You’re right; it would be a great interview! Volunteers?

nycjoc wrote:

I went to historical Black Law School (Howard Law) and I remember the first day of class and I turned around and there was this goofy looking White dude behind me. I remember thinking Dammit why can’t i escape them.

Hahaha…that’s awesome!

I feel it’s unfair, but Packwood will raise the prestige of Morehouse. Even though the genius Martin Luther King went there, if this white guy does even remotely well, it’ll raise the status of the college just because the guy happens to be white and people will take notice. Sheesh, when was the last time you saw Morehouse on the front page of CNN?

On the other hand, we might as well just take it. White guy, black guy, Martian guy–if it raises the status of the university, it’s a good thing.

This is yet another example of white privilege. Black man goes to an all-white college and he gets threats, and sometimes violent hostility towards him. White man goes to a black college and although some may disagree with him being there, he’s accepted, and seen as “handsome” (according to the Caucasian-dominated beauty standard), and becomes valedictorian.

Asian man comes to America and gets made fun of, limited opportunities in public-facing positions, and is seen as asexual. White man goes to Asia and is seen as handsome (again by the Caucasian-dominated beauty standard), him speaking Mandarin is seen as something to congratulate, and he gets many public appearances.

White stars in America can become successful in Asia. Asian stars can’t become successful in America (and please don’t use Jackie Chan as an example).

Diversity is good, double standards are not.

I do agree with Jaehwan about the coverage. further there is a segment of the society who thinks that Black colleges are a joke and people don’t get excellent educations from there. I encounter it sometimes when I tell people I got my law degree from Howard. it’s this strange look on there face like I went there because no other place would accept me. Or maybe I’m just paranoid.;)

I agree with just about everything you wrote. The only thing I might say is that it’s pretty likely that the authors of the article had an agenda when approaching him, and it’s likely that they may have slanted the coverage to fit their goals of elevating Packwood. He may have spoken for 30 minutes on racism against black people followed by a few weak comments about his black girlfriends, and the authors may have jumped on these comments while ignoring the rest of his talk.

Even in the print media, we live in the age of sound bytes…

Come on. That minority line wasn’t even intended to be used that way. Did the article say he knew what it felt like to be oppressed? It was just a basic summary of what Packwood had ‘achieved’. It was a fucking tongue in cheek expression for christ skae.

This line also made me ignore the rest of the article.

Those obstacles should not be inflated or overacknowledged–merely noted at face value.

Otherwise, we merely reinforce the world white supremacy rooted in segregated culture and environments.

I hear the same argument used a lot to support segregation in the U.S.–”White people would have to be crazy to send their kids there!”

The result is of course, segregated institutions with different funding, curricula and ultimately achievement. Having non-segregation wouldn’t fix all problems, but it sure would help.

My problem with Packwood beyond his ridiculous name (:)) is that in some of his comments, he it doesn’t appear that he has developed the empathy that would be indicative of him really gaining some insight into the myraid black experiences in the country or even on that campus.

That’s a shame, and is probably a much bigger story than his academic achievement.

There are ethnic majority folk who can traverse that barrier and gain empathy, but they shouldn’t expect nice newspaper acclaim and rewards, that should expect complete and utter marginalization in the same way that people of color who do not echo the mainstream perspective face on a daily basis.