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Bill O'Rights · 01-23-2004, 10:15 AM

The poster in question

Quote:

Two Westside High School students say they were using satire to make a point: The school shouldn't have a special award to recognize the achievement of black students.
That's why Paul and Scott Rambo, 16-year-old juniors, blanketed Westside on Monday with posters touting a white youth from South Africa for the "Distinguished African American Student" award.
"The posters were intended to be satire on the term African-American," Scott Rambo said.
The resulting flap left all three boys suspended from Wednesday's classes and drew national attention to the mostly white school. The Rambo twins stand by their actions, keeping them at odds with Westside officials.
"It's disruptive," Westside Principal John Crook said. "It was offensive to the individual being honored, to people who work here and to some students."
Crook defends the idea of giving a special honor to a top black student. Those who feel otherwise should have talked to him, he said, rather than upsetting the tone of Martin Luther King Jr. Day with posters that some viewed as mocking.
"My heart sank," said this year's winner, Kingsley Okafor, describing his reaction. "It shows the ignorance of the student body. I don't think they meant badly."
Westside's award has been given for about eight years. It was first sponsored by the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, a group of Omaha-area pastors who asked local high schools to select students for recognition at their annual King luncheon.
Winners were selected based on grades, activities and goals. Many of the recipients were black, but not all.
"It was not intended at the beginning to be one race only," said Clidie Cook, who helps organize the annual event.
But after picking two white students in the first year, Westside officials felt the spirit of the award called for giving it to a black student.
By 2001, the ministerial alliance specified that the honor was for black students. And starting in 2003, churches took over the selection process.
Westside continued to offer its own award, keeping it part of the school's King events.
That bothered Paul and Scott Rambo, two white students who spent weeks discussing the unfairness of an award solely for blacks. Blacks are eligible for every other award at Westside, they figured, so what was the point of a special honor?
The twins came up with their plan after talking to at least 10 other students who agreed with them, including one of the school's fewer than 70 black students.
Posters, they thought, were the most effective way to spur debate and rally support before contacting administrators.
The posters featured a picture of a smiling Trevor Richards, a junior who moved from South Africa to Omaha six years ago.
"They were pointing out an absurdity with an absurdity," said Michael Duffy, a junior who said he was reprimanded for collecting more than 160 signatures in support of the three boys. "That is the basic rule of satire."
But Principal Crook said the timing and the nature of the posters was insensitive, preventing a healthy dialogue.
"My role is to make sure we have a safe environment, physically and psychologically," he said. "We can't allow that kind of thing to be hung up on our walls."
The incident sparked a national news story, interview requests from as far away as Phoenix and an offer of legal support for the boys from a Washington, D.C., group.
"It got out of control," said Richards, who said he simply agreed to pose for a picture.
Paul Rambo said he has learned that "everything you say can be perceived in any way." He said he regrets hurting the feelings of some students but said he would do almost the same thing again.
"The school punished us because some people can perceive this as racist," he said, yet many have expressed support.
His classmate Duffy said the incident is forcing Westside to face racial issues that sometimes are ignored.
Crook agreed. "Obviously, it's a teachable moment. We all need to be more sensitive."

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