Newspaper Page Text
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2003
COMMENT
Separate isn’t equal
Nicholas Sneed
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
My younger sister is arguably
the brightest, most inquisitive person
I know. Although she’s only ten years
old, she already has a wealth of
knowledge and a seemingly
unquenchable
thirst for
learning. She’s
currently a fifth
grade student at
South Atlanta
Elementary
School. Per
recommendation
of her teacher, she skipped the fourth
grade. It was even suggested that she
also skip fifth grade; however my
parents didn’t think she was mentally
prepared to attend classes with
children two years older than she.
Suffice it to say, my sister is very
brilliant. But much to my dismay and
her disadvantage, she lacks the
opportunity to fully exercise and
develop her brilliance.
South Atlanta Elementary is
understaffed, under-kept, and all in
all academically inferior to almost
every other elementary school in the
Greater Atlanta area. I strongly desire
for my sister to accomplish more than
anyone else in our family, but the only
way this will occur is if she moves to
a more sufficient learning
environment. The seemingly obvious
solution to this problem would be to
have my sister enroll in a school that
will better cater to her academic
needs. Transferring would not be an
issue if some of the other "black”
schools across the city were adequate.
However, only the schools in the
white neighborhoods - past
commutable
distance - have
the substance that
my little sister
wants and
deserves.
I've
attempted to
contact my local
Congressman on this issue a number
of times. I’ve yet to yield a positive
result. I continue to try to approach
him in new ways despite being hung
up on, cursed
out, and even
threatened. On
one occasion, I
actually
managed to
speak to him,
and he was
painfully frank.
In short, he told
me there was
nothing I could do about the problem
because I, as well as the rest of “my
people,” don’t count, because we
don’t vote.
Enraged with this reality, I got
in the car and went to the Department
of Registration and Elections. As 1
entered the building, I encountered an
eerie silence in the lobby as all eyes
were focused on me. I went up to the
receptionist and asked where I could
go in order to fill out a voter
registration card. At that moment,
three white security guards honed in
on me and started an interrogation. I
won’t detail all of the wonderful
things they had to say; they called me
everything but a child of God and
instructed me to forget the thought of
ever casting a vote in any election. If
I continue this “foolishness,” they
said, I would be introduced to...my
last breath.
As I drove home, I couldn’t help
but feel a sense of nothingness. I was
fresh out of ideas as to how I could
make sure my sister was afforded the
educational
opportunities she
rightly deserves. If
only I had a voice that
could be heard by the
powers that be, this
situation wouldn’t be
as complex as it is.
It’s quite simple,
actually. An
intelligent young girl
deserves a better education. There are
other schools in the area that can
provide this. Just let her enroll and
prove herself worthy of attending.
She’ 11 blow their minds with her sheer
excellence.
“South Atlanta Elementary
is understaffed, under-kept,
and all in all academically
inferior to almost every
other elementary school in
the Greater Atlanta area.”
“I’ve attempted to contact
my local Congressman...
I’ve yet to yield a positive
result. I continue to try to
approach him in new ways
despite being hung up on,
cursed out, and even
threatened.”
THE MAROON TIGER
The Organ of Student Expression Since 1925
The 78 th Guard
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