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Quote:
http://news.yahoo.com/high-school-student-alleges-racial-bias-valedictorian-choice-223416668.html
High school student alleges racial bias in valedictorian choice
High school student alleges racial bias in valedictorian choice
ReutersBy Suzi Parker | Reuters – Wed, Jul 27, 2011
LITTLE ROCK, Ark (Reuters) - A black high school valedictorian says in a federal lawsuit that her school discriminated against her when they made her share the stage with a white "co-valedictorian" who had a lower grade point average.
School officials told Kymberly Wimberly, 18, that it was because the other student had more class credits, according to the lawsuit. School officials have said publicly that the valedictorians are chosen based on both grades and difficulty of course work.
Wimberly, who said she was the first black valedictorian in more than 20 years at the tiny high school, believes it was racial.
"I'm trying to prevent students under me from having to go through the same thing," Wimberly told Reuters. "I think it was racially motivated. Everyone knew I had the highest grade point."
Repeated attempts by Reuters on Wednesday to contact school officials and board members were unsuccessful.
A day after learning that she would be the valedictorian of the 2011 graduating class at McGehee Secondary School, she was told that she would have to share the honor with a white, female student.
Both students gave valedictory speeches at the May 13th graduation.
Wimberly is seeking injunctive, declaratory and monetary relief from the McGehee School District, the board, the district's superintendent and the school's principal, both individually and in their official capacities. The lawsuit is asking for $75,000 in damages.
The superintendent is black. The principal is white. The lawsuit states the school board is primarily white.
Last year, the public school had 340 students in grades nine through 12.
The lawsuit says the actions, "were part of a pattern and practice of school administrators and personnel treating African-American students less favorably than Caucasian students."
It also says the school district does not encourage black students to take honors or advanced placement classes.
"I hope this wakes up some of the mentalities of not just the whites but the blacks who are so oppressed because they think it is the only way it has to be," Wimberly said.
Wimberly said she graduated with a 4.0 grade point average and took honors and advanced placement classes. She briefly left school during the fall semester of junior year after giving birth to her daughter, missing three weeks of class.
The lawsuit says that she returned in time to take her semester exams.
She received a "B" in English that semester, but pulled her grade up to an "A" by spring.
The white student had a lower GPA but more credits. But Wimberly said credits only come into play when two students tie with the same GPA.
"They told me I was the valedictorian on Tuesday," Wimberly said. "On Wednesday, they said I had to share and be a co-valedictorian."
Wimberly's mother, Molly Bratton, works at the school as a certified media specialist. On the day Wimberly was notified that she was valedictorian, Bratton went into the copy room and heard staff talking, the lawsuit says.
Some school personnel expressed concern that Wimberly's valedictorian status might cause a "big mess," the suit says. The next day, the co-valedictorian was announced.
Bratton tried to address the school board before graduation about her daughter's situation. She was denied and was told she filled out the wrong form for public comments.
"You stand up, and you fight for what you believe in, my dad told me," Wimberly said. "This is your first battle, and we will stand by you, they said."
Wimberly has started college at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. The mother of a one-and-a-half year old daughter, Amiah, Wimberly is majoring in biology and pre-medicine. She wants to earn doctorate and medical degrees.
McGehee is a town of about 5,000 people near the border of Mississippi and Arkansas in the middle of the impoverished Mississippi Delta.
(Editing by Karen Brooks)
Well here we go again...I have about had it with this nonsense..man up and learn life isn't fair....the sooner this girl learns it the better....she is still a valedictorian....
nobody took nothing away from here...she is still a valedictorian...i swear im so sick of people whining...and pulling the race card....i hope the judge tosses her suit and hits her with a penalty for a frivolous lawsuit...this is absurd!
suing for 75,000 dollars over this.....my my what has this stinking country come to....if a judge doesn't toss this lawsuit he needs his head examined...
go ahead girl....steal from the kids who are in school...take the 75,000 dollars away from your own community and hurt the education in your town even more...yeah that will really help things!
