For obstinate officials at Christ the King High School, a mind is a terrible thing to change.
The parents of Malcolm Xavier Combs were rebuffed again Thursday by school administrators over their African-American son’s desire to put the name “Malcolm X” on his senior sweater.
“I don’t understand it,” said Mychelle Combs, the mother of 17-year-old Malcolm, after a frustrating morning meeting with school president Michael Michel.
“They are supposed to teach the students tolerance and to embrace other cultures.”
The mother said Michel and other white officials stared blankly and sat mutely when asked “if they even knew who Malcolm X was or what he stood for.”
Bloody shovel was found in car of Virginia Tech student accused of killing 13-year-old girl, detective testifies
According to National Action Network crisis director the Rev. Kevin McCall, school administrators actually ranked different black leaders as appropriate or inappropriate.
While former President Barack Obama and civil rights leader the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. received a thumbs-up, Malcolm X and the Rev. Al Sharpton both were given a thumbs down.
Michel said the school did not want “to be connected to anyone controversial,” according to McCall.
Teacher adopts problem student who almost made her give up on education — and his little brother
“I asked if my name was Alfred Sharpton and I wanted to use Al Sharpton on my shirt, can I do that?” recounted McCall. “And (Michel) said, ‘No. We stand by that.’”
There are dozens of schools named after Malcolm X from coast to coast, along with a library in San Diego. The U.S Postal Service even issued a Malcolm stamp in 1999.
Combs is an honor roll student taking advanced placement classes at the school.
Father slashed in face while walking with 1-year-old son in Bronx says attacker yelled 'F--k your country'
McCall said Sharpton’s NAN plans to launch an “All I Wanted Was an X” campaign in support of Malcolm Combs — a native Brooklynite born near Malcolm X Blvd. in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
“We named our son after Malcolm,” said Mychelle Combs.
Officials at the $11,350-a-year school defended their decision to keep Malcolm Xavier Combs from putting his and his namesake’s name on the $40 school sweater.
Christ the King spokesman Bill Cunningham said student Malcolm received approval to use either his first name, his last name or Malcolm Xavier on the sweater.
Bronx mechanic who attacked ‘Help me Howard’ reporter hit with $5,000 bail
But the school, which vets all names proposed by students, ruled against Malcolm X, he said.
Malcolm X emerged as both a polarizing and revered figure before his Feb. 21, 1965, assassination inside the Audubon Ballroom in Washington Heights.
He famously called for the freedom and equality of blacks “by any means necessary” — a line quoted in director Spike Lee’s biopic, in which Denzel Washington played Malcolm X.
“They simply don’t like Malcolm X, that’s basically their view,” said Mychelle Combs, 47. “Unfortunately, I’m not surprised they feel like that.”
Michel, like Malcolm X, is no stranger to controversy.
California driver slams Lamborghini into construction trailer, wrecking $235,000 car
As a Board of Elections commissioner, the veteran Queens Republican was fined $10,000 in 2015 for helping his daughter’s live-in boyfriend land three jobs with the city agency.
Malcolm X’s daughter Ilyasah Shabazz offered to visit Christ the King for a 30-minute assembly in which she would educate students and staff about her father’s impactful life.
Her talk would cover “the historic social climate through which this young, compassionate and brilliant Malcolm navigated to have an egalitarian future for all Americans (as well as any oppressed persons abroad),” Ilyasah wrote in an email to the Daily News.
Pregnant firefighter denied ‘light duty’ assignment
School spokesman Cunningham responded that Christ the King had long taught lessons about Malcolm X.
“This school has been teaching about Malcolm X for 20 years as part of African American history,” Cunningham said.
“Malcolm X is part of the curriculum here, so there’s no attempt in any way to shun Malcolm X and his contributions to America.”
That claim rang hollow with Natasha Capers, coordinator of the city’s largest parent group.
Massachusetts mother who reportedly practiced voodoo charged with fatally stabbing sons in ‘ritual incident’
“That this student can’t wear his own name and the name of Malcolm X, who he clearly idolizes, on his shirt, is so wrong,” said NYC Coalition for Educational Justice head Capers, a Brooklyn mother of two.
“It’s evidence that they need culturally sensitive education and anti-bias training for teachers, school leaders and school staff.”
Capers said the dispute reveals the same prejudices as the racist slavery lessons the Daily News exposed last week at Bronx Middle School 118.
11-year-old boy dies after saving his friend who fell through thin ice at Queens pond
NAN’s McCall was outraged by the school’s refusal to reconsider its rejection.
“We are not accepting, no,” he said. “For them not to be culturally sensitive is a slap in our history’s face.”
Mychelle Combs said she carries no regrets about sending her son to the pricey school, despite its somewhat random policy regarding historical figures.
