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A group of white students, who some believe are from Stuyvesant High School in New York, have gotten the Internet up in arms.
Laying out admittedly solid freestyle skills over a smooth beat, the students continuously spew out the kind of racism that would make David Duke blush. To the surprise of some, Stuyvesant High School is considered one of the top high schools in the nation, but many are wondering what in the world they are teaching.
Apparently frustrated with their black classmates, the rappers use lyrics, like, "You so wack, b--, chilling in the projects. ....You black and you so f-– grimy. ... What'cha gonna do? Call your black squad n--?"
For over five minutes, the young artists continue to squeak out demeaning language toward people of color. The video is seemingly endless. The men also seem to be under the influence of either drugs or alcohol.
Stuyvestant High School is reflective of a disturbing degree of racial segregation that exists in New York City schools. Even though 70 percent of the student population in New York is black or Latino, only 2 percent of the students admitted to the school are African American, according to the New York Daily News.
For the seven specialized schools in the five bureaus of New York City, only 4 percent of the students admitted are black and only 6 percent are Latino. Therefore, it appears that the racism being shown by these students is a direct reflection of the very same discrimination being endorsed by school administrators.
When I was 12-years old, I briefly attended a school that was nearly 100 percent white. The school was a place where wealthy families sent their children - all of whom had more money than my parents.
The experience was excruciating; for, my classmates were never taught even the first things about racial sensitivity or how to deal with other cultures. What makes all this sad is that nearly 30 years later, almost nothing has changed.
As much as these young people should be punished for their behavior, we cannot deal with them without also addressing the administrators at Stuyvestant High school, who are seemingly determined to maintain systems that promote and endorse racial inequality.
What teenagers might be silly enough to rap about is many times a revelation of sentiments that their parents have expressed to them behind closed doors. I would imagine that these students are not being given a curriculum that embraces interracial respect and their behaviors are a reflection of the adults who've declined to teach them to show decency toward those who are different.
Perhaps if their school would admit a few more black people, the kids might not feel so inclined to sound like members of the KKK.
Watch the unfortunate video here:
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here. To follow Dr. Boyce on Facebook, please click here. 
Comments: (107)
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By: Nicia on 3/02/2011 3:00PM
I would much rather have them rap about their hate for blacks (which we can do nothing about, its up to them to change and realize their stupidity) than to have them run to their basements and get armored up and shoot out their transgressions. It seems to me its a cry for attention so maybe their well to do parents can try and get them the help they desperately need. This is definitely not our problem. Seems to me if this is what these "good" schools produce we should try to stay away and apply to schools that are accepting and willing to educate our kids regardless of our skin color. Better yet create our own schools.
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By: SAY WHAT! on 3/03/2011 8:12AM
Man, I'll bet these dudes listen to rap/ hip-hop and are trying to be like their idols in the music they listen to.
I say cut em some slack or get rid of the one sided views that only us can say stuff about us.
You Reap what you sow.
Now try not to get cut on that double edged sword.
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By: David on 3/03/2011 8:14AM
I have no interest in watching the video. If I want to hear racist ignorance all I have to do is read some of the comments by racist tea scumbag whites on Blackvoices.
This reemergence of open racism IMO is due to the fact we have a black President and a lot of whites old and young can't cope with it. That's the reason why so many cowardly whites are on Blackvoices now.
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By: keep-n-it-real on 3/03/2011 9:43AM
I could not agree with you more Nicia. African Americans it is time to refrain from this web-site being that our beloved white sisters and brothers are using this site to spew out more racism then we've already been exposed to from people like Bill whom is filled with racial hatred for African Americans. Atleast he had the decency to call use Negroes so give him time before God hit em like a ton of bricks. This is poison and I'm too bless to be angry. It was nice!! Stay focused because the struggle continues.
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By: Mo on 3/03/2011 1:36PM
I had to re-read the article to see if I'd missed something.
It is important to note that kids from all over New York City take ONE COMPETITIVE entrance exam to get into these schools, specifically the THREE SPECIALIZED ACADEMIC HIGH SCHOOLS, BROOKLYN TECH, STUYVESANT and THE BRONX HIGH SCHOOL of SCIENCE. One exam and that's it. Students who take the specialized examination then rank their top schools and are placed based on the students' preferences and scores. The administrators of the school have very little to do with admissions other than endorsing the spirit-killing practice of TRACKING on admitted students, turning former A students into C and D students.
Stuyvesant, being the most difficult of the schools to get into (although only by a couple of points), is also the most difficult (and annoying) to GET TO, unless you're in downtown Brooklyn (where Brooklyn Tech is located). Honestly, "minority" students, partially due to New York's infamous segregation practices but more so attributed to "natural" segregation, are most likely to live near and attend the specialized high schools in the outer Burroughs of NYC such as Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx .
