jusnice wrote:I grew up in a very diverse town in NJ. The first town to voluntarily de-segregate their school systems prior to Brown vs. the Board of Ed. It was always interesting to me the treatment that intelligent / academically focused black kids would receive from their peers who were not. They were frequent targets of abuse and we often told that they were white. In college, I studied African American and Slave History extensively. One of my best professor, Reginald Butler (whose son is Butterfly from Digable Planets), would often relate stories of having to hide his school books in his pants and shirts while he walked home to avoid being brutalized by the brothers on the street. I've done a lot of research on this matter and it is a shame that people like Rose continue to reinforce this image that being intelligent, being a good student, and having a supporting family structure is somehow not black. I've spent some time with Grant Hill whil at the University of Virginia (had the pleasure of him dunking on me repeatedly during a pick up game one summer) and he should be viewed as a role model to young black men and women, not a Uncle Tom. It is a shameful paradox that many people of African American descent continue to reinforce the notion that it is somehow not "black" to be like Grant. I got goosebumps when reading his article and can only hope that it gets some play among the younger generation who may be dealing with the same pressure I witnessed when I was a kid.

jusnice are you from Teaneck?

jusnice wrote:

VDesai wrote:

jusnice wrote:I grew up in a very diverse town in NJ. The first town to voluntarily de-segregate their school systems prior to Brown vs. the Board of Ed. It was always interesting to me the treatment that intelligent / academically focused black kids would receive from their peers who were not. They were frequent targets of abuse and we often told that they were white. In college, I studied African American and Slave History extensively. One of my best professor, Reginald Butler (whose son is Butterfly from Digable Planets), would often relate stories of having to hide his school books in his pants and shirts while he walked home to avoid being brutalized by the brothers on the street. I've done a lot of research on this matter and it is a shame that people like Rose continue to reinforce this image that being intelligent, being a good student, and having a supporting family structure is somehow not black. I've spent some time with Grant Hill whil at the University of Virginia (had the pleasure of him dunking on me repeatedly during a pick up game one summer) and he should be viewed as a role model to young black men and women, not a Uncle Tom. It is a shameful paradox that many people of African American descent continue to reinforce the notion that it is somehow not "black" to be like Grant. I got goosebumps when reading his article and can only hope that it gets some play among the younger generation who may be dealing with the same pressure I witnessed when I was a kid.

jusnice are you from Teaneck?

Yes, you? Graduated THS in 1992. It is a shame the town isn't what it used to be....