“No, I’m glad I did so he can get a taste of the real world,” she said. “They’ll take our money. But they won’t take our history.”
read more
The parents of Malcolm Xavier Combs were rebuffed again Thursday by school administrators over their African-American son’s desire to put the name “Malcolm X” on his senior sweater.
“I don’t understand it,” said Mychelle Combs, the mother of 17-year-old Malcolm, after a frustrating morning meeting with school president Michael Michel.
“They are supposed to teach the students tolerance and to embrace other cultures.”
The mother said Michel and other white officials stared blankly and sat mutely when asked “if they even knew who Malcolm X was or what he stood for.”
Bloody shovel was found in car of Virginia Tech student accused of killing 13-year-old girl, detective testifies
According to National Action Network crisis director the Rev. Kevin McCall, school administrators actually ranked different black leaders as appropriate or inappropriate.
While former President Barack Obama and civil rights leader the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. received a thumbs-up, Malcolm X and the Rev. Al Sharpton both were given a thumbs down.
Michel said the school did not want “to be connected to anyone controversial,” according to McCall.
Teacher adopts problem student who almost made her give up on education — and his little brother
“I asked if my name was Alfred Sharpton and I wanted to use Al Sharpton on my shirt, can I do that?” recounted McCall. “And (Michel) said, ‘No. We stand by that.’”
There are dozens of schools named after Malcolm X from coast to coast, along with a library in San Diego. The U.S Postal Service even issued a Malcolm stamp in 1999.
Combs is an honor roll student taking advanced placement classes at the school.
Father slashed in face while walking with 1-year-old son in Bronx says attacker yelled 'F--k your country'
McCall said Sharpton’s NAN plans to launch an “All I Wanted Was an X” campaign in support of Malcolm Combs — a native Brooklynite born near Malcolm X Blvd. in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
“We named our son after Malcolm,” said Mychelle Combs.
Officials at the $11,350-a-year school defended their decision to keep Malcolm Xavier Combs from putting his and his namesake’s name on the $40 school sweater.
Christ the King spokesman Bill Cunningham said student Malcolm received approval to use either his first name, his last name or Malcolm Xavier on the sweater.
Bronx mechanic who attacked ‘Help me Howard’ reporter hit with $5,000 bail
But the school, which vets all names proposed by students, ruled against Malcolm X, he said.
Malcolm X emerged as both a polarizing and revered figure before his Feb. 21, 1965, assassination inside the Audubon Ballroom in Washington Heights.
He famously called for the freedom and equality of blacks “by any means necessary” — a line quoted in director Spike Lee’s biopic, in which Denzel Washington played Malcolm X.
“They simply don’t like Malcolm X, that’s basically their view,” said Mychelle Combs, 47. “Unfortunately, I’m not surprised they feel like that.”
Michel, like Malcolm X, is no stranger to controversy.
California driver slams Lamborghini into construction trailer, wrecking $235,000 car
As a Board of Elections commissioner, the veteran Queens Republican was fined $10,000 in 2015 for helping his daughter’s live-in boyfriend land three jobs with the city agency.
Malcolm X’s daughter Ilyasah Shabazz offered to visit Christ the King for a 30-minute assembly in which she would educate students and staff about her father’s impactful life.
Her talk would cover “the historic social climate through which this young, compassionate and brilliant Malcolm navigated to have an egalitarian future for all Americans (as well as any oppressed persons abroad),” Ilyasah wrote in an email to the Daily News.
Pregnant firefighter denied ‘light duty’ assignment
School spokesman Cunningham responded that Christ the King had long taught lessons about Malcolm X.
“This school has been teaching about Malcolm X for 20 years as part of African American history,” Cunningham said.
“Malcolm X is part of the curriculum here, so there’s no attempt in any way to shun Malcolm X and his contributions to America.”
That claim rang hollow with Natasha Capers, coordinator of the city’s largest parent group.
Massachusetts mother who reportedly practiced voodoo charged with fatally stabbing sons in ‘ritual incident’
“That this student can’t wear his own name and the name of Malcolm X, who he clearly idolizes, on his shirt, is so wrong,” said NYC Coalition for Educational Justice head Capers, a Brooklyn mother of two.
“It’s evidence that they need culturally sensitive education and anti-bias training for teachers, school leaders and school staff.”
Capers said the dispute reveals the same prejudices as the racist slavery lessons the Daily News exposed last week at Bronx Middle School 118.
11-year-old boy dies after saving his friend who fell through thin ice at Queens pond
NAN’s McCall was outraged by the school’s refusal to reconsider its rejection.
“We are not accepting, no,” he said. “For them not to be culturally sensitive is a slap in our history’s face.”
Mychelle Combs said she carries no regrets about sending her son to the pricey school, despite its somewhat random policy regarding historical figures.
“No, I’m glad I did so he can get a taste of the real world,” she said. “They’ll take our money. But they won’t take our history.”
read more
No comments:
Post a Comment