacific American students, and try their best to evaluate an applicant’s record in the context of the high school that they attend,” he says.

Student Loan Interest Rates: Financial Aid: Low-Income Students

Student Loan Interest Rates: Financial Aid: Low-Income Students
The College Student Relief Act of 2007, recently approved by the U.S. House of Representatives, has been hailed as a savior for students trying to handle the ever-rising costs of college. Phased in over five years, the interest rate on federally backed loans will be cut in half, from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent. But some say the cut isn’t the saving grace politicos make it out to be.

“Once fully phased in, these cuts would save the typical borrower, with $13,800 in need-based federal student loan debt, $4,420 in savings over the life of the loan,” says U.S. Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., of the House Committee on Education & Labor, relying on an analysis by U.S. PIRG. The new interest rate will drop to 3.4 percent by 2001, but on January 1, 2012 the rates will go back to 6.8 percent.

But U.S. PIRG, a public interest advocacy group, has said Miller’s office has misquoted its findings. Miller’s prediction assumes that the interest rate at its low of 3.4 percent will be permanent, although the act is scheduled to expire in 2012. A student with $13,800 in debt might save $4,420, but only if the rate was not scheduled to go back up to 6.8 percent in 2012.

Even if the 3.4 percent interest rate were to be extended, it would only help borrowers taking out loans in 2012 or later. Unlike a mortgage, when the rates drop, students with existing loans do not have the capability to re-finance at the new, lower rates.

Research Roundup: More Hazardous Waste Facilities Located in Minority Areas

Research Roundup: More Hazardous Waste Facilities Located in Minority Areas

New research from the University of Michigan shows that hazardous waste facilities are disproportionately placed in poor, minority neighborhoods.

Dr. Paul Mohai, a professor in UM’s School of Natural Resources and Environment, is the lead author of the study, called “Toxic Waste and Race at Twenty 1987-2007, Grassroots Struggles to Dismantle Environmental Racism in the United States.” He says minorities are living in the areas where hazardous waste facilities have decided to locate.

The report suggests that demographic changes that began before the hazardous waste sites were selected continued afterwards.

Gifted? Autistic? Or Just Quirky? - washingtonpost.com

Gifted? Autistic? Or Just Quirky? - washingtonpost.com

Gifted? Autistic? Or Just Quirky?

As More Children Receive Diagnoses, Effects of These Labels Seem Mixed

By Maia Szalavitz

Special to The Washington Post
Tuesday, February 27, 2007; Page HE01

"Paradoxically liberating" is how Phil Schwarz has described his Asperger's syndrome diagnosis. He was in his late 30s at the time, and he had number of things on his mind: A software developer in Framingham, Mass., Schwarz had been labeled "gifted" as a child and had graduated third in his high school class. For years he had struggled with depression and a feeling that he was not living up to the promise of his past.

What's more, he had begun to worry about his toddler's delayed language development and repetitive play style. But he had no idea how the diagnosis that his son Jeremy would receive might affect his own identity.

Q&A: How Kids Learn Prejudices, Stereotypes - Newsweek Health - MSNBC.com

Q&A: How Kids Learn Prejudices, Stereotypes - Newsweek Health - MSNBC.com
Child-development experts have spent years studying geekdom: what it is that makes one child more likely to be rejected by another. But University of Maryland professor Melanie Killen took a different approach. Instead of focusing on social deficits, Killen, associate director of the Center for Children, Relationships and Culture, focused on another category of rejection—when children are excluded because of gender, race or ethnicity rather than their behavior. Killen calls it “group membership.” Her study, “Children’s Social and Moral Reasoning About Exclusion,” published in this month’s issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science, shows that kids become aware of group membership from at least the time they’re in preschool. But, while kids universally feel that it’s unfair to reject someone based exclusively on their gender, race or religion, there are some situations in which they do so anyway. Killen spoke to NEWSWEEK’s Anna Kuchment about why that’s the case.

Report: In U.S., record numbers are plunged into poverty - USATODAY.com

Report: In U.S., record numbers are plunged into poverty - USATODAY.com

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The gulf between rich and poor in the United States is yawning wider than ever, and the number of extremely impoverished is at a three-decade high, a report out Saturday found.

Based on the latest available U.S. census data from 2005, the McClatchy Newspapers analysis found that almost 16 million Americans live in "deep or severe poverty" defined as a family of four with two children earning less than 9,903 dollars — one half the federal poverty line figure.

For individuals the "deep poverty" threshold was an income under 5,080 dollars a year.

"The McClatchy analysis found that the number of severely poor Americans grew by 26% from 2000 to 2005," the U.S. newspaper chain reported.

"That's 56% faster than the overall poverty population grew in the same period," it noted.

The surge in poverty comes alongside an unusual economic expansion.

"Worker productivity has increased dramatically since the brief recession of 2001, but wages and job growth have lagged behind. At the same time, the share of national income going to corporate profits has dwarfed the amount going to wages and salaries," the study found.

"That helps explain why the median household income for working-age families, adjusted for inflation, has fallen for five straight years.

"These and other factors have helped push 43% of the nation's 37 million poor people into deep poverty — the highest rate since at least 1975. The share of poor Americans in deep poverty has climbed slowly but steadily over the last three decades," the report said.

It quoted an American Journal of Preventive Medicine study as having found that since 2000, the number of severely poor — far below basic poverty terms — in the United States has grown "more than any other segment of the population."

"That was the exact opposite of what we anticipated when we began," said Steven Woolf of Virginia Commonwealth University, a study co-author.

"We're not seeing as much moderate poverty as a proportion of the population. What we're seeing is a dramatic growth of severe poverty."

U.S. social programs are minimal compared to those of western Europe and Canada. The United States has a population of 301 million, but more than 45 million U.S. citizens have no health insurance.

NPR : Students Uncertain About Historically Black Schools

NPR : Students Uncertain About Historically Black Schools: Historically black colleges make up just 3 percent of all colleges and universities in America. But according to the United Negro College Fund, nearly 30 percent of all black undergraduates get their degrees from such universities.

Recent studies released by the U.S. Department of Education have shown that, while the number of black students enrolling in college has risen since 1970, the percentage of black students who choose to attend historically black universities is actually on the decline. These universities have been working hard to draw top students like Burks, who grew up in racially integrated neighborhoods. This newer generation of black students doesn't necessarily feel the same allegiance to historically black schools.

College's invitation to integrate made history

SWANNANOA, North Carolina (AP) -- There is no monument to Alma Shippy.

No plaque describes how, in 1952, the shy teenager packed a bag of clothes, caught a ride in a friend's pickup truck and walked into history on the campus of Warren Wilson Junior College.

It's an obscure vignette in civil rights history. Shippy not only was Warren Wilson's first black student, but one of the few to attend any segregated college or junior college by invitation -- and not by court order and armed escort.

A core of Shippy's family and friends -- some of whom paved his way and some whose path was paved by him -- want wider attention for what they see as a bright moment of brotherhood in one of the South's darkest eras.

"There were no dogs, no guns. He didn't have to be shot at. There was nobody that was beaten up, nobody died because he came here," says Rodney Lytle, a 1974 Warren Wilson graduate and now the school's multicultural adviser. "And that -- that story -- that is beautiful!"

And it didn't happen by chance.

Shippy's presence was the culmination of a decade of work by leaders of Warren H. Wilson Vocational Junior College and Associated Schools, created in 1942 from the merger and expansion of two high schools run by the Presbyterian Church.

