Sometimes I read stuff on the Internet that just leaves me speechless. Like this:
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – A mother has pulled her mixed-race children from a Mississippi school over a policy that dictates blacks and whites alternate years holding class officer positions but makes no provision for students of mixed parentage.
Brandy Springer said her 12-year-old daughter, who is half native American, couldn’t run for sixth-grade class reporter at Nettleton Middle School in Lee County because that position was only for black students. School president was for white students this year.
Springer, who is white, had two children who are half native American at the school. She said she has two younger children who are half black.
Administrators didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. A statement on the district’s website said the policy is under review.
There are so many things wrong with this, I don’t know where begin. This is a public school, in the United States (Mississippi, yes, but still the U.S.) that actually has a policy of election eligibility determined by race. If it’s 2010, only whites can run. In 2011, we’ll let the black kids run. Simply insane. And, surely, patently illegal in a public school.
And we wonder why the race card still gets played in grown-up elections? I’m flabbergasted.
