This has come up four times this summer and to me...it is quite embarrassing...but at the same time groundbreaking. I have mixed emotions about this even after various discussions.
Read about it here.
Edit: Ok the first line in the article really bothers me I just had to say something... "Joshua Packwood knows what it's like to be a minority". Really? How is that? Just because he went to a historically black college? Wow.
8 comments:
this kind of makes me mad. having white and non blk students attend and graduate from HBCs takes away from the legacy that these HBCs hold. pretty soon these white students are gonna take over our school and we're not going to be able to call them our own now
Exactly... That is one of the sides I hold about this. It is called a HBCU for a reason and if this continues to happen then it will be come nothing different from any other college...the legacy that morehouse entails will be nothing more than the past... History... No pun intended. Especially if the whites continue to take the spot of valedictorian... Top student at a black college.
( sidebar: Joshua's brother is entering morehouse as a freshman... Probably to follow in his brothers footsteps.)
But on the other hand it's pretty flattering that he would pick to attend and graduate from an hbcu rather than an ivy league...and this is the kind of thing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wanted... no? But then it is called an HBCU for a reason so idk I have mixed opinions on this... The bad outweighing the good.
This headline is inaccurate as Josh Packwood is not the first white graduate of Morehouse as the first white graduate came through in the 60s... Furthermore, he certainly won't be the last.
Thank you for that correction, you are right. I'm sorry. I will change it to " First White Valedictorian" because that is basically my point and the big deal here. It's not the fact that he graduated... It's the fact that he is valedictorian at an all Black college. And calm down with the "furthermore, he certainly won't be the last" because no one said he would be. If you read my comment above yours you would see that I said his brother is attending morehouse too...to follow in his footsteps.
I think that its ignorant for us to judge this man becuz he is white...there were definitely many other african american's who could have taken the title however, he became superior not becuz of his race but becuz of his intelligence...if a black man was valedictorian of harvard college and white ppl were making the same comments or similar comments as these then we would call him racist...i think we should definitely look at both sides of the story before we began to judge...As african americans and minorities we try to talk all this smack about unity and equality yet when a white man graduates with honors from a black college we want to condemn him and say that we need to still be separated...its this kind of thinking that causes us to be stuck where we are now and not moving forward...
Ok Oprah...lol j/k.
Yea I get what you are saying but the reason I have two sides to this is because yes I believe he should be congratulated for his intelligence and there is no doubt he deserves it ....and yes it should be about unity and equality like Dr. King wanted ..but the issue with most people that I have had discussions with and what I agree with is that Morehouse is a Historically BLACK college...praised for the top successful black men that have emerged from this school. So with a white man taking the spot of valedictorian...the top man at an HBCU...it kind of takes away from the history of this school you know? Harvard is not deemed historically white so there isnt that name behind it. Maybe its more of tradition than history you know? He broke tradition and that is the big deal. But he certainly should not be condemned! Oh no, lets not...haha.
But seriously, I respect your opinion as well as the next and I see your point....thats why I remain with two sides to this. I posted this knowing there would be different opinions on it...and I learn best listening to different opinions on a subject ...so thank you! :)
Oprah ahaha i havent heard that in while hehe
But yea Beth i understand i totally respect your opinion..Thanks for hearing mine...and i totally understand where you are coming from...
I <3 U! and keep posting these kinda posts i love it i love it! hehe
cant wait to see you! i miss u guys sooo much...
I too respect your opinion Bethany, but speaking as a graduate of an HBCU, I see this as a young man taking advantage of an opportunity to improve his life. Just as any African-American student who enters an HBCU, he was looking to enter in an environment that he felt mot comfortable in. From what I've read and heard, I don't think he intended for all of the attention to be put on him as a White man graduating from a Black school. I'm sure that there are quite a few young men at Morehouse who have had to overcome difficult situations as well and they are thriving there. I don't believe his success takes away from the historical aspect of HBCUs and why they were created. There were white people at my school and no one blinked. HBCUs will be around as long as there are people who support them and I don't think that a handful of White people or ethnic groups attending will change anything about the true purpose and that is to prepare young people from the outside world. This young man has shown nothing but pride and respect for Morehouse and he will be able to represent the school in a way that other graduates may not. As sad as it may seem, an intelligent, extremely good-looking White man who had his pick of Ivy League schools can add credibility and viability to an HBCU that mainstream(White)America may not have noticed. It's true that HBCUs don't need a "White Savior," but I wonder how many people outside of the Black community had really heard of Morehouse until this story broke three months ago??
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