Students Stand Up Against Racially Offensive Parties

Students Stand Up Against Racially Offensive Parties: The demise of Chief Illiniwek was a long time coming, but one group that helped pressure the University of Illinois to drop the mascot was a coalition of students, faculty and community members that formed in the aftermath of a “Tacos and Tequilas” party that offended Mexican American students. The party, thrown by five White fraternities and sororities in October, was just one in a series of racially insensitive parties thrown by college students.

The party, the administration’s lackluster response and its support of the Chief Illiniwek mascot deemed racially offensive to American Indians compelled the student-led group Students Transforming Oppression and Privilege, or S.T.O.P., to urge administrators to do more to promote racial tolerance.

“It is important for us and young people in general to speak out, to make sure their campuses have anti-racism platforms and missions,” says Iara Peng, the director of Young People For, or YP4, a national network of young leaders on 65 campuses in 18 states.

NAEP Test Scores and Minorities, GPA

NAEP Test Scores and Minorities, GPA: "According to the National Center for Education Statistics, a typical high school graduate is taking more Advanced Placement courses and earning higher GPAs, but they are failing to show any signs of improvement on their National Assessment of Education Progress, or NAEP, tests.

The NCES released two reports Thursday — “The Nation’s Report Card: America’s High School Graduates” and “The Nation’s Report Card: 12th Grade Reading and Mathematics 2005” — which paint a very conflicting picture of the educational attainment of American high school students. “America’s High School Graduates” reviews the transcripts of 2005 graduates, while “12th Grade Reading and Mathematics 2005” reviews how 21,000 high school seniors at more than 900 schools performed on the NAEP. The data did not include the scores for high school seniors who dropped out before graduating, and it did not take into account variables such as income or poverty.

In 2000, approximately 59 percent of high school graduates had completed at least a standard curriculum. By 2005, the number had increased to about 68 percent. The average GPA had also grown from 2.47 in 1990 to 2.77 by 2005. Although NAEP scores were expected to go up to correspond with the other significant increases, the reports suggest the opposite — the scores have actually been declining substantially since 1992. "

Students travel into civil rights' rich history - USATODAY.com

Students travel into civil rights' rich history - USATODAY.com: MONTGOMERY, Ala. — More than 90 California high school students are crying and hugging their way this week through the hard, bloody years of the civil rights movement.

When it's over, they will have talked to Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., and walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, where he and other voter rights demonstrators were bludgeoned by state troopers in 1965.

They will have heard Chris McNair tell of losing his daughter, Denise, in the 1963 Birmingham church bombing.

They will have listened to members of the Vernon Dahmer family discuss the agony of losing a husband and father — killed by Ku Klux Klan members in 1966 after he announced that black voters could pay their poll tax at his store.

They will have stood at the site at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis where Martin Luther King Jr. was shot in 1968.

Before it ends Saturday, they will have seen and heard and felt all of that and much more, on stops in Atlanta, Selma, Montgomery, Birmingham, Hattiesburg, Miss.; Jackson, Miss; Little Rock and Memphis.

There are 93 of them — a diverse group — and they are on a 10-day journey called Sojourn to the Past. The mission: connect the pain of history with a hope for the future.

Students' View of Intelligence Can Help Grades

A new study in the scientific journal Child Development shows that if you teach students that their intelligence can grow and increase, they do better in school.

All children develop a belief about their own intelligence, according to research psychologist Carol Dweck from Stanford University.

"Some students start thinking of their intelligence as something fixed, as carved in stone," Dweck says. "They worry about, 'Do I have enough? Don't I have enough?'"

Dweck calls this a "fixed mindset" of intelligence.

"Other children think intelligence is something you can develop your whole life," she says. "You can learn. You can stretch. You can keep mastering new things."

She calls this a "growth mindset" of intelligence.

Dweck wondered whether a child's belief about intelligence has anything to do with academic success. So, first, she looked at several hundred students going into seventh grade, and assessed which students believed their intelligence was unchangeable, and which children believed their intelligence could grow. Then she looked at their math grades over the next two years.

Black Parents Seek to Raise Ambitions - washingtonpost.com

Black Parents Seek to Raise Ambitions - washingtonpost.com:
... "Middle-class African Americans are still very influenced by the stereotypes that black kids are not academically oriented,' said Pedro A. Noguera, a professor of sociology at New York University who studies achievement gaps.

'You have to defy the stereotypes associated with race or gender. So you need something else working in a very powerful way to show that being black and being academically oriented [are] not at odds. . . . This is where a parent's role is very important.'

In the Washington area, many African American parents are finding new avenues to engage in their children's education.

University to Retire Its Indian Mascot - New York Times

University to Retire Its Indian Mascot - New York Times

URBANA, Ill., Feb. 16 (AP) — The University of Illinois will retire its 81-year-old American Indian mascot, Chief Illiniwek, after the last men’s home basketball game of the season on Wednesday.

The N.C.A.A. in 2005 deemed the buckskin-clad mascot an offensive use of American Indian imagery and barred the university from being a host of postseason events. “This is an extremely emotional day for people on both sides of the issue, but the decision announced today ends a two-decade-long struggle surrounding Chief Illiniwek on this campus,” said Ron Guenther, the university’s athletic director. “Personally, as an alumnus and former athlete, I am disappointed. However, as an administrator, I understand the decision that had to be made.”

American Indian groups and others complained for years that the mascot was demeaning. Supporters of the mascot said it honored the contributions of Indians to the state.

On Friday, a Champaign County Circuit Court judge rejected two students’ request for a court order banning the university from “capitulating to the N.C.A.A. by announcing the retirement of Chief Illiniwek.”

Report: Low-income Students Misinformed About Costs And Benefits of Private Loans

WASHINGTON, D.C.
Low-income undergraduate students are among the least informed about the financial aid process and are more likely to take out private loans to pay for school, according to a new report by the Institute for Higher Education Policy.

In “The Future of Private Loans: Who Is Borrowing, and Why?” the authors say it is crucial for these students to learn about the pros and cons of private loan borrowing before continuing their postsecondary education.

Ten years ago, private loans accounted for less than 5 percent of all student loans; now, private lenders control 19 percent of the student loan market. Currently, 83 percent of private loan borrowers are undergraduate students, 9 percent are graduate students, 7 percent are professional students and 1 percent are post baccalaureate students not in a degree program. Students seeking professional degrees tend to borrow the most money, nearly $11,000 a year, according to the report. By comparison, graduate students borrow more than $8,000 a year and undergraduates borrow about $6,000.

“With some analysts predicting that private loans may surpass federal student loan borrowing by the end of the decade, this study aims to look beyond the recent controversies about private loan marketing to explore critical questions about what the industry may look like in the near future,” says Jamie P. Merisotis, president of IHEP.

Regaining a Lost Heritage

Regaining a Lost Heritage:
Can a simple procedure unlock African-Americans’ genetic history? Or is DNA tracing just an expensive waste of time?
By Toni Coleman

"This year’s Black History Month program at my friend’s Washington, D.C. church won’t just feature kids reading about famous firsts and courageous equality fighters. Added to the mix is a lecture to the congregation on using DNA testing to determine their African lineage.

Increasingly, Blacks are turning to science and not assumptions to put “Africa” back in “African-American.” The eagerness to reconnect is understandable. People robbed of their history innately want to know where they come from. Veteran genealogists say the PBS special, “African American Lives,” in which Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. revealed the family histories and African lineages of such celebrities as Oprah Winfrey and comedian Chris Tucker, certainly created a spike in interest in genealogy and DNA testing. "

Study: Dark-Skinned Immigrants Experience More Wage Discrimination in the United States

Study: Dark-Skinned Immigrants Experience More Wage Discrimination in the United States: "Recent immigrants with darker skin tones earn less money on average than their lighter-skinned peers, according to research that will be presented Feb. 19 in San Francisco at the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Dr. Joni Hersch, a professor of law and economics at Vanderbilt University, found that a lighter-skinned immigrant would earn the equivalent of what a darker-skinned immigrant with an extra year of education would earn.
The basis for the study was the New Immigrant Survey 2003, funded by several federal government agencies and the Pew Charitable Trust. The survey took a random sample of 8,500 new legal immigrants over a seven-month period in 2003. Participants were from geographically diverse countries and were interviewed at the location where their green cards were delivered to ensure geographic diversity in the United States as well, Hersch says.

Several other factors were taken into consideration as controls, including people’s actual level of education, English proficiency, work history, occupation, visa status, race, ethnicity and nationality. Despite this, Hersch says there was an 8 percent to 15 percent variable from lightest to darkest skin tone in terms of earnings once immigrants were in the United States."

Sojourner Truth Statue To Permanently Grace U.S. Capitol Building

Sojourner Truth Statue To Permanently Grace U.S. Capitol Building

With the stroke of a pen, President George W. Bush signed legislation on Thursday requiring that a statue of Sojourner Truth be erected in to the United States Capitol.

The historic move came after U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, and U.S Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., authored legislation for the creation of the monument to honor the woman who spent much of her life preaching for the abolition of slavery and women’s suffrage

“I am proud that finally a memorial to Sojourner Truth will take its rightful and permanent place in the heart of our representative government, the United States Capitol,” said Clinton, who was surrounded at a press conference in Washington, D.C., by prominent women activists including Dorothy Height, chairwoman of the National Council of Negro Women, and award-winning actress Cicely Tyson.

Study shows more educational barriers for Hispanic students

Study shows more educational barriers for Hispanic students: PORTLAND (AP) - Hispanics aspiring to college see themselves as facing more roadblocks than their white counterparts, a study led by a University of Oregon professor concludes.
Professor Ellen Hawley McWhirter of the UO School of Education said many of the problems are not subject to a quick fix.
The study, which appears in the February issue of the quarterly Journal of Career Assessment, involved 436 Mexican-American and white students in the Southwest and Midwest. McWhirter said preliminary findings from research under way in the Northwest are finding similar results.
While aspirations for a college degree were equal between Mexican-Americans and whites who participated in the study, 10 percent of Mexican-Americans got a degree against 34 percent of whites even though more Hispanics than ever are attending college.

Black, American Indian Scholars Correct History Books At State of the Black Union 2007

Black, American Indian Scholars Correct History Books At State of the Black Union 2007: This year's marking of the 400th anniversary of the settlement at Jamestown gives America the chance to revisit and correct stories about the relationships between these three groups, the pillaging of American Indian villages, the enslavement of Africans and the impact these events continue to have in 2007, Wood, West and a group of seven other academics said Friday on the campus of the College of William and Mary, in Williamsburg, Va., about 10 miles from the original settlement. Talk show host and author Tavis Smiley convened the group as part of State of the Black Union 2007, an annual discussion he has held since 2000.

Most history textbooks site the arrival of a group of English settlers who arrived in 1620 to Plymouth County, Mass. aboard the Mayflower as the birth of the nation. The group, known as the Pilgrims, had fled England in search of religious freedom, and history books tell the stories of their friendship with American Indians marked by a Thanksgiving celebration.

Diversity Data - Metropolitan Quality of Life Data

Diversity Data - Metropolitan Quality of Life Data: Diversitydata.org allows visitors to explore how metropolitan areas throughout the U.S. perform on a diverse range of social measures that comprise a well-rounded life experience.

These data call attention to the equality of opportunity and diversity of experiences for different racial and ethnic groups in America.

Woman Chosen to Lead Harvard - washingtonpost.com

Woman Chosen to Lead Harvard - washingtonpost.com: Harvard University is about to name its first woman president since its founding in 1636, tapping a Civil War historian to succeed Lawrence Summers, whose tumultuous tenure was marked by controversial remarks about women and clashes with faculty members.

Drew Gilpin Faust, 59, dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and a leading historian on the American South, will be formally appointed president as early as this weekend, according to a source with knowledge of the decision.

History of Black History Month - CNN.com

History of Black History Month - CNN.com

(CNN Student News) -- February marks the beginning of Black History Month, a federally recognized, nation-wide celebration that provides the opportunity for all Americans to reflect on the significant roles that African Americans have played in the shaping of U.S. history. But how did this celebration come to be -- and why does it take place in February?

We should emphasize not Negro History, but the Negro in history. What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race hate, and religious prejudice.

- Dr. Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950) on founding Negro History Week, 1926

Dr. Carter G. Woodson, considered to be a pioneer in the study of African American history, is given much of the credit for Black History Month. The son of former slaves, Woodson spent his childhood working in coalmines and quarries. He received his education during the four-month term that was customary for black schools at the time. At 19, having taught himself English fundamentals and arithmetic, Woodson entered high school, where he completed a four-year curriculum in two years. He went on to receive his Masters degree in history from the University of Chicago, and he eventually earned a PhD from Harvard.

Disturbed that history textbooks largely ignored America's black population, Woodson took on the challenge of writing black Americans into the nation's history. To do this, Woodson established the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. He also founded the group's widely respected publication, the Journal of Negro History. In 1926, he developed Negro History Week. Woodson believed that "the achievements of the Negro properly set forth will crown him as a factor in early human progress and a maker of modern civilization."

In 1976, Negro History Week expanded into Black History Month. The month is also sometimes referred to as African American Heritage Month.

NPR : Colleges Face Challenge of the Class Divide

NPR : Colleges Face Challenge of the Class Divide: "All Things Considered, February 6, 2007 � In the United States, a good education at an elite private college can be a gateway into the upper class. But that education is also very expensive. Tuition and board at the most prestigious colleges now top $45,000 a year. That's even a stretch for many upper-middle-income families. At prices like these, many colleges risk becoming bastions of the rich and super-rich. Like other elite schools, Amherst College in Massachusetts has struggled to become more inclusive by trying to level the economic playing field for students. Amherst College President Anthony Marx sees class as one of the fundamental problems facing American colleges and universities today.

'I think everyone in higher education is aware of the growing economic divide in this country, and the challenges that divide creates for institutions that want the best students from across the society,' he says."

AP Classes – What’s Stopping Black Students?

AP Classes – What’s Stopping Black Students?: Black high school students are significantly underrepresented in AP courses that provide students with a jumpstart on college and serve as an early predictor of college success, according to The College Board’s “Advanced Placement Report to the Nation.” Experts say checking teacher bias and improving identification of qualified Black students can help.

More than 1.3 million students from 16,000 schools participated in the AP program last year, up from 581,000 students and 12,000 schools a decade ago. In 2006, 14.8 percent of all graduating high school seniors scored at least a 3 on one AP exam — which makes them “qualified” in the subject, and earns them college credit for testing out of an introductory course.

Blacks are underrepresented in AP, comprising just 6.9 percent of AP’s class of 2006 but 13.7 percent of the overall student population. American Indians make up 1.1 percent of the overall student population, but 0.6 percent of AP students.

