Morehouse Valedictorian Stands Out—He’s White
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From his first day at Morehouse College—the country’s only institution of higher learning dedicated to the education of black men—Joshua Packwood has been a standout.
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But it’s his skin that has made all of this an anomaly. This month, Packwood is set to take the stage and address his classmates as the first white valedictorian in Morehouse’s 141-year history.
The 22-year-old from Kansas City, Mo., will graduate Sunday with a perfect 4.0 GPA and a degree in economics.
He could have gone elsewhere, to a school like Columbia, Stanford or Yale, but his four-year journey through Morehouse has taught him a few things that they could not, and he makes it clear that he has no regrets.
“I’ve been forced to see the world in a different perspective, that I don’t think I could’ve gotten anywhere else,” he said. “None of the Ivies, no matter how large their enrollment is, no matter how many Nobel laureates they have on their faculty . . . none of them could’ve provided me with the perspective I have now.”
Impressive credentials
When Packwood applied to Morehouse, he had frequent conversations with George Gray, an alumnus who was a recruiter at the school. Gray was impressed by Packwood’s credentials and spent months trying to talk the sought-after senior into choosing Morehouse over other elite schools.
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After several conversations, Packwood began to suspect that Gray had no idea that he was white. His suspicions were confirmed when one of Gray’s calls caught Packwood in the middle of track practice.
“Don’t let the white kids walk you down,” Gray quipped.
“Wait,” Packwood re-sponded. “You know I’m white, right?”
Silence. Uneasy laughter. Confirmation.
“The challenge was to get the best student that we could, and Josh definitely fit that,” Gray said.
And for Packwood, knowing that he had been picked on his merits, and not as a token white recruit, made the difference.
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It was not as if this was the first time Packwood experienced life in the minority. He was among the few white students in his class at Grandview Senior High School in suburban Kansas City, Mo. He has mixed-race siblings and his mother was married to an African-American. Packwood’s experiences growing up have helped him navigate black culture while remaining comfortable with his own complexion.
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Shortly after, his roommate arrived with his mother. Four years later, Packwood still can’t get over the irony: After years of being one of a few blacks at majority-white schools in Dallas, Phillip Smithey had come to Morehouse to get the “black experience.”
Instead, he was sharing a room with the only white guy in his class.
An honest voice
{snip}
Being surrounded by black men for his undergraduate career has taught him more about diversity, Packwood said.
“I’ve been here for four years and yet, I cannot give you the definition of black,” he said. “I cannot tell you what a black man is. I really learned to look much deeper. It takes a lot of effort to know people.”
(Posted on May 13, 2008)
Comments
And the Winner of May 2008’s Fake, Phony, Fraud Award goes to…
Posted by S & GS at 6:46 PM on May 13
When Packwood applied to Morehouse, he had frequent conversations with George Gray, an alumnus who was a recruiter at the school.
After several conversations, Packwood began to suspect that Gray had no idea that he was white. His suspicions were confirmed when one of Gray’s calls caught Packwood in the middle of track practice.
“Don’t let the white kids walk you down,” Gray quipped.
Wow. Can you imagine if a WHITE recruiter for some college said “Don’t let the black kids walk you down.” to a prospective black student? He’d be fired on the spot, make front-page news in the MSM and the only job he’d ever be able to find again would be scrubbing toilets for minimum wage.
Posted by at 6:49 PM on May 13
Why stop there Mr. Packwood? Why not go deep into the bowels of the Congo and get more “perspective” than your heart can likely take…or just go to Detroit for the domestic version.
Posted by HH at 7:00 PM on May 13
There is a Black fixation among a lot of Whites, a stubborn belief that Blacks have access to some sort of special understanding, that they have “soul”. I once knew a White guy who wanted to talk with Black prostitutes, in pursuit of this unknown quality. It’s as if they are trying to reconcile their belief in racial equality with the obvious inequality, by recourse to a spiritual g factor that Whites are sadly lacking.
Posted by Schoolteacher at 7:18 PM on May 13
Absolutely bizarre and hilarious as well.
