Civil Rights group ColorOfChange.org launched a campaign in support of African-American student Kymberly Wimberly, who appears to be the victim of racial discrimination by McGehee High School in Arkansas. This graduating senior earned the highest GPA in her class. Siding with school staffers who feared that honoring Wimberly would cause a “big mess,” Principal Darrell Thompson named a White student with a lower GPA co-valedictorian.

“What’s unfolding in McGehee is an outrage, and it sends the wrong message to Black students everywhere,” said Rashad Robinson, Director of ColorofChange.org. “The implication is clear. No matter how hard you work, you won’t get full credit for your achievements. School leaders in this small Arkansas town have denied a student an honor she deserves because of their own racial prejudice and narrow-minded ideas about who is worthy of success and praise.”

18-year-old Kymberly Wimberly did everything right as a student and challenged herself with honors and Advanced Placement courses, leading the pack as the highest achieving student in this year’s graduating class at McGehee High School. But when her principal agreed with other school staff that Kymberly’s status as valedictorian would cause a “big mess,” he demanded that a White student with a lower GPA be appointed co-valedictorian.

“This is a disturbing message to Black students everywhere and ColorOfChange.org members are demanding school officials correct this injustice by signing an online petition: http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/valedictorian that already has over 40,000 signatures,” said Robinson.

Arkansas is ground zero in the history of efforts to desegregate our nation’s schools. It’s where nine Black students faced down state troopers, angry mobs, and a governor intent on keeping them from integrating Little Rock Central High School more than 50 years ago.

According to the equal protection lawsuit Kymberly’s family has filed, administrators and teachers routinely discouraged Black students, who made up nearly half of the high school’s enrollment this year from taking honors and AP classes. They would use school-wide assemblies to make the course work sound daunting, then pull individual White students aside to encourage them to sign up for the more rigorous classes. As a result, Kymberly was the only Black student in her AP literature class and one of two in her calculus class.

McGehee and other school districts around the country should be encouraging all prepared students to challenge themselves academically. Unfortunately, that’s often not the case. Last year, Black students made up 15% of graduating seniors, but accounted for just 9% of students taking AP exams. Black students trail far behind White, Asian and Latino students in terms of participation in AP classes, and educators have a responsibility to provide equal access to and preparation for college-level coursework.

Kymberly is the rare example of the student whose family believed she could excel in high-level classes, despite what some adults at school told her and students who look like her. Her case reveals why the school establishment consistently counsels half the student body into a lower academic track. It appears that they fear the eventual success of Black students and choose to limit Black students’ ability to compete in the classroom and, by extension, in life.

# # #