For First Time, Poverty Shifts to the Suburbs - Newsweek Society - MSNBC.com

For First Time, Poverty Shifts to the Suburbs - Newsweek Society - MSNBC.com: Once prized as a leafy haven from the social ills of urban life, the suburbs are now grappling with a new outbreak of an old problem: poverty. Currently, 38 million Americans live below the poverty line, which the federal government defines as an annual income of $20,000 or less for a family of four. But for the first time in history, more of America's poor are living in the suburbs than the cities—1.2 million more, according to a 2005 survey. 'The suburbs have reached a tipping point,' says Brookings Institution analyst Alan Berube, who compiled the data. For example, five years ago, a Hunger Network food pantry in Bedford Heights, a struggling suburb of Cleveland, served 50 families a month. Now more than 700 families depend on it for food.

Percy L. Julian - Documentary - TV - New York Times

Percy L. Julian - Documentary - TV - New York Times: On the day that Percy L. Julian graduated at the top of his class at DePauw University, his great-grandmother bared her shoulders and, for the first time, showed him the deep scars that remained from a beating she had received as a slave during the last days of the Civil War. She then clutched his Phi Beta Kappa key in her hand and said, “This is worth all the scars.”"

Every February, when the curtain lifts on Black History Month, the cast of highlighted lives is often familiar: a Martin Luther King Jr., a Katherine Dunham. But the documentary “Forgotten Genius,” to be broadcast tonight as part of the “Nova” science series on PBS, dramatizes the story of Mr. Julian, a largely neglected black chemist who was nonetheless one of the most important scientists of the 20th century. He is played by the Tony Award-winning actor Ruben Santiago-Hudson, and the moment with his great-grandmother is but one in a film full of the echoes of the country’s painful racial history.

Young blacks feel the sting

Many young black Americans think the government treats most immigrants better than it treats most black people in the USA, according to a national study being released Thursday. It asked 15- to 25-year-olds about issues from politics and government to sex, marriage, health and hip-hop.

Researchers at the University of Chicago's Black Youth Project compared the views of 1,590 young people of different racial and ethnic groups and found that the black experience — and the perception of blacks' experience by others — suggests a demographic group that sees a lot of obstacles.

Among the findings:

•48% of blacks, compared with 18% of Hispanics and 29% of whites, believe the government treats immigrants better than it does blacks.

•68% of blacks believe the government would do more to find a cure for AIDS cure if more whites were infected, compared with 34% of whites and 50% of Hispanics.

•61% of blacks say it is hard for young black people to get ahead because of discrimination; 45% of Hispanics and 43% of whites agree.

•54% of blacks say blacks receive a poorer education on average than whites; 40% of Hispanics and 31% of whites agree.

•79% of blacks, 73% of Hispanics and 63% of whites believe the police discriminate "much more" against blacks than whites.

•14% of blacks say they grew up in a very good neighborhood, vs. 16% of Hispanics and 30% of whites.

Cathy Cohen, a University of Chicago political science professor who heads the project, says the focus on this age group is particularly important as the country looks to the 2008 election and the likely candidacy of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., who is black and exploring a presidential run.

"I thought it important to put these young black people into that discussion because they suggest that — far from being a completely open society even in this post-civil rights moment — they still face discrimination, limited opportunities and feelings of secondary status," Cohen says.

Though the study suggests that discrimination is a fact of life for blacks, 49% of blacks said they were "rarely or never" discriminated against because of their race.

Researchers asked 240 questions during 45-minute telephone interviews in 2005 with 635 blacks, 567 whites and 314 Hispanics. The remaining interviewees were either Asian/Pacific Islander, Native American or didn't claim a group. The margin of error is plus or minus 2 percentage points.

Although larger studies of black Americans have been conducted for 30 years by researchers at the University of Michigan, those 18 and older were the focus of the research until 1999, when the studies included adolescents ages 13-17.

Cohen calls her study a more generational approach.

Rebecca Bigler of the Gender and Racial Attitudes Lab at the University of Texas-Austin, who is not part of the Chicago study, says the topic needs academic attention because young blacks are a group that academics have "ignored and understudied."

Va. moves to apologize for slavery - USATODAY.com

Va. moves to apologize for slavery - USATODAY.com: Virginia moved forward on Wednesday to apologize for slavery, something no president or legislature has done.

The Virginia House Rules Committee unanimously approved a measure that expresses 'profound regret' for the state's role in the slave trade and other injustices against African-Americans and Native Americans.

The original proposal by Del. Donald McEachin, a Democrat, called for 'atonement.'

'This is a good first step,' says McEachin, whose great-grandfather Archie was a slave.

He says the wording was changed because some lawmakers said an apology could lead to reparations, or cash payments, to slave descendants.

He says the bill, though softened, is important as Virginia celebrates the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, America's first permanent English settlement and an entry point for African slaves.

A proposal in the state Senate expressing 'profound contrition' won unanimous approval from a subcommittee Monday.

House Speaker William Howell expects both chambers to pass the measure, says his spokesman, G. Paul Nardo. The legislature is scheduled to adjourn Feb. 24.

Congress has apologized to Japanese-Americans held in camps during World War II. President Clinton, in Uganda in 1998, said U.S. participation in the slave trade was 'wrong.'

An apology alone does not heal wounds, says Bruce Gordon, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He says it's important to recognize past wrongs, but it's more essential to fix lingering racial inequities.

The Virginia effort to apologize for slavery stirred controversy last month. Del. Frank Hargrove Sr., a white Republican, told The Daily Progress in Charlottesville that blacks 'should get over' slavery instead of seeking a formal apology from the state.

He asked, 'Are we going to force the Jews to apologize for killing Christ?'

Hargrove voted for the revised measure because, he said, it expresses regret 'without apologizing for anything.'

The Virginia Legislature expressed 'profound regret' in 2001 for its role in eugenics, a discredited science that led to the sterilization of more than 7,000 Virginians in the name of purifying the white race between 1924 and 1979.

Recent college parties mocking black stereotypes spark outrage

... James Johnson, a black psychology professor at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington who has researched racial attitudes and teaches a seminar on race and prejudice, said he is more discouraged by the rap performers who perpetuate stereotypes than by the "clueless kids" who imitate them.

"In the civil rights movement, you didn't have blacks who called themselves 'niggers' and who called their women 'bitches' and 'whores' and who glorified being violent and being thugs," he said. "Now these white kids are kind of confused."

These incidents come at a time racial tolerance on college campuses is perceived to be steadily improving. But the truth may be more complicated.

A University of Dayton sociologist who analyzed journals kept by 626 white college students found the students behaved substantially differently when they were in the company of other whites than when they were with other races.

When the students, who were asked to record their interactions with other people, were alone with other white students, racial stereotypes and racist language were surprisingly common, researcher Leslie Picca found. One student reported hearing the "n-word" among white students 27 times in a single day.

The results suggest white students have little sense of shame about racial insults and stereotyping and treat them as simply a part of the culture.

"This is a new generation who grew up watching 'The Cosby Show,"' Picca said. "They have the belief that racism isn't a problem anymore so the words they use and the jokes they tell aren't racist."

Picca said she found it "heartbreaking" to see so many well-educated students perpetuating the stereotypes.

Slavery and the Making of America . About the Series | PBS

Slavery and the Making of America . About the Series | PBS: SLAVERY AND THE MAKING OF AMERICA is a four-part series documenting the history of American slavery from its beginnings in the British colonies to its end in the Southern states and the years of post-Civil War Reconstruction. Drawing on a wealth of recent scholarship, it looks at slavery as an integral part of a developing nation, challenging the long held notion that slavery was exclusively a Southern enterprise. At the same time, by focusing on the remarkable stories of individual slaves, it offers new perspectives on the slave experience and testifies to the active role that Africans and African Americans took in surviving their bondage and shaping their own lives.

This program will premiere nationally on February 9, 2005.

