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Health & Fitness

Windsor's Not Too Distant Racial Past


One of the recommendations of the equity study is to increase the number of students of color in AP classes, which, as any educator will tell you, is more than just a simple cut and paste activity.  But this recommendation started me thinking about what Windsor was like when my wife and I first moved here in 1984.  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------Even though Windsor had the growing diversity we were seeking, we still felt a need for a support system.  That's where WAACA came in, the Windsor Afro American Civic Association.  WAACA was a social organization, but it also had as a goal to encourage participation in Windsor's civic and political life.  Some WAACA members are still very active today.  Vivian Cicero is running for re-election as Constable.  Florence Barlow is very active in numerous town activities.  WAