People have asked me what I think about the fact that the great Morehouse College, one of the top 3 universities in America, has just made a white man its valedictorian for the first time in school history. Joshua Packwood is the young man to achieve this great distinction, as being valedictorian at Morehouse or Spelman is every bit as challenging as doing the same thing at Harvard, Yale or Stanford.
I can only start by saying: How cool is that?
Not only do I have tremendous respect for Joshua Packwood, but I have respect for any student who fully embraces the importance of academic excellence. Morehouse and Spelman are as competitive as you can get, as Spelman is the top university in America. Morehouse is simply Morehouse, a place that only produces academic champions. There are some things to learn from seeing this young man succeed at Morehouse (or any great HBCU for that matter).
I noticed that in this young man's background, there were black folks who played a strong role in raising him. The same was true of my best friend, a Jewish kid who could have been a guest on Def Comedy Jam. The common trend is that 9 times out of 10, when a white individual is comfortable around black people, chances are that he was not raised as the typical white person in America: perhaps he is from overseas, he grew up around black people, or he had strong liberal parents who ensured that he was exposed to black culture. For example, Jon Karpoff, one of the top financial scholars in America, has a similar comfort with people of color, all of it rooted in the fact that his parents were sure to expose him and his brother to people of color. This makes Jon and his brother Fred, easy to respect and understand, because you don't have to spend all your time helping them overcome a bunch of silly preconcieved notions about black people that they learned from watching Fox News.
The Joshua Packwood/Morehouse situation says something about race in America, and how people are raised. Many whites seem to feel that attending an HBCU would be as scary as going to prison. Some would expect that they were getting an inferior education, or perhaps get carjacked in the middle of the night. In general, there are many whites who would never feel comfortable in a room full of black people. On the other hand, there are many people of color who feel incredibly comfortable attending college at a predominantly white institution. I find that to be somewhat ironic.
Another professor I had in college mentioned his experience as a visiting scholar at Morehouse. As a white man, he said that this was the first time he'd ever known what it could be like to be a minority in America. Perhaps everyone in America should attend Morehouse or Spelman for a while: Not only would they get a powerful education, they would be educated outside the classroom as well.
Congrats to Joshua Packwood, way to go brother!
I can only start by saying: How cool is that?
Not only do I have tremendous respect for Joshua Packwood, but I have respect for any student who fully embraces the importance of academic excellence. Morehouse and Spelman are as competitive as you can get, as Spelman is the top university in America. Morehouse is simply Morehouse, a place that only produces academic champions. There are some things to learn from seeing this young man succeed at Morehouse (or any great HBCU for that matter).
I noticed that in this young man's background, there were black folks who played a strong role in raising him. The same was true of my best friend, a Jewish kid who could have been a guest on Def Comedy Jam. The common trend is that 9 times out of 10, when a white individual is comfortable around black people, chances are that he was not raised as the typical white person in America: perhaps he is from overseas, he grew up around black people, or he had strong liberal parents who ensured that he was exposed to black culture. For example, Jon Karpoff, one of the top financial scholars in America, has a similar comfort with people of color, all of it rooted in the fact that his parents were sure to expose him and his brother to people of color. This makes Jon and his brother Fred, easy to respect and understand, because you don't have to spend all your time helping them overcome a bunch of silly preconcieved notions about black people that they learned from watching Fox News.
The Joshua Packwood/Morehouse situation says something about race in America, and how people are raised. Many whites seem to feel that attending an HBCU would be as scary as going to prison. Some would expect that they were getting an inferior education, or perhaps get carjacked in the middle of the night. In general, there are many whites who would never feel comfortable in a room full of black people. On the other hand, there are many people of color who feel incredibly comfortable attending college at a predominantly white institution. I find that to be somewhat ironic.Another professor I had in college mentioned his experience as a visiting scholar at Morehouse. As a white man, he said that this was the first time he'd ever known what it could be like to be a minority in America. Perhaps everyone in America should attend Morehouse or Spelman for a while: Not only would they get a powerful education, they would be educated outside the classroom as well.
Congrats to Joshua Packwood, way to go brother!
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of YourBlackWorld.com and author of "What if George Bush were a Black Man?". Please subscribe.
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