A Very Good Place to Grow Up, for Almost Everyone - washingtonpost.com

A Very Good Place to Grow Up, for Almost Everyone - washingtonpost.com: The Washington region is one of the nation's best metropolitan areas for Hispanic, Asian and non-Hispanic white children, based on a study of health, housing, economic, crime and education data released last week by the Harvard School of Public Health. For black children, the D.C. area ranks about average on most factors, according to the study, titled 'Children Left Behind: How Metropolitan Areas Are Failing America's Children.'

The report, which compares living conditions for children in the country's 100 largest metropolitan areas, draws on a broad range of data that the authors spent five years compiling, with funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation; the data are available at http://www.diversitydata.org.

Same-sex classes a growing trend in public schools

HARTLAND, Wisconsin (AP) -- Lauren Panos was surprised when she walked into her ninth-grade English class in the fall and saw there were no boys.

Her parents had not told her they had enrolled her in a new all-girls class at Arrowhead High School in Hartland, about 25 miles west of Milwaukee. A semester into classes, Panos still isn't sold on the idea.

"All the girls there, they can talk out of turn," the 14-year-old said. "We get really off task and it's really annoying."

More public school systems are looking at separating boys and girls, whether for certain classes or by entire schools, after the federal government opened the door last fall. Supporters say splitting students by sex minimizes distractions, helps them learn better and allows boys and girls to explore subjects they may not otherwise take.

Panos' classmate, Alyson Douglas, 15, said she likes not worrying about boys causing disruptions.

"Guys just make a bigger nuisance in the class," she said.

Panos' and Douglas' school is one of just three public schools in Wisconsin that offers classes for either boys or girls only. But Thursday night, the Milwaukee School Board approved a committee report calling for opening a school with all same-sex classes, perhaps by 2008.

Milwaukee would join several other large cities where public schools already offer single-sex classes. They include New York City -- where there are nine single-sex public schools -- as well as Chicago, Dallas, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

Plans to open same-sex schools have been announced in Miami, Atlanta and Cleveland.

Nationwide, at least 253 public schools offer single-sex classes and 51 schools are entirely single sex, according to the National Association for Single Sex Public Education. In 1995, just three public schools offered single-sex classes.

Critics of same-sex classrooms argue that proven methods of improving education should be pursued instead of one that divides boys and girls. Separating boys and girls is tantamount to "separate but equal" segregation-era classrooms, they say.

"Too many schools feel they can carry out a social experiment with students' education with really the flimsiest of theories," said Emily Martin, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Women's Rights Project.

Single-sex schools are an "illusionary silver bullet," said Lisa Maatz, director of public policy and government relations for the American Association of University Women. They distract from real problems and do not offer proven solutions such as lower class sizes and sufficient funding, she said.

Many classrooms and schools could make the switch thanks to a change made by the U.S. Department of Education in November.

NPR : Rafe Esquith Offers His Fiery Teaching Methods

NPR : Rafe Esquith Offers His Fiery Teaching Methods
All Things Considered, January 22, 2007 · Rafe Esquith is a trail-blazing, fast-talking, fifth-grade teacher who has racked up a slew of awards for his work at a public school in Los Angeles. Ninety-two percent of the children at the school live in households below the poverty level, but Esquith's students have reached the pinnacle of academic and artistic success. His fifth-graders are already tackling high-school fare: algebra, philosophy and Shakespeare.

Esquith's methods have been so successful that he has been encouraged to leave the classroom to help other instructors. But he has no interest in abandoning his kids. Instead, he wrote Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire: The Methods and Madness Inside Room 56, which Esquith likens to a cookbook for teaching in an urban classroom. The title of the book comes from an incident that occurred while he was helping a student in class with a chemistry experiment.

"In trying to get her alcohol burner to light, I set my hair on fire and didn't even know it until the kids started screaming," he says. "But as ridiculous as that was, I actually thought, if I could care so much I didn't even know my hair was on fire, I was moving in the right direction as a teacher — when I realized that you have to ignore all the crap, and the children are the only thing that matter."

He says his teaching tactics, however incendiary, apply to both teachers and parents.

Dairy could doom historic California town, group says - USATODAY.com

Dairy could doom historic California town, group says - USATODAY.com

Dairy could doom historic California town, group says
By John Ritter, USA TODAY
ALLENSWORTH, Calif. — A few restored buildings among sprawling flat acres of farmland are all that's left of an ambitious experiment a century ago — one doomed to fail but still an enduring symbol of African-American self-sufficiency.

Allen Allensworth, a former slave who rose to Army colonel, brought a colony of blacks here to a sparsely settled corner of the Central Valley in 1908. His vision was a discrimination-free town where blacks, through hard work and education, could compete in white America.

Unforeseen events killed the dream, but in the 1970s, the state preserved the town as a historical park. Today, Allensworth, an icon of black history, is threatened by a herd of cows, its patrons say.

Tulare County, the USA's top milk producer, has tentatively approved plans for a large dairy outside the 240-acre park. The Friends of Allensworth, a group with members across the state, fears odor and flies from 9,000 cows and their manure will drive visitors away. The group wants the dairy located somewhere else.

"Allensworth is one of a kind. It can't be replaced," says Victor Carter, president of the Friends of Allensworth. "It should be there for our youth, to see what we can accomplish given a chance." The park had 7,843 visitors in fiscal year 2006, according to the state parks department.

Ed Pope's family settled in Allensworth in the 1930s. He returned in retirement "to become a preservation activist on the scene." The park is on the National Register of Historic Places. If the dairy comes, Pope says, he could stand on railroad tracks next to the park "and throw a rock and hit a cow."

"If people stop coming, the state can't justify spending money to keep the park open. And if the park dies, Allensworth dies," says Pope, 77.

NPR : Black Power on Display in New Congress

NPR : Black Power on Display in New Congress

The 110th session of Congress has an unprecedented number of African-American lawmakers in key positions of power. Black lawmakers with long seniority are taking over committees with influence on such fundamental issues as taxes, homeland security, trade and Social Security.

Some of these representatives – such as Charles Rangel and John Coyners – have been in Washington for decades. Coyners, who was first elected in 1964, helped establish the Congressional Black Caucus in 1969.

The Black Caucus gradually accumulated considerable influence on Capitol Hill, until the Republican takeover of Congress in 1994. Since then, Caucus members have seen their influence wane, rarely winning the ear of the Bush White House.

But last November's election brought a massive reversal of fortune for the Caucus. Now six of its members are poised to have a considerable impact on what happens in the House in the next two years.

Use the link to access more information about individual Caucus members.

Hispanics and Education - Hispanic Achievement

Hispanics and Education - Hispanic Achievement

Nowhere has the impact of the rapid growth of America’s Hispanic population been more apparent than in our elementary and high schools. The number of Hispanic K-12 students increased by almost 6 percent between 1993 and 2003, with Hispanics now accounting for 19 percent of public school students. Blacks make up 17.2 percent of the population while Whites posted a decrease, from 66 percent to 58 percent.

A report from The National Council of La Raza called “Hispanic Education in the United States” provides a more detailed account of how Hispanics compared to their peers in all levels of education.

The jump in the number of Hispanic K-12 students was most significant in the Western United States, where they rose from 15 percent in 1972 to 39 percent in 2003, surpassing Whites in the process. More than half of all immigrant youth are Hispanic (58 percent), with a larger portion in upper grades than lower grades.

Compared to other groups, dropout rates among Hispanics remains high and educational achievement relatively low. Barriers such as English language acquisition, immigration, insufficient financial aid and inadequate access to educational resources can explain the gaps between Hispanics and other students, say La Raza researchers.

