Reading, writing, and getting along with others
On the path of desegregation, students lead the way.
from the June 11, 2007 edition
Page 1 of 2
Crystal Wadsworth of Birmingham, Ala., made headlines recently as the first white graduate of A.H. Parker High School (see "Unlikely Pioneer: Parker High's first white graduate" The Christian Science Monitor, May 24).
What caught my attention to her story was that she didn't see herself as doing anything special. She didn't see herself as a white person in a black school. Four years ago when she started at Parker, she simply wanted to go to high school where her friends were going. As a mother of three who all wanted to do exactly that, it sounds perfectly normal to me.
Crystal learned from her high school experience that "if you set your mind to it and just be yourself, you can get along with anybody." The fact that this is significant and worthy of news shows me that we still have a way to go on the path of true desegregation, and that students are leading the way.
When my children were still in school, we moved from a large city to a small town in the country. They came home from school the first day and asked, "Where are all the African-American kids? Where are all the Asian kids? And what about the Middle Eastern kids?" They not only noticed the difference but missed the diversity. This gave rise to many opportunities to discuss why we missed the diversity and how we could appreciate other cultures while in our new community.
High school graduation marks the point at which students go out into the larger world, whether it be to college or into a career. It's important, then, for them to have the understanding that while people have diverse backgrounds, we all have basic similarities and, in fact, a common heritage as children of the one God. The Bible puts it this way. "Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us?" and goes on to ask, "Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?" (Mal. 2:10).
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