It's not always black or white . . .

Here's an article from The Kansas City Star’s award-winning teen section. Since it comes from those who recently attended LHS, I thought I would pass it on. Perhaps, like me, it might cause you to reflect on what race relations were like at LHS back in the 50's.
The Old Man
Black on black
If you’re your own person and you’re black, you’ll be called white.
By NAOMI PRIOLEAU TeenStar

“I tried out for basketball, football, track — everything to feel included, but it only made things worse.” Dominic Johnson

Dominic Johnson wears an Abercrombie & Fitch polo shirt, rather than FUBU or Rocawear.
His non-name-brand pants are belted at his waist rather than hanging perilously from his hips.
This is the daily outfit of the Leavenworth High grad and now Oklahoma University sophomore.
Because he dresses as he does, because he speaks and acts as he does, because he’s a black male, he’s stereotyped by some members of his own race. To them, he’s considered “white.”
Those who receive the label are suspected of being scared or ashamed of his or her culture or of wanting to completely separate from the stereotype that is portrayed with being black.
Eleda Adams, who is black and a junior at Leavenworth High School, said: “Everybody knows that blacks have a certain type of thing to them. It’s just something in our culture the white people don’t understand. So when a black person sees another black person acting white, it’s like ‘What are you doing?’ ”
Ever since he was in the fourth grade, Johnson said, he has been accused of acting white. He suspects that’s because he doesn’t use slang or because he’s not into the $500 name-brand clothing that seems to stereotype other young black males.
It’s not that Johnson hasn’t tried to act differently.
“I tried out for basketball, football, track — everything to feel included, but it only made things worse,” he said. “I guess I just didn’t have that ‘attitude’ that went with it all…”
The result: Some black classmates teased him about acting white.
“Acting white can be one of the most hurtful accusations that one African-American adolescent hurls against another,” wrote Kent State University psychology professor Angela Neal-Barnett, who researched the affect of the accusation on young blacks.
“When the accusation is made, what is being said is that your definition of being black does not meet my definition of being black. Indeed, your definition is wrong.”In trying to avoid what Neal-Barnett described as the “acting white trap,” these young people try to find out what it means to be black and even try to act “more black.”
“Some adolescents realize relatively early that this behavior ‘is not who they are’ and abandon the effort,” Neal-Barnett reported. “But for others, being what they think other kids want them to be, rather then being themselves, is preferable to having the accusation.”
Johnson just wants to prove that just because someone is black, it doesn’t mean that he or she has to fall into the stereotype.
“My mom grew up in an environment where you had to be that stereotype,” Johnson said. “She’s been my motivation because she rose up from what society wanted her to be and became a teacher.”
Johnson’s mother, Gwen Johnson, said she believes that good qualities instilled in a black child shouldn’t result in him or her being called white.
“For a black person to be called white by another black person is painful,” his mother said. “All racism is wrong, but black people have to face the world and judgment from everyone else. Then having to face it from your own race is just too much.”
As Johnson grew, he learned to surround himself with people who recognized that what mattered most was who he was on the inside. Johnson’s best friend of many years, Aaron Walker, has taught him to not care about what others think of him.
“We’re so different, Aaron and I, but we get along perfectly,” Johnson said. “He may be white and I may be black, but we both have the same common goal. He’s like a brother to me, and I know he’ll be there for me no matter what.”
Singing, the goal that they both share, has gotten them into college. Johnson said he nearly made it to the Juilliard School for music and was accepted to the Manhattan School of Music in New York.
“Of course, black people and opera don’t mix!” he said jokingly.
“I chose to go to Oklahoma University because it offered more money,” Johnson said. “Singing-wise Juilliard was on the same level, but Oklahoma offered more.”
Throughout his life, Johnson never once thought he acted white.
“Being called white only makes me stronger, because I have people who want me to fail.
“I don’t think that a person can act a color. I think that proving that you are something is being black, not a statistic. It’s all about making your life worth something.”
Reach Naomi Prioleau, a graduate of Leavenworth High, at teenstar@kcstar.com.
© 2007 Kansas City Star and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.