The first issue to address is that of poverty. Roughly 49 percent of Hispanic and 48 percent of Black 4th-graders attend the public schools with the highest levels of poverty. Only 5 percent of White and 16 percent of Asian students are enrolled in similar schools. There are large state funding gaps between low- and high-poverty districts as well, especially in states with large minority populations, including California, Illinois and New York.

In 2004, Hispanics represented approximately 17 percent of all public high school students but graduated at a rate below the national average. Almost three-fourths of all Whites completed high school, compared to 53.2 percent of Hispanic students and only 50.2 percent of Blacks.

Jefferson, Blair Lead Nation In Intel Search Semifinalists - washingtonpost.com

Jefferson, Blair Lead Nation In Intel Search Semifinalists - washingtonpost.com: Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria and Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring together produced 26 of 300 semifinalists nationwide in the prestigious Intel Science Talent Search for 2007, the technology company announced yesterday.

The schools, which draw students with conspicuous math and science abilities from Northern Virginia and Montgomery County, respectively, ranked first and second for the number of semifinalists from a single campus in the annual contest. Jefferson had 14; Blair had 12.

The D.C. region yielded 31 semifinalists in all, 10 percent of the nation's total, with one each from Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Walt Whitman and Thomas Wootton high schools in Montgomery, Eleanor Roosevelt in Prince George's County and the private Sidwell Friends School in the District. Jefferson and Blair are perennial contenders because of their math-science magnet programs.

A "prize patrol" from the talent search visited Blair yesterday to present the school's semifinalists with $1,000 checks; schools receive a matching sum for each honoree. A similar ceremony for Jefferson's 14 semifinalists was canceled because of a power outage at the school.

Forty finalists will be announced Jan. 31. On March 8, finalists will travel to Washington for a week-long event, culminating with 10 students receiving scholarships totaling $500,000. The top winner will receive a $100,000 scholarship.

The talent search, founded in 1942, is the nation's oldest and most highly regarded pre-collegiate science contest.

Overall cancer deaths decline again, but statistics not as rosy for blacks - USATODAY.com

Overall cancer deaths decline again, but statistics not as rosy for blacks - USATODAY.com: The number of Americans dying of cancer declined for second year in a row, this time by a much greater number, the American Cancer Society reports, a signal that decades of advances in prevention and treatment are paying off, experts say.

Although black women have a 9% lower cancer rate than their white peers, black women have an 18% higher death rate for all forms of cancer. Black men have a 15% higher rate of cancer and a 38% higher death rate than white men, a trend that extends from 1999 to 2003.

Whatever happened to Ruby Bridges? - Nightly News with Brian Williams - MSNBC.com

Whatever happened to Ruby Bridges? - Nightly News with Brian Williams - MSNBC.com: NEW ORLEANS - Ruby Bridges didn't ask to be an icon of the civil rights movement; others made that happen.

She was, after all, just six in 1960 when the NAACP selected her to integrate a New Orleans elementary school.

An angry mob tried to keep her out, but federal marshals got her in.

And Norman Rockwell made the moment famous in a 1964 painting.

Forty-six years later, after Katrina flooded the city, devastated the school and triggered a new round of racial upheaval, Ruby Bridges is back, this time on her own accord — to save the school.

Even before Katrina, William Frantz Elementary in the Lower Ninth Ward was in danger of closing.

“I used to go to the back to sharpen my pencil, there,” says Bridges as she takes us on a tour. “I see this school being filled with kids.”

But there's more. Bridges wants to integrate the school — again.

King's own words on display for his holiday - USATODAY.com

King's own words on display for his holiday - USATODAY.com: The handwritten personal papers of Martin Luther King Jr., including his sermons and the 'I Have a Dream' speech, will be on display in Atlanta today, one of many tributes planned for the late civil rights leader.

Schools, banks, federal offices and post offices are closed today as the nation observes the 21st annual King holiday.

In Washington, D.C., the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation is announcing $3 million in new contributions from corporations. That will bring the total raised to $76 million toward a goal of $100 million. The memorial will be built along the Tidal Basin, between the Jefferson and Lincoln memorials.

King, who was assassinated in 1968, would be 78 years old today.

'He was the irresistible force that made the immovable object of segregation move,' Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said Sunday. 'We who admired him so much can honor him the most by carrying on his work. Civil rights is still the unfinished business of America.'

The memorial is scheduled for completion in 2008. It will be the first memorial on the National Mall for a non-president and the first for an African-American.

The Atlanta History Center opens an exhibit today of King's handwritten papers. One is his 'I Have a Dream' speech, delivered to 200,000 people from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington in August 1963. Also being displayed is King's 'Letter from Birmingham Jail,' in which he laid out his opposition to segregation and said citizens had an obligation to disobey unjust laws.

The papers are from the Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection.

Legislation signed into law by President Reagan in 1983 designated the third Monday in January as Martin Luther King Day. The holiday, first observed in 1986, is timed to fall on or around King's birthday, Jan. 15.

Despite Lessons on King, Some Unaware of His Dream - washingtonpost.com

Despite Lessons on King, Some Unaware of His Dream - washingtonpost.com: In a recent survey of college students on U.S. civic literacy, more than 81 percent knew that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was expressing hope for 'racial justice and brotherhood' in his historic 'I Have a Dream' speech.

That's the good news.

Most of the rest surveyed thought King was advocating the abolition of slavery.

The findings indicate that years of efforts by primary and secondary schools to steep young people in the basics of the civil rights leader's life and activities have resulted in a mixed bag. Most college students know who he is -- even if they're not quite clear on what he worked to achieve.

Students and teachers say today's federal holiday marking King's birthday is the one that receives the most attention in schools, in part because the events surrounding the man it commemorates are the most recent.

"I think if there is one holiday on the calendar that is really reflective and thoughtful and has historical content, it is the King holiday," said Cynthia Mosteller, a history teacher at Deal Junior High School in the District. "It is a topic about which literally every student knows something."

How long students will continue to learn it, however, is open to question, students and educators say.

The recent survey of college students, conducted by the University of Connecticut's Department of Public Policy for the nonprofit Intercollegiate Studies Institute, suggests that schools are not doing as much as they could to go beyond a cursory history lesson. More than 14,000 college freshmen and seniors at 50 colleges and universities earned an average score of 53.2 percent in the survey.

Memorial honoring MLK to receive funding boost - USATODAY.com

Memorial honoring MLK to receive funding boost - USATODAY.com: WASHINGTON — Alfred C. Bailey, too, had a dream.

About 20 years ago, the retired engineer and his Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity brothers sat around a dining room table, talking about the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Memorials to King had been erected around the country, but there was nothing in Washington, D.C., where he made his famous 'I have a dream' speech about a future of racial harmony on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in the summer of 1963.

'We knew he deserved it, so we dedicated ourselves to getting it done,' said Bailey, 82, of Silver Spring, Md.

Today, 21 years after the first federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr., the dream King's fraternity set in motion is almost realized.

The Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation Inc., has raised $72.9 million in mostly private donations to fund a memorial on the National Mall and will announce Monday that corporate donors will be contributing at least $2 million.

The foundation is asking churches over the next year to sponsor a collection for the memorial, which is expected to cost $100 million.

Scheduled for completion in late 2008, the memorial will be located on a four-acre site along the Tidal Basin, surrounded by memorials to Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington.

It will be the first memorial on the mall for a non-president and African American.

'I don't have any question that we're on track,' said Harry Johnson, the foundation president.

The memorial will include waterfalls, a wall of quotes, and boulders, including one with a carving of King's image and words.

