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Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2008 > January > 23 > Entry
NAACP disavows plan to save Roosevelt
Derrick Foward
I just spoke with Derrick Foward, the president of the Dayton NAACP. He said a UD law student named Adam Stone and the group’s treasurer, Creola Reese, and who spoke during and after the Dayton school board Tuesday were not representing the view of the NAACP’s executive committee.
Reese is a member of the executive committee, Foward said. Stone spoke during the public comment portion of Tuesday’s school board meeting and he and Reese spoke with a reporter after the meeting, saying the NAACP was supporting a redevelopment plan for Roosevelt. But Foward said the plan has not been endorsed or discusssed by the group’s executive committee.
Foward said the local NAACP has taken no position on Roosevelt High School and is not endorsing any plan to try to rescue the building. Foward said he was not aware anyone representing the NAACP were attending Tuesday’s school board meeting and only learned of their statements when he read today’s Dayton Daily News. Foward said he has not seen any redevelopment plan for Roosevelt.
Stone went to the microphone during the public comment period of Tuesday’s meeting and asked for a meeting with the board to allow the NAACP, Roosevelt alumni and a group called the Community Justice League to present a proposal to save Roosevelt High School. Afterward I spoke with Stone and Reese who both said they had a viable plan to save Roosevelt, but they declined to give any details.
Permalink | Comments (9) | Categories: Dayton Public Schools, School Construction
Comments
By Scott Elliott
January 25, 2008 7:02 PM | Link to this
Riverdale Ghost, you jumped to several false conclusions in your prior message. FYI, I have lived in the metro Dayton for 22 years includng 16 in the city limits and this is my ninth year covering the city school district. And I still don’t follow your logic. You seem to be suggesting the community views Roosevelt as a “black” high school and perhaps values it less as a result? That simply isn’t true, if that is what you are saying. Roosevelt is best known for its turblent experiences as an INTEGRATED high school. That is the main basis for the argument that the building is historically signficant. In my experience, I have seen deep affection for the school among both black and white residents of the city.By Riverdale Ghost
January 25, 2008 6:26 PM | Link to this
With all due respect, Mr. Elliott, did I post as much as one comma about Civil Rights? My statement should not be confusing if you leave Civil Rights out of things. As for living in Dayton for 22 years, I thought you said you moved out a few blog entries back; but, that’s a little beside this point: let’s see, 22 years ago would be 1986 — some difference there to 1926…. My logic might be easier to follow if you sat yourself down in 1926 instead of 1986. And, as for Harvard, okay, make it Northwestern, which unfortunately doesn’t have quite the same impact. :-)By Scott Elliott
January 24, 2008 3:22 PM | Link to this
Riverdale Ghost, your statement is confusing and your logic is hard to follow. Roosevelt’s place in Dayton’s history partly realtes to its well known status as an integrated high school that struggled with the issues of race all through the civil rights era. As I have written about this issue over the past 5+ years, I have talked to many proud Roosevelt alumni, both black and white, none of whom would be afraid to wear the school jacket. As for your suggestion about the attitudes of “out of town” professionals, I can tell you that I have lived in Dayton for 22 years, longer than I have lived anywhere else, and only one of my colleagues here at the paper attended an Ivy League college. Oh, and he’s a Dayton native who returned here after graduating Harvard.By Riverdale Ghost
January 24, 2008 1:37 PM | Link to this
Mr. Elliott, now, let’s get real here. The biggest problem in regard to Roosevelt is not money or any such claptrap. It is the very UNtrue public perception that the student population was — ALWAYS — predominently black. If you are going to go so far as to read this comment, suppose you do a bit of public service and go find out at exactly what point in time the Roosevelt graduating classes consistently began exceeding 60% black — and you have to use 60% to get somewhere near a 50% potential because many (not all) Catholics sent their children to the Catholic high schools while others may have gone to Patterson Co-op. Generations of “imported” professional people (especially white ones) from small-minded places have simply NEVER had it in their heads that “black folks” in li’l ol’ Dayton were scattered in LITTLE groups far and wide all around the place and NOT concentrated in one part of town. High and low they keep trying to find that big black ghetto that never existed. Given that usual “black people perception,” how many white folk do you think really would dare to walk around town with jackets emblazoned with “Roosevelt” on the back side? I cannot imagine any such person sitting at a desk at the Dayton Daily News, which likes “Harvard” on the back of a jacket.By Scott Elliott
January 24, 2008 10:48 AM | Link to this
Well, after the meeting I approached Stone to find out more about who he was and where he was coming from. I’ve dealt with the NAACP several times on school issues through the years and he was a new face to me. When I spoke with him, he had Creola Reese with him, who I did recognize as an NAACP key player. Reese, who told me she was the treasuer of the NAACP, supported Stone and reiterated NAACP support. The problem here is internal to the NAACP. They need to all get on the same page on this issue. I don’t think reporters can be expected to know that the officers of an organization may or may not have permission to speak for that organization when they are making public statements at public meeting. Yesterday, Reese continued to insist that she had the NAACP’s blessing while Forward, the group’s president, insisted she did not. They need to figure it out.By null
January 23, 2008 11:15 PM | Link to this
I am not aware of the full truth behind this situation but IF Mrs. Reese and the young man did not have persmission from the NAACP to represent the organization at the meeting, they should not have made any comments. Personal comments are fine but when you place a organizations name/reputation on the line you should make very sure you have the organizations permission to represent them. IF this was not given in this situation, I believe(personal comment) Mrs. Reese and the young man should be reprimanded for their actions. Personal agendas can ruin an organization. I also believe the newspaper should have verifed the statement before printing. This says a lot for the reputation of THIS newspaper.By Riverdale Ghost
January 23, 2008 6:44 PM | Link to this
Obviously “the members” with the interest didn’t get anywhere with the organization they belong to. They can have the interest anyway and they can seek assistance for themselves and that part of the group that is like minded. If somone said he/she was a member of the Democratic Party or the Catholic Church, would the automatic assumption be that the Democratic Party, per se, or the Catholic Church, per se, endorses what they are saying? (Cox Enterprises no doubt endorses everything said by employees and stockholders.) Why not follow up and find out what they actually had in mind?By null
January 23, 2008 6:02 PM | Link to this
And we wonder why our young people do not seem to want to get involved and with volunteer organizations such as this, that seem to be too worried about political ramifications of taking a stand on an important community matter….shame on you….By Megan Hottle
January 23, 2008 4:08 PM | Link to this
Mr. Adam Stone was asked by members of the Dayton chapter of the NAACP to appeal on their behalf to the school board to salvage Roosevelt. Until this publication, he was unaware that his time and passion for this effort were manipulated, by some affiliate of the Dayton NAACP, in vain. It speaks poorly of the Dayton chapter of one of the nation’s premier organizations that such fragmented communication within their association would place a volunteer’s credibility on the chopping block.