23 Responses to “School Ends Racial Criteria For Homecoming Court (With Photo Gallery)”

1. Duke of Wawbeek on October 17th, 2012 1:05 pm

   For those of you with an MBA and no place to go there is always the military. If you have a specialized degree I suspect that a city such as Atlanta would afford greater opportunity than say Brewton or Flomaton? Just my gut feeling on the matter.

2. Mike on October 17th, 2012 2:24 am

   @ The Doer

   I think you asked, “Whatever happened to simply hiring the most qualified?” I ask you in what American era did that actually occur? It certainly doesn’t happen around here. The difference between what’s happening now and what’s happened in the past is white males actually have to compete with minorities and white women for the same jobs.

   I’m a Black Male as well and I have 3 degrees, 7 years of college and I’ve never received a single grant and I didn’t qualify for any. I worked to get great grades, used the GI Bill, received academic scholarships and owe thousands in student loans. I don’t know where you went to school but there’s a fantasy that blacks receive all the grants, if anything they only receive what’s left after 99% of everything else is gone. Most grants are need base, not based on grades or race so which ones are you talking about?

   I’m not unemployed but I’m underemployed for the type of education I have and my competition is typically Caucasians with high school diplomas or someone who got their job because their cousin works in management somewhere. FYI: This is still happening and legal affirmative action in employment was ended in Florida, what 11 years ago now by Gov. Bush . . . . . so when is the unspoken affirmative action ever going to end?

   What white people have to understand is that blacks are only 14% of the entire population about 1.6% of that are even in college, so whatever aid they receive is statistically insignificant. The opponents of Affirmative Action want you to believe that the 1.6% of blacks in college are taking away money from the 30% of whites in college. . . literally 99% of the white students would have to be poorer or academically superior to 100% of the black students and that’s simply not so and why that argument fails every time. The same reason that white girl in the affirmative action case fails, she didn’t get a spot because she wasn’t that bright, not because she was white.

3. The Doer on October 16th, 2012 6:58 am

   To B.A.,
   Sorry that you’re having such a hard time finding a job, but as a white person in this area, I have been looked over for many promotions and jobs and was even told that people of color had to be hired. I worked three jobs to finish my first degree, then earned by master’s at night while working in the day. I have just finished paying off massive student debt to a university whose financial aid office actually told me that if I wanted to receive grants, “paint myself black.” This comment is not meant to stir you or anyone else up, but discrimination runs both ways. Right now, it appears that the Christian is becoming the one who is most discriminated against. Whatever happened to simply hiring the most qualified? We seemed to have lowered our standards across the board for everyone. When I was in high school, a 94 to 100 was an A. Sixty nine and below meant failing. Now that is considered a “D.” You say in your comment that affirmative action is still needed, but you can’t have it both ways. You can’t have affirmative action when you think it’s necessary, and then no affirmative action when it doesn’t benefit your race. The two queens was put into place at Atmore, so that both races could be represented. I don’t know the ratio of black to white at that school, but the whites are in the minority. Why don’t you think it’s a good idea to have affirmative action to represent the minority in this case? Is it because she is WHITE? Surely not. Surely your rant of racism in this area, doesn’t rear its ugly head because you are racist yourself. . . . .

4. 429SCJ on October 16th, 2012 5:47 am

   I wish to congratulate Ms. McGinnis, this is her time and we should not let that be infringed upon by other events, noteworthy and important as they are.

5. B.A. on October 15th, 2012 11:41 pm

   Congrats to Escambia County High School and the District for ending this practice! Congrats to the new homecoming queen as well!!!!

6. B.A. on October 15th, 2012 11:39 pm

   It is because of individuals with viewpoints similar to those of 429SCJ why affirmative action was needed and still is needed. You speak about things that you do not know anything about.
   429SCJ says:
   “Programs such as affirmative never served any purpose but to place people in the mindset, that I cannot accel without special help”.

   The correct spelling is excel. Anyway, all of the African Americans that I am affiliated with, excelled in undergraduate and graduate school without any “special” help – working their way through college,etc.

   I am African American, I have a Bachelor’s Degree and an MBA. i have applied to numerous banks in the area (a $9/hr job) in century – flomaton and brewton, and still not employed – yet the individual employed was white and in most cases, fresh out of high school – obviously not enough time to gain banking experience. I have relatives who live in this area, who are degreed in engineering, HR, etc., highly educated and within escambia county alabama, have applied to companies such as the pipeline companies, industrial distributors (both of which have no blacks working in their offices) etc. and guess who is hired – the non educated white man with less experience. We know because we always speak with HR and inquire on the person hired for EEO purposes. This is why affirmative action is needed. IF it is not in place, then the racist low class pricks will never give some blacks a chance. Granted, not all companies are like this, but in this area, they are racist. I know this to be true strictly from experience and until you walk a mile in a black man’s shoes in Flomaton, Brewton and Century, you will never understand. Take it like you want to take it. When I lived in other parts of the country, I did not experience this, only in these two horse towns down here.

7. JW on October 15th, 2012 9:18 pm

   Way to go ECHS! That was a very ignorant policy. Who ever voted for it was ignorant as well. Affirmative action is ignorant and outdated….like Jim Crow. We have a black president for goodness sake. This young lady is beautiful. She represents ECHS well!