Bailey helped pick the design. He was among the more than 200,000 people who heard King's 1963 speech during the March on Washington, and he was inspired.

Bailey remembers, as a young soldier in 1943, having to travel through small Southern towns with the curtains drawn on his train car because the residents 'didn't want to see black people.' And 10 years later, he and his wife slept in their car when they ran out of gas after the local gas station closed and no hotel would take them.

'That's why I could feel so good when Martin spoke about freedom for all because I had experienced segregation,' Bailey said. The memorial, he said, 'will be so worthwhile to many generations to come.'

Equal Cheers for Boys and Girls Draw Some Boos - New York Times

Equal Cheers for Boys and Girls Draw Some Boos - New York Times: WHITNEY POINT, N.Y. — Thirty girls signed up for the cheerleading squad this winter at Whitney Point High School in upstate New York. But upon learning they would be waving their pompoms for the girls’ basketball team as well as the boys’, more than half of the aspiring cheerleaders dropped out.

The eight remaining cheerleaders now awkwardly adjust their routines for whichever team is playing here on the home court — “Hands Up You Guys” becomes “Hands Up You Girls”— to comply with a new ruling from federal education officials interpreting Title IX, the law intended to guarantee gender equality in student sports.

“It feels funny when we do it,” said Amanda Cummings, 15, the cheerleading co-captain, who forgot the name of a female basketball player mid-cheer last month.

Whitney Point is one of 14 high schools in the Binghamton area that began sending cheerleaders to girls’ games in late November, after the mother of a female basketball player in Johnson City, N.Y., filed a discrimination complaint with the United States Department of Education. She said the lack of official sideline support made the girls seem like second-string, and violated Title IX’s promise of equal playing fields for both sexes.

But the ruling has left many people here and across the New York region booing, as dozens of schools have chosen to stop sending cheerleaders to away games, as part of an effort to squeeze all the home girls’ games into the cheerleading schedule.

Boys’ basketball boosters say something is missing in the stands at away games, cheerleaders resent not being able to meet their rivals on the road, and even female basketball players being hurrahed are unhappy.

In Johnson City, students and parents say they have accepted the change even as they question the need for it.

NPR : 'Until the Building Falls Down': A Fight to Vote

NPR : 'Until the Building Falls Down': A Fight to Vote: Theresa Burroughs was 18 years old and ready to vote. But in her Alabama town, it took two years of effort just for her to register.

Accompanied by J.J. Simmons, a minister who would not let her back down, Burroughs went down to the Hale County Courthouse on the first and third Monday of each month.

'The white men,' Burroughs says, 'they would not let us register to vote.'

The chairman of the board of registrars, remembered by Burroughs only as 'Mr. Cox,' posed questions meant to disqualify black voters, such as 'How many black jelly beans in a jar? How many red ones in there?'

When Burroughs responded that Cox didn't know how many jelly beans were in the jar any more than she did, the answer was quick: 'Shut your black mouth.'

But Burroughs, with Simmons' support, kept on going, despite the embarrassment.

'We're going to go until the building falls down,' Simmons said.

On the day that Cox finally relented, he asked Burroughs and Simmons a simpler question — to recite part of the preamble of the Constitution — and also gave her a final insult.

'You're going to pass today. Because we are tired of looking at your black faces,' Burroughs recalls him saying. Then he handed over the slip of paper that meant Burroughs was a registered voter.

Burroughs voted in the next election. And she hasn't stopped since.

'It shouldn't have been this hard,' she says. 'I knew it shouldn't have been this hard.'

Emerging Scholars: The Class of 2007

Emerging Scholars: The Class of 2007: Just 10. Each year it becomes increasingly difficult to select just 10 Emerging Scholars. There are so many outstanding scholars of color in the academy who are breaking new ground in research, applying scholarship to public policy and grooming the next generation of leaders and professionals.

Diverse’s 2007 Emerging Scholars are doing all of that while setting records and earning the distinction of being the “first” or the “youngest” to win tenure or merit some impressive accolade.

This year’s crop of award-winning academicians was chosen by Diverse staff and, in some cases, nominated by colleagues. The scholars include a scientist who uses GIS technology to map racial health disparities; a first-generation college graduate and doctorate who is a highly sought-after computer expert; and a math prodigy who was studying college-level calculus at age 9 and earned his doctorate at age 20.

Some of our scholars benefited from the encouragement of mentors or pipeline programs like The PhD Project. Some, destined for stellar private industry careers, came to the academy by happenstance. All are driven and exceptional.
See for yourself.

Perspectives: King Holiday Opportunity For Change

Perspectives: King Holiday Opportunity For Change: Recently, I drove by a place of worship and read “new year, new hope.” I thought there was something quite prophetic in that short message. As we know, America will celebrate the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Jan. 15th. On that day, we will pause to reflect on the greatness of the man and to re-commit ourselves to his principles of fairness and justice. Many of us have found his philosophy to be quite simple. He wanted all of us to treat one another with great dignity and respect. Turning talk into action, however, causes us the trouble.

“Hatred and bitterness can never cure the disease of fear; only love can do that,” King said. “Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.” On Jan. 15th, there will be wonderful speeches, personal testimonies and great singing. On this day, I would like to believe we will all be on the same page. We will talk passionately about our love for one another. There is something truly special about the activities on this day. Places of worship, auditoriums and other edifices will be filled with people singing, “We shall overcome some day.” I enjoy the spirit that comes with this great song. I believe with all of us working together that we can capture this spirit year round.

Coretta Scott King honored in Atlanta - Race in America - MSNBC.com

Coretta Scott King honored in Atlanta - Race in America - MSNBC.com

ATLANTA - It’s been a year since Coretta Scott King received thunderous applause when she surprised guests at the annual Salute to Greatness Dinner and appeared on stage, smiling and waving with her children.

On Saturday, guests again applauded the widow of Martin Luther King Jr., as she was honored posthumously for her human rights contributions and work to preserve her husband’s legacy in the decades after his death.

King suffered a stroke and heart attack in August 2005 and battled ovarian cancer before she died in January 2006.

Classroom Instruction that Works with English Language Learners - McREL

Classroom Instruction that Works with English Language Learners - McREL

Classroom Instruction that Works with English Language Learners applies the strategies from the best-selling book Classroom Instruction that Works to reaching English language learners (ELLs). It describes ways for mainstream K–6 teachers to adapt the strategies to meet the needs of ELLs at different stages of language acquisition. Teachers also will learn how to use culturally appropriate methods to increase parents' involvement in the education process.

Tolerance.org: Teaching Tolerance: IN THE NEWS: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day; No Name-Calling Week

Tolerance.org: Teaching Tolerance: IN THE NEWS: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day; No Name-Calling Week: IN THE NEWS: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day; No Name-Calling Week

Jan. 10, 2007 -- Tolerance-related news events, with discussion questions and resources for classroom use
by Carrie Kilman

Professors Offer Realistic Look at King
Next Monday, the United States will observe Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. How will your classroom celebrate?

Dr. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968. Four days later, U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich) introduced a bill to create a national holiday in King's honor. But the bill stalled. For 15 years, members of Congress reintroduced the bill, but Congress steadfastly refused to pass it.

By November 1980, the bill lost by only 5 votes. Public support for a national holiday was growing. In 1982, more than 6 million people signed petitions urging Congress to pass the legislation. In August 1983, after continued public pressure, the King Holiday Bill passed the House by a vote of 338 to 90. But the fight wasn't over. In the Senate, the bill's fate was uncertain.