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75 grand for what??? Having to give a speech with someone else?? I couldn't tell you where I graduated in my class or who the valedictorians were... I think we had four... to be honest I don't remember much about my graduation except I got my diplomia....
this is truly making more of a situation than there really is.
<><
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If this is the first time this school has had a co-valedictorian, it looks pretty fishy.
And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.
- John Muir
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Quote:
If this is the first time this school has had a co-valedictorian, it looks pretty fishy.
This. Realizing life isn't fair has nothing to do with this. Racism should never be a factor in anything. Obviously we don't know all the facts here, but if the allegations are true, it's complete BS.
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Definitely agree the jfan and deep here. Regardless, of the crazy situation she's in she deserves all the credit. Not many students, let alone young adults, can claim they did the following. Quote:
Wimberly said she graduated with a 4.0 grade point average and took honors and advanced placement classes. She briefly left school during the fall semester of junior year after giving birth to her daughter, missing three weeks of class.
The lawsuit says that she returned in time to take her semester exams.
That's incredible. I give major credit to this young woman for being able to pull it all off.
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There may have been some discrimination here but the problem is what damages have been caused? That's an essential element of any case and frankly in this case, as presented, I see no damages to be awarded. The girl was a still a valedictorian and schools across America have multiple valedictorians, my school had 4 I think. In the eyes of a college or HRM person it does not matter if your school had multiple valedictorians, it only matters if you were.
Basically assume the school was racist it doesn't change the fact no damages were caused. You can't sue/arrest someone just cause they are racist. We'd had to arrest half the population in southeast Ohio alone.
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Quote:
Kymberly Wimberly
Somebody should slap her mom... 
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Quote:
The girl was a still a valedictorian and schools across America have multiple valedictorians, my school had 4 I think. In the eyes of a college or HRM person it does not matter if your school had multiple valedictorians, it only matters if you were.
That's never been her point. Her point was, why is there a co-valedictorian?
Is this the first time there's been one at this high school? What are their reasons for having two?
If race becomes a part of this at all, she's been discriminated against and I hope she wins. The issue isn't the damages, it's whether or not the school system did this. We should be way beyond this in our society.
I guess you gotta prove damages to be awarded them, but lawyers can do amazing things.
We'll see, i'm just interested in the school's side of the story and if they have any real reason there should be 2 valedictorians. If they don't, someone needs to be held accountable. Good for Kymberly Wymberly
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Ok, a few comments... Quote:
says in a federal lawsuit
Why is this a federal lawsuit? Why isn't this in the state court system? Isn't the school and the board of education under state and local control?
Quote:
Wimberly, who said she was the first black valedictorian in more than 20 years at the tiny high school, believes it was racial.
So they have had other black valedictorians before?
Quote:
Wimberly said she graduated with a 4.0 grade point average and took honors and advanced placement classes.
The article never does say what the white kids GPA was.. are we talking 3.95 with more classes or harder classes or are we talking 3.5...
Quote:
The lawsuit is asking for $75,000 in damages.
For what exactly?
Quote:
The lawsuit says the actions, "were part of a pattern and practice of school administrators and personnel treating African-American students less favorably than Caucasian students."
If you can prove a pattern, like this same situation happened a couple years ago with the white kid having the higher GPA and a similarly qualified black kid NOT being given co-valedictorian, then you have a good case.
Quote:
She briefly left school during the fall semester of junior year after giving birth to her daughter, missing three weeks of class.
I have to be honest here... I don't care. Maybe the other kid played 3 sports and that takes up a lot of time. The fact that she was able to overcome her own mistake serves no purpose other than to garner sympathy. On a personal level I applaud her for continuing to work hard and not allowing this to cause her to give up but for the purposes of this article.. it is irrelevant.
From what I could find the schools population is 45% black, there is one white kid out of 15 on the school basketball team and he scored 5 points all year. The coach is black. Some white kid that didn't make the team should sue.
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I think her lawsuit would carry more weight if she wasn't asking for the $75,000. This just makes it look like a money grab.