He reminds me of the movie with Steve Martin, entitled, The Jerk, where he stated at the beginning that he was brought up as a poor black child.
Posted by ice at 7:19 PM on May 13
I can’t believe this guy spent four years roaming the “dark” corridors of Morehouse College. My hat goes off to him. I couldnt eat a meal in an all-black school cafeteria, never mind live amongst them for four years.
I know he’ll never admit it in a million years, but he must realize how dim-witted the blacks are. Liberals in their lily-white communities never experience firsthand the black race and they always blame racism for problems of the black race. When you live and learn amongst them as this young fellow did, you will realize the truth.
Jay fresh
Posted by jayfresh at 7:42 PM on May 13
“Don’t let the white kids walk you down,” Gray quipped.
****************
Oh, see folks- it’s ok. He only quipped it. It’s just a cute and light-hearted comment from a college alumnus/recruiter.
I’d like to know what prompted this racist to spew this gratuitous jab at whites in the first place, and during a school-sanctioned event no less.
Regardless, I’m not surprised one bit by his comments, even as an educated black.
Posted by n4z at 8:17 PM on May 13
The 22-year-old from Kansas City, Mo., will graduate Sunday with a perfect 4.0 GPA and a degree in economics.
Was there any serious competition?
Again, if ‘skin privilege’ explains success or failure, this guy should be the failure and the majority should be the success.
Posted by sbuffalonative at 8:20 PM on May 13
Why not save all that money for college and just go to New Orleans or Detroit to learn what they taught him there????
Posted by lydia at 9:07 PM on May 13
Quite frankly, I am impressed that he went through such a social expedition.
Posted by Mark at 9:23 PM on May 13
“The 22-year-old from Kansas City, Mo., will graduate Sunday with a perfect 4.0 GPA and a degree in economics.”
Impressive, he got a 4.0 GPA at “the country’s only institution of higher learning dedicated to the education of black men”. I’ll bet I could pull a 4.0 GPA also…if I went back to middle school.
Posted by idareya at 9:25 PM on May 13
This guy is white in much the same way McCain is a Republican.
Posted by Ric Blair at 9:31 PM on May 13
Of course this article was featured in Memphis’s newspaper, “The Commercial Appeal”, commonly known to locals as the “Communist Appeal”. Anything anti-white and pro-minority is welcome and fits nicely with their format of demoralizing whites and uplifting nonwhites. This guy is just another race traitor-the die was cast in his life when his dear white mother succumbed to “jungle fever”-unfortunately for him after his mother produced him with a white man.
Posted by Blowtorch Mason at 9:32 PM on May 13
Wow - who woulda thunk - a token white. What will they think of next?
Posted by Mucie at 11:54 PM on May 13
It was probably SO easy to get a 4.0 at that “college”! Look at who the competition was. If grades were on a bell curve, it was a cinch for him to be near the top. Blacks just cannot compete in a meritocracy, as they don’t have the intelligence to do so. Black colleges are bastions of underachievement.
George Manuelian
Atherton, CA
Posted by George Manuelian at 12:39 AM on May 14
There are only a very few black institutions that it genuinely annoys me to see insulted. DON’T EVER speak ill of the Tuskegee Airmen or General Benjamin O. Davis, and DON’T down Morehouse College.
Morehouse does its best to produce genuinely educated, socially adjusted black men. The college accepts only those who show potential in the first place, and the potential is cultivated.
Not surprisingly, there are hardly any other black educational institutions like it. And not surprisingly, a white student could spend four years there without being beaten, stabbed, mugged, hounded out, or even unduly harrassed.
You’ve got to admire Joshua Packwood, and you’ve got to admire Morehouse College. Wish there were more places like it, and more black males the caliber of its graduates. An upbeat story for a change here!
Posted by Kevin at 1:32 AM on May 14
He was probably given his entrance into the school and his grades through affirmative action. Most whites are.
Posted by Am I black enough for ya? at 1:54 AM on May 14
“Don’t let the white kids walk you down,” Gray quipped.”
Its important to remember that this was said by a former alumni who now works as a recruiter. Can you imagine if a white man said this to a black young person? It would be international news. The President would call for a moment of silence in order to meditate of white racism.
