NAACP wants
dismissals at Page
for racial incident
By ROBIN ADAMS
Staff Writer
The NAACP called Wednesday for the dismissal of
the Page High School newspaper adviser and a teacher
responsible for what black students consider racist comments and a cartoon printed in Friday's student newspaper.
The Greensboro branch of the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People presented a list
of recommendations to Superintendent John A. "Pete"
Eberhart that also includes the following:
• Having the administration, adviser and newspaper
staff issue a written apology to the students;
• Having an outside team conduct cultural diversity
workshops for all faculty, staff and students;
• Having black students equally represented in academically gifted and advanced placement classes;
• Having a task force of black parents investigate the
number of black students in special education and in-
school suspension programs;
• Beginning a different process for electing or selecting students for student government, the cheerleading
squad, service clubs and High IQ Bowl participants.
"Eleven days after the celebration of Martin Luther
King's birthday, five days prior to the commemoration
of the sit-ins that achieved a measure of civil rights
within the Triad and across America, we are still faced
with the realization that racist attitudes and insensitivi-
ty to diversity permeates the Greensboro school system
and our city," said Alma Adams of the NAACP's education committee as she read off the list of concerns at
noon Wednesday as the group stood in front of the
school administration building.
The NAACP's demands were in response to afternoon classes being canceled at Page Friday after black
students walked out of class. The students were in-
(See Page, C2)
Page
From C1
censed over an article and cartoon in
the student newspaper, Pages by
Page.
The newspaper printed the results of a cultural diversity survey
that included anonymous comments
from teachers and students and a
cartoon depicting stereotypes of
black, Asian and Hispanic students.
Students are particularly upset
about an anonymous quote attributed to a teacher: "Problems are often
ignored or candy-coated for low-income, low-ability blacks. Our purpose isn't to educate, but to pass
them and be rid of them."
On Monday, Page Principal Bob
Clendenin outlined a plan of action
featuring an attitude-awareness
program for faculty and staff Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon.
Clendenin also plans to talk to
students involved in the incident,
has appointed a three-person team
as advisers to the newspaper and
has suggested it print an apology in
a special edition Friday.
Because the survey was anonymous, it would be impossible to
identify the staff member responsible for the comment, Clendenin
said.
"That's not satisfactory," said Adams, a member of the Greensboro
City Council.
Parents attending the news con- J
ference Wednesday said this isn't |
the first time the Page student
newspaper has printed what they
consider racist material. Parents
said that in November, the newspaper ran a cartoon that showed black
students in an in-school suspension
program playing basketball.