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Some school systems use more than just GPA as criteria for valedictorian. Some systems consider extra-curricular activities, community involvement, faculty and/or student body votes, etc, as part of the equation. If its only based on GPA and hers is higher, then I suppose she has a beef. Just not a "federal" beef, and certainly not worth $75K.
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At my high school, we called the person with the second-best GPA the Salutatorian.
*edited for spelling*
Last edited by CleveSteve; 07/29/11 10:13 AM.
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Quote:
At my high school, we called the person with the second-best GPA the Saludictorian
Uh, you mean salutatorian, right?
Salutatorian should give the introductory speech at graduation (like salutations - that's right a Charlotte's Web reference). Valedictorian should give the farewell speech at graduation.
#gmstrong
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So when we say goodbye to someone ... could we say, "Valedations!"? 
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Quote:
I think her lawsuit would carry more weight if she wasn't asking for the $75,000. This just makes it look like a money grab.
+1
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Quote:
Why is this a federal lawsuit? Why isn't this in the state court system? Isn't the school and the board of education under state and local control?
If she's suing under the Civil Rights Act and/or other 14th amendment statutes, it is a federal case.
Edit for clarification: Or, rather, it gives her the choice to file in federal rather than state court. If her state has a similar law, she could conceivably choose to file in the state court system, but that decision can rest on many factors.
Last edited by ComicSans; 07/29/11 12:19 PM.
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Maybe it has more to do with her having a kid and not her race? Before I will make any assumptions I need to know if they have had more than one valedictorian in the past.
#gmstrong
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Quote:
At my high school, we called the person with the second-best GPA the Salutatorian.
*edited for spelling*
At my school, I never had any worries about being anything that ended in "orian."
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Back when I went to high school, if you had a child or were married, you were automatically excluded from any and all school awards. Valedictorian, prom queen, everything.
I would not congratulate some 17-year-old for having a child at that age.
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Yeah, her life should be over because she has a child.
Are you kidding me? How about awarding her for having the highest GPA in her graduating class?
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Quote:
Yeah, her life should be over because she has a child.
Are you kidding me? How about awarding her for having the highest GPA in her graduating class?
They did... She was a valadictorian...
Should she get a cookie cause she did so while haveing a child?
Am I the only one that pronounces hyperbole "Hyper-bowl" instead of "hy-per-bo-le"?
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no, she shouldn't. prev poster was insinuating that having a child should preclude her from being a valedictorian candidate. I was disagreeing.
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The Country is so very different for some of us Old Farts ( have pitty ) .. Back in the stone ages , if a girl got pregnant she left school , no if and or butts ! .. Most got a GED to finish !
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The award doesn't congratulate her on having a child. The award gives her praise and recognition for having the highest grade point average as she took rigorous course work that many students her age could careless about. The added bit about her having a child just shows how determined this young female was.
Times have changed and society is trying it's best to become less polarized to change in the accepted 'norm'.
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Quote:
I think her lawsuit would carry more weight if she wasn't asking for the $75,000. This just makes it look like a money grab.
General question for the board --
Let's say this went to trial, and it somehow came out over the course of the proceedings that she was, indeed, saddled with a "Co-" because of racial bias. Let's say it's something absurd like in the movies where someone breaks down on the stand and admits everything.
What - if any - monetary damages should she be entitled to?
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She still would have to prove a loss of some sort, and the damages would be trebled, I believe. I'm sure her lawyer could come up with something.
And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.
- John Muir
#GMSTRONG
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This is like the Biblical story of the man who hires a guy to harvest crops and agrees to pay him a wage, later he hires another guy to harvest crops for less time but pays him the same amount, then another for even less time and the first guy gets mad...
The first guy has no reason to get mad because he did what was asked of him for the price agreed upon.. what other people got should be of no concern. Same applies here, she did the work, she was awarded the valedictorian award, it shouldn't matter what anybody else was awarded.
And nobody has responded to my question yet about why white kids at the same school shouldn't be allowed to sue because the school is more than 50% white but the black basketball coach only has 1 white player out of 15 and he scored 5 points last year...
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She could be awarded punitive damages.
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Quote:
She could be awarded punitive damages.
for what?
just a general statement:
If ANY of you think this girl deserves money for this....then i guess this country really is screwed with a voter base that thinks this....