But now I ask you—Men of the West:
Are you prepared to live in a country where white people are the minority? See Zimbabwe if you have any questions…
Posted by Man of the WesT at 7:10 AM on May 14
Anyone who has ever worked with a graduate of an “historically black college” knows that being valedictorian of such a place is the academic equivalent of winning something in the Special Olympics.
Posted by Cassiodorus at 9:02 AM on May 14
““Don’t let the white kids walk you down,” Gray quipped.”
What does he mean? Walk you down? Will someone please explain what the heck this “educated” black man meant? Is it Ebonics code for “wink, wink, nod, nod?”
First of all he should have known the guy was white with a 4.0 GPA!
Posted by GetBackJack at 9:32 AM on May 14
While I disagree with everyone here at AMREN about whites acting in a racially conscious manner I do dislike the term diversity. The term is nothing more than code for “Too many white guys.” Nobody ever complains about the lack of diversity in Harlem, the NBA, or any HBCU. It’s just ridiculous how the language has been perverted. We need to start addressing the cultural rot liberalism has fostered the last 40 years then maybe we can get the country on the right track.
Posted by Thompson at 9:59 AM on May 14
Anyone who has ever worked with a graduate of an “historically black college” knows that being valedictorian of such a place is the academic equivalent of winning something in the Special Olympics.
Posted by Cassiodorus at 9:02 AM on May 14
Disguisting.
Not only are you ignorant and bigoted towards people of color and black places of learning but you also mock disabled people and the Special Olympics.
Thanks for conforming what a dirtbag you are. I’ll bet your mother is REAL proud.
Posted by la rhonda at 10:28 AM on May 14
To be effective, AmRen posters always need to tell the truth (and obey the law). The truth is, there are a great many African-Americans and Hispanics who are smart, hard-working, and law-abiding, and who contribute to our nation. Many of the students at Morehouse are in this category, and they should be recognized as such.
However, we also should tell the truth that Blacks, in general, have a lower IQ, act more on emotion than logic, are prone to amorality and criminality, and can’t seem to delay gratification or work for the future. These traits lead to poor choices and the abundant Black pathologies seen throughout Africa and everywhere else in the world where Africans congregate. But, in spite of this, we should give Blacks (and Hispanics) their due, when it is deserved.
Posted by at 10:47 AM on May 14
“Anyone who has ever worked with a graduate of an “historically black college” knows that being valedictorian of such a place is the academic equivalent of winning something in the Special Olympics.”
Or a European sprint championship.
Posted by at 7:41 PM on May 14
“He was probably given his entrance into the school and his grades through affirmative action. Most whites are.”
Of course his entrance was given to him. All colleges, even “historically black” ones are under pressure to have a certain racial mix or they lose their government funding. “Historically black” colleges also need nonblacks to boost the low graduation rates and raise the GPA average. I would guarantee this guy only accepted after they offered to pay his tuition and other expenses.
I don’t think the faculty at Morehouse is going to deliberately create a situation where one White kid has better grades than the whole black student body. After all, that would be embarrassing to the black students. Oh wait, it already is. Maybe Whitey paid them off?
Posted by at 8:00 PM on May 14
Probably attended for free; on a minority scholarship. Hey, what’s good for the goose…
Posted by Ray Cist at 10:14 PM on May 14
“Not only are you ignorant and bigoted towards people of color and black places of learning but you also mock disabled people and the Special Olympics.”
Your ability to form sound inferences from what you read is as unimpressive as ever. “Ignorance” of blacks and their “colleges” would be a function of lack of knowledge about them. Unfortunately for you I have known a good many graduates of these places and most of them were quite stupid. That is a brute fact. The rest of your post is your usual crybaby material, unworthy of response.
Posted by Cassiodorus at 12:07 AM on May 15
Cassiodorus:
You have just demonstrated how low and crude you can be! There was no need to make such a disgusting comment that is insulting to anyone with a physical disbility.
Such callous attitudes and remarks are almost cetainly one of the reasons why our movement has so much trouble gaining traction from otherwise reasonable race conscious people.