8. Confused ECHS grad on October 15th, 2012 9:03 pm

   When I was in high school at ECHS 11 years ago, this policy was already in place. We had one queen and race was not a factor for homecoming court selections. I wonder why the school took a step back and put the policy of selecting the court based on race back into place. I’m glad to see that the school has once again taken a step in the right direction. Congratulations to Jazmine and the rest of the homecoming court.

9. smokey on October 15th, 2012 7:21 pm

   But it’s ok to have things like afermative action . If it’s a benefit then we don’t mind huh?

10. Mike on October 15th, 2012 6:11 pm

    Unfortunately the reason Affirmative Action programs were put into place to begin with is still around . . . . . 200 years of unqualified whites promoted to positions of power and influence because they’re related to the boss, hiring manager, friend of a friend . . . . its called the “good old boy” network.

    What many whites don’t understand is that it discriminates against highly qualified blacks and whites alike . . . . . . I don’t really see why after 300 years of it being around, 47 years of Affirmative Action equals the playing field. A classic example is the case before the Supreme Court, the woman that said she couldn’t get into the Texas school was said to be a poor student that wouldn’t get into just about any school . . . not because she was white, but because she was dumb. She’s as smart as a rock and that’s what all the admissions directors in the case say but they’re using her case through the courts just on legal principle to get it to the Supreme Court. Ironic because the biggest beneficiary of Affirmative Action programs over the years has been white women who like minorities were locked out of equal employment for decades.

    Its getting better but you can still look at almost every position in state, county and city government and find an employee that’s been there for 15+ years with no more than a high school education. That person was grandfathered in when the standards were raised so they get to keep their job but they’d never even get an interview if you place their resume up to the recent applicants for the same job . . . . unless their network helps them out anyway.

11. THE DOER on October 15th, 2012 12:49 pm

    I agree that this practice needed to end a long time ago; however, it actually is a form of affirmative action, since a minority group should be fairly represented. All policies of such should be ended, however, including college admissions policies and government hiring practices.
    This is not the case, however, with a recent ruling in Florida that was just passed this past week:
    On Tuesday, the board passed a revised strategic plan that says that by 2018, it wants 90 percent of Asian students, 88 percent of white students, 81 percent of Hispanics and 74 percent of black students to be reading at or above grade level. For math, the goals are 92 percent of Asian kids to be proficient, whites at 86 percent, Hispanics at 80 percent and blacks at 74 percent. It also measures by other groupings, such as poverty and disabilities, reported the Palm Beach Post.
    Check it for yourself.

12. chrstefl on October 15th, 2012 11:50 am

    It’s about time!!! Congrats to the beautiful young lady..

13. Safebear on October 15th, 2012 10:29 am

    Congratulations on another step toward the 21st century – Until all discrimination is ended regarding race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, nationality and such we will still be behind a lot of other places.

    I totall agree that Jazmine is a beautiful young lady and totally deserves this honor. Congratulations again!

14. bigbill1961 on October 15th, 2012 9:08 am

    Amen! It’s about time!!

    God made each and every one of us. He only sees what’s on the inside…why should we be any different?

15. Murlie on October 15th, 2012 8:46 am

    Congratulation, Jazmine you deserve your crown….God Bless.

16. northendbratt on October 15th, 2012 7:44 am

    Thank goodness! Another step into the twenty first century! Beautifol young lady!

17. KATHY on October 15th, 2012 7:12 am

    Do the students vote on homecoming queen? When i was in school it was a popularity contest and nothing more.

18. atmore guy on October 15th, 2012 6:23 am

    One school, one queen, one voice. Way to go Jazmine! We are proud of you!

    And, by the way, I’m an old white guy. Just proud this Jim Crowe South practice came an end and it’s all fair now.

    Go Big BLue!

19. Resident on October 15th, 2012 6:21 am

    I agree. This young lady should be proud to represent her school and her classmates as their choice for Homecoming Queen. Glad to see the archiac practice come to an end.

20. Parent on October 15th, 2012 6:20 am

    What an outstanding young lady, and I know that her dad is great man. It’s nice to know that she won homecoming outright and fair, not because of some stupid racial practice. It’s a well deserved honor for a great young lady. So proud of you!

21. 429SCJ on October 15th, 2012 6:03 am

    I could not agree more with Mr Perez, the notion that Afican Americans require special programs to compete is and has always been absurd.

    Programs such as affirmative never served any purpose but to place people in the mindset, that I cannot accel without special help.

22. dan-o on October 15th, 2012 4:06 am

    “It is time for the once common practice of segregating students by race in school activities to come to an end.”

    Congratulations, Atmore! Welcome to the 21st century. Although, I believe the rest of the country accomplished this back in the 20th century. I didn’t realize that segregating students (or anyone else for that matter) by race still existed. A bit behind the times, but hey, it IS Alabama, afterall…

23. For Equality on October 15th, 2012 3:07 am

    Beautiful young lady. Glad the policy was finally updated – long overdue. Now we can only hope it can extend to other organizations and pageants.