Also, as a Bronx Science alum, I have to take some issue with the article. Too much information is left out of the demographics question and can be seen as misleading an audience used to comparisons of Whites, Latinos and Blacks (leaving out all others). Those who are not familiar with the specialized high school system in New York City would probably assume that these schools, these great academic pillars of the New York Public Education system, are filled with White students... Blacks and Latinos are not attending these specialized high schools in great numbers, but Whites aren't either (based on their population). A New Yorker would likely know and understand that the vast majority of the students who attend these schools are ASIAN students BY FAR... Stuyvesant High School, as of the 2010-11 school year, was 71.6 percent ASIAN (see stats below taken from the nyc dept of ed website). For Whites, who are more than half the population of Manhattan (where Stuyvesant is located), their numbers are quite low. They are only 20 - 27% of the specialized high school (top 3) population. These are not numbers for White Supremacists to celebrate. Per usual, access to capital is what propels Whites to greater success...private schools in Manhattan, expensive test preps (Princeton Review, etc...).
I personally loved, as a young Black teenaged girl, the fellowship I had with my classmates at Bronx Science, a school that COULD NOT subscribe to White supremacy, given its population. You learned alongside Asian, White, Black, Latino, Jewish, Native American, Middle Eastern, Egyptian, Syrian, I mean... the list went on. Also, we MUST take into consideration the immigration phenomenon. Bronx Science students specifically (who had a much greater number of Black students when I attended), had a natural fellowship in that most students who attend were 1st generation Americans. Whether you were Black (the Caribbean/African populations were great in number comparatively), White (there was a humongous Eastern European/Russian/Jewish population), Latino (Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Dominican), or Asian (South Korean, Chinese, Indian, South East Asian as well) you understood each other and were more open to differences in others.
BEFORE we can make grand, sweeping assumptions about the racial practices of the New York City PUBLIC ACADEMIC THREE (BT,Stuy, BXSci), we must take a thorough look at the actual demographics of the respective schools whose admission practices you are questioning. There is truly a different story to be told. In truth, there should be a program out there to recruit more students of color to APPLY, but I could not let this article leave the impression that White students are a majority of "thinkers" at any of these schools. That is a disservice to the reader and the many students who attend these schools.
Ethnicity and Gender - % of Enrollment: 2008-2011
BROOKLYN TECH 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11
Alaskan Native or Native American: 0.1 0.1 0.1
Black or African-American: 13.1 12.0 10.7
Hispanic or Latino: 8.0 8.3 7.7
Asian or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander: 57.4 58.8 60.4
White: 21.0 20.5 21.0
BRONX SCIENCE -
Alaskan Native or Native American: 0.3 0.2 0.2
Black or African American 4.1 3.3 3.4
Hispanic or Latino 7.5 7.7 8.0
Asian or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Isl. 61.4 60.8 61.8
White 26.7 25.2 26.4
STUYVESANT -
American Indian or Alaska Native 0.1 0.1 0.1
Black or African American 2.0 1.8 1.2
Hispanic or Latino 3.1 2.8 2.9
Asian or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Isl. 67.3 69.3 71.6
White 27.5 25.8 24.1
I personally hated Stuyvesant's campus. Bronx Science had more grass and was laid back. Bronx Science was also, clearly, more diverse. Maybe students of color would rather study in a diverse environment. I never found myself wishing that I could go to a school with more White students... you get tired of being "other" and then overcoming (e.g., in the previous private schools I attended in Westchester). Stuyvesant has, in my experience, not been so appealing to the kids of color who elected to go to the other specialized high schools.
Lastly, I must ask: Why must we admit that the lost souls in this video had "admittedly solid freestyle skills"? Was this freestyle? Can we stop giving credit to Whites when it is completely undeserving. That statement was a larger indicator of a problem we must confront. That was a troubling statement to have included in the article.
BRONX SCIENCE
Class of '94
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By: Clarence jay on 3/03/2011 2:23PM
I have to agree with you. This is better then them actually taking out their frustrations via a more violent means. I do believe that children of all ethnic backgrounds nee to learn more about different cultures and staring from a early age. New York is a melting pot of cultures and backgrounds, but one that easily segregates itself. Stuyvesant is a school that would benefit from cultural training. But many educational officials scoff at the notion of having their children learn about these cultures so early. Often times, if they aren't around different people, they get slapped in the face when they go to college and by then it is too late for them. it becomes harder to get them to change their views that are mostly based on media.
This may seem like a shameless plug, but just talking about things and not offering any solutions and making good on that action, I feel is pointless. My organization has a program, called the HomeBound Project in which we teach cultural identity and men and women development. It operates through an after school program and I think that schools like Stuyvesant and other schools who aren't culturally diverse would benefit form its curriculum. These kids need to know that the world is bigger then hat they see in their back yards and they they need to know who they are and how that translate to how they interact with other people.
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By: billW on 3/03/2011 5:47PM
Mimmi !! where you at. you dark skinned racist she boon section 8 field negro mammi??
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By: MARCIA on 3/06/2011 12:56PM
I AGREE JUST AS THE JEWS
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By: musiclvr on 3/03/2011 8:03PM
Very well said. Usually when people do things like this they are just reaching for attention, whether or not it is bad attention they receive. Unfortunately, when they receive the bad attention it only escalates the behavior because they think they're right, but when people agree with them it validates their already egotistical, hateful views and makes them keep going in the same vein. It's sad because they don't realize they're only making themselves look/sound like fools. Destruction follows. But that's just my observation.
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By: Tek_Knowledge on 3/08/2011 1:11PM
Racist wiggers, whats new??
Yawn...
Just get used to the fact that white = racist, the default for whites is racism/white supremacy.
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