Posted by Samantha at 12:26 AM on May 15
Cassiodorus:
I thought I would never agree with La Rhonda about anything, however, I am with agreement with her about this one.
It was totally uncalled for to equate a person who attends a respectable university to with aperson who has been a participant in the special olympics. I have a colleague whose 12 year old son participated in the special olympics recently. To see the joy and happiness on those childrens faces given the tremendous disabilites some of them have is so emotional and inspiring. It just warms your heart.
This comment is as pathetic as some of those posters on this board who mocked and ridiculed certain minorities who had breast cancer a few months back.
SOME OF YOU POSTERS ARE JUST PLAIN SICK AND DISGUSTING!!!
Posted by Howard at 12:36 AM on May 15
“You have just demonstrated how low and crude you can be! There was no need to make such a disgusting comment that is insulting to anyone with a physical disbility.”
Another sensitivity trainer. If this is the first such joke you’ve ever heard, you don’t get out much. Do not expect an apology for a joke.
Posted by Cassiodorus at 12:39 AM on May 15
I have done some research on Morehouse College. The fact is that is that it has very competitive academic requirements. Many of their students have SAT scores over 1200. Pretty good!!!
Moreover, many of their graduates go on to Ivy League Law schools Ph.D. programs, MBA programs, Medical schools etc…
I was unaware of this.
Apparently Mr.Packwood attended a quality school after all.
Posted by John at 12:41 AM on May 15
Cassiodorus:
You could say the same for a number of people who have graduated from White institutions.
Posted by Mitchell at 12:44 AM on May 15
“You could say the same for a number of people who have graduated from White institutions.”
Some? Yes. It’s a question of proportions.
Posted by Cassiodorus at 1:04 AM on May 15
10:47:
Your remarks (especially your last sentence)is representative of the TRUE spirit of race realism. Commonsense and civility are the key to our movement.
Hopefully some of our more outlandish posters will take heed.
Posted by Robert at 3:08 AM on May 15
Being from Georgia, I once knew a white man who was on the faculty at Morehouse. He said that most of the students were capable of fifth grade work, but not much more.
Posted by at 3:14 PM on May 15
Something sounds fishy about the story that the recruiter did not realize that Packwood was white, and it is this: I can identify a black, with about 99% accuracy, just by the sound of their voice. I’ll assume that most blacks have same capability.
Posted by at 3:20 PM on May 15
Last summer, four students were charged with murdering another student in what was said to be a robbery attempt. In September, students from Spelman, Morehouse’s sister school, marched on campus in protest after rumors of multiple rapes by Morehouse students.
Posted by at 5:34 PM on May 15
“He was probably given his entrance into the school and his grades through affirmative action. Most whites are.”
I wonder why the number of black valedictorians is nonexistent
in historically White colleges?
Posted by at 5:41 PM on May 15
I expected this white brother to rise to the top. He had it tough at Morehouse due to black on white racism that is Atlanta culture. However, he held his ground and beat them all. God bless him.
Posted by Elrey Jones at 8:50 PM on May 15
I bet the recruiter from Goldman Sachs who brought him in for the interview thought he was going to satisfy his diversity hire quota.
Posted by ifjesuswereblack at 12:38 PM on May 16
This guy went to high school in the highly diverse Grandview area of Kansas City, which means he had plenty of “perspective” already. He must have been immersed in black culture for a recruiter to think he was black over the phone - there are white people from black areas who talk and act black. If he really wanted a new perspective, he should have gone to one of the Ivies, if it’s really true that they would have taken him as the article states (I kind of doubt they were really interested in a Midwestern white boy from the Kansas City public schools, because that’s the wrong kind of diversity).
Posted by c23 at 9:30 AM on May 18
Darn, I should have gone to Grambling University - I probably would have been the class valedictorian there.
And to all of you jumping on Cassiodorus for what he said about the Special Olympics - so what?! It’s not like the winner of the gold medal in wheelchair jai alai is going to appear on Letterman’s show.
Posted by Soprano Fan at 5:03 PM on May 18