NO DAMAGE has been done to this girl....she is still a valedictorian...nobody took anything away from her...
this is just absolute nonsense....i could see if they just passed her over for someone else and left her out alltogether, but thats not the case..the school recognized her and awarded her valedictorian.....
The other kid had more credits, probably had community service and played sports and still did well...but i guess that kid doesn't deserve any recognition right? because he's just another white kid....
if she was co-valedictorian with another black, mexican, or hispanic kid this wouldn't even be news......even though its the same darn thing....unbelievable...
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Quote:
This is like the Biblical story of the man who hires a guy to harvest crops and agrees to pay him a wage, later he hires another guy to harvest crops for less time but pays him the same amount, then another for even less time and the first guy gets mad...
The first guy has no reason to get mad because he did what was asked of him for the price agreed upon.. what other people got should be of no concern. Same applies here, she did the work, she was awarded the valedictorian award, it shouldn't matter what anybody else was awarded.
And nobody has responded to my question yet about why white kids at the same school shouldn't be allowed to sue because the school is more than 50% white but the black basketball coach only has 1 white player out of 15 and he scored 5 points last year...
this right here!
DC just hit the nail right on the head! great post!
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Plaintiffs aren't awarded punitive damages because of any loss regarding the plaintiff. Punitive damages are to punish the defendant for a wrongdoing (hence the name), and the damages are typically paid to the plaintiff. So if the girl brought suit and a jury sided with her, punitive damages could be awarded even if the girl didn't suffer any loss, financial or otherwise.
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Quote:
Plaintiffs aren't awarded punitive damages because of any loss regarding the plaintiff. Punitive damages are to punish the defendant for a wrongdoing (hence the name), and the damages are typically paid to the plaintiff. So if the girl brought suit and a jury sided with her, punitive damages could be awarded even if the girl didn't suffer any loss, financial or otherwise.
I know that
but there is NOTHING here to punish.....she is a valedictorian...you know as well as i do if she had to share this with (insert any other race) it would be a non-issue and you know it...even though its the same exact thing....
this girl is not entitled to 1 red cent of the taxpayers money(the money that runs that school)
if this judge has any scruples at all, he will toss this case within 15 minutes of her entering the court room....
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Quote:
At my high school, we called the person with the second-best GPA the Salutatorian.
*edited for spelling*
At my school we called them nerds.
#GMSTRONG
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Haha says the guy with the apple logo avatar!
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Well there weren't even computers yet at that time. I'm old...
#GMSTRONG
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There's nothing there in your opinion. Notice I said that IF the girl brought suit, and IF the jury sided with her, then it COULD happen. Personally, I don't care one way or the other.
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jc Quote:
Last year, the public school had 340 students in grades nine through 12.
Less than 90 students per grade, being salutatorian or valedictorian is better than a 1% chance if you put forth no effort. 
Only thing I remember about graduation was that it was hot as heck in that gown on the football field in June. I couldn't tell you who sat on either side of me, or who our class honors went to.
We don't have to agree with each other, to respect each others opinion.
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Quote:
This is like the Biblical story of the man who hires a guy to harvest crops and agrees to pay him a wage, later he hires another guy to harvest crops for less time but pays him the same amount, then another for even less time and the first guy gets mad...
The first guy has no reason to get mad because he did what was asked of him for the price agreed upon.. what other people got should be of no concern. Same applies here, she did the work, she was awarded the valedictorian award, it shouldn't matter what anybody else was awarded.
How dare you bring an opinion based on Christianity  Quote:
And nobody has responded to my question yet about why white kids at the same school shouldn't be allowed to sue because the school is more than 50% white but the black basketball coach only has 1 white player out of 15 and he scored 5 points last year...
Don't you know it's only counts as racism if the person getting shunned is black.  
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Quote:
if this judge has any scruples at all, he will toss this case within 15 minutes of her entering the court room....
Then she'll just sue the court, and here I'm not being sarcastic
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Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum High school student alleges racial
bias in valedictorian choice
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