Racism and White Fragility: A History of Overlooking Black Valedictorians
I conclude that the decisions to force Black students to share top honors with white students result from a psychological discomfort known as “white fragility.” This is a state of stress experienced by some white people when they are presented with information about people of color that challenges their sense of entitlement. I maintain that when students of color are named top students in their graduating class, as Shepard was in 2016, white society may begin to fear that students of color are encroaching upon their social turf.
NEW: MFP Team Members Won 30 Awards for 2020 Work, Finalist for Four National Awards
The Mississippi Free Press, in its first year of publication, won 15 separate awards in the Diamond Journalism Awards, a Society of Professional Journalists contest that spans print, online-only, daily, broadcast and magazine news outlets in six states bordering Arkansas.