Later that month, 750,000 protesters marched to the Lincoln Memorial for the 20th Anniversary March on Washington, demanding the Senate and President Reagan take action. Two months later, the bill cleared the Senate. In November 1983, President Reagan ceremoniously signed it into law, while Coretta Scott King, Dr. King's widow, looked on.

Many states objected to the new holiday and refused to recognize it. In protest of the new law, several Southern states created holidays for Confederate generals on the same day as King's holiday. It wasn't until 1999 that Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was celebrated in all 50 states. Today, the holiday is celebrated, in some form, in more than 100 countries.

Explore King's influence and the history of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in your state.

Tolerance.org: Speak Up!

Tolerance.org: Speak Up!

Your brother routinely makes anti-Semitic comments. Your neighbor uses the N-word in casual conversation. Your co-worker ribs you about your Italian surname, asking if you're in the mafia. Your classmate insults something by saying, "That's so gay."

And you stand there, in silence, thinking, "What can I say in response to that?" Or you laugh along, uncomfortably. Or, frustrated or angry, you walk away without saying anything, thinking later, "I should have said something."

In the spring of 2004, the Southern Poverty Law Center gathered hundreds of stories of everyday bigotry like these from people across the United States. They told their stories through e-mail, personal interviews and at roundtable discussions in four cities: Baltimore, Md.; Columbia, S.C.; Phoenix, Ariz.; and Vancouver, Wash.

People spoke about encounters in stores and restaurants, on streets and in schools. They spoke about family, friends, classmates and co-workers. They told us what they did or didn't say — and what they wished they did or didn't say.

And no matter the location or relationship, the stories echo each other.

When a Native American man at one roundtable discussion spoke of feeling ostracized at work, a Jewish woman nodded in support. When an African American woman told of daily indignities of racism at school, a white man leaned forward and asked what he could do to help. When an elderly lesbian spoke of finally feeling brave enough to wear a rainbow pin in public, those around the table applauded her courage.

Speak Up! echoes that applause, encouraging everyone to take a stand against everyday bigotry.

Tolerance.org: Teaching Tolerance: IVORY TOWER: Lessons for a Teacher

Tolerance.org: Teaching Tolerance: IVORY TOWER: Lessons for a Teacher: IVORY TOWER: Lessons for a Teacher

Veteran teacher Dottie Blais writes openly about a question that too often is left unspoken and unanswered: How does a teacher's whiteness get in the way of successful multicultural education?

by Dottie Blais

Only one student ever told me to my face that she hated me and meant it. It happened more than 20 years ago, and I'll never forget the moment.

Shonda and I were seated across from each other in the shabby chairs of the teachers' lounge at the public high school of a small town in the Deep South. It was the only place I'd been able to find for our impromptu conference, and the matter at hand was urgent. Shonda wanted to drop out of the gifted program; in fact, she had already stopped coming to class. She had been vague with the counselor about her reasons, and she had not discussed the decision with me.

In our conference, I bombarded her with well-intentioned questions: What's going on? Is anything wrong at home? Why didn't you tell me you were having problems?

Her quiet answer shocked me: "I hate you."

"What?" I asked, even though I had heard quite clearly what she said.

"I hate you," she repeated without embellishment.

"Wh . . . Why?" I asked. But the conference was over because Shonda ran out of the room. Stunned, I couldn't even get out of my chair to go after her.

So Shonda dropped out of the program. Her parents didn't argue with her about her decision because they knew how strong-willed she was, and they wanted her to be happy. She simply stopped talking to me. For nearly a year I was left with unanswered questions. What had I done to elicit such hatred from her? How could I have failed her so miserably?

Stamp honors Fitzgerald, First Lady of Song - MUSIC - MSNBC.com

Stamp honors Fitzgerald, First Lady of Song - MUSIC - MSNBC.com

Ella Fitzgerald — the First Lady of Song — is being honored on a new postage stamp.

The 39-cent stamp will be released Wednesday at ceremonies at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, and will be on sale across the country. It’s the 30th stamp in the agency’s Black Heritage series.

“She would be very honored, very pleased and a little surprised,” said Ray Brown Jr., Fitzgerald’s son. “She didn’t go through life expecting all the accolades that she got. She was just happy to do her thing and be the best that she could be.”

An Educator's Stirring Coda - washingtonpost.com

An Educator's Stirring Coda - washingtonpost.com: More than 200 musicians came dressed in their concert black, toting trumpets, saxophones and violins that many had first picked up at age 11. Now with some in high school or college and others in their 20s and 30s, many had barely met before performing yesterday for about 1,200 people at Bethesda's Walt Whitman High School auditorium.

But they all wanted to please Frankie Ball, the tall, sharply dressed man in the front row bobbing his head to the beat.

Ball, 61, instrumental music teacher at nearby Thomas W. Pyle Middle School for 26 years, is retiring this month to focus on his cancer treatments. In a concert featuring a band, a string orchestra and two jazz ensembles, Ball's former students gathered to honor the beloved teacher credited with instilling musical appreciation in thousands of Bethesda children. Proceeds from ticket sales will benefit cancer research.

U.S. Education Officials Question Diversity Standard - washingtonpost.com

U.S. Education Officials Question Diversity Standard - washingtonpost.com: The Education Department's general counsel is challenging the American Bar Association's new standard on diversity in enrollment and hiring, which calls for the law schools it accredits to take 'concrete action' to attract more minority students, faculty and staff.

The 400,000-member law association, which has accredited nearly 200 law schools nationwide, said it updated its standards last year after a 2003 Supreme Court ruling that said law schools could use race and ethnicity as factors in admissions with certain restrictions.

NCCRESt - National Forum 2007

NCCRESt - National Forum 2007

This year’s conference, Leadership for Equity and Excellence: Transforming Education, will be held in Washington D.C. at the Crystal Gateway Marriott on February 7th, 8th, and 9th, 2007. Educators, policy makers, advocacy groups, parents, and community members from across the United States will gather to explore how educational systems can assure equity in educational outcomes for all students through school improvement, leadership, family and community partnerships, policy, and teaching.

The focus for the three days will be to share current research, best practices, and tools for transforming educational systems. Last years conference drew over 500 of the nation’s top education experts, leading educators, policy makers, advocacy groups, parents, and community members. Comments from conference participants were…

This is the best conference I’ve attended in 10 years!

General education leaders need to attend this conference!

The sessions were outstanding!

NCCRESt will have more information posted as soon as it is available. Check the site often for information on call for proposals, online registration and keynote speakers.

Minorities and Science and Engineering Degrees: Attainment Statistics

Minorities and Science and Engineering Degrees: Attainment Statistics: Women have made significant progress in science and engineering, having earned half of bachelor’s degrees, 44 percent of master’s degrees and 37 percent of doctorates in science and engineering in 2003-2004. African Americans, Hispanics and American Indians continue to be under-represented, collectively earning 16 percent of bachelor’s degrees, 11 percent of master’s and barely 6 percent of doctorates for the same period, according to a report released Wednesday.

Other key highlights of the 16th edition of Professional Women and Minorities from the Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology include:

· Since 1966, the percentage of bachelor’s degrees earned by women in science and engineering doubled from 24.8 percent to 50.4 percent in 2004.

· In 1966, women only earned 13.3 percent S&E master’s, but that figure tripled to 43.6 percent in 2004.

· Women earning doctorates showed the most growth; 37.4 percent of doctorates went to women in 2004, compared to 8.0 percent in 1966.

Despite their gains in degree attainment, women represented 25 percent of the science, technology, engineering and mathematics labor force in 2005. Women were mostly represented in social sciences, biological sciences, and psychology related occupations, but least represented in mechanical and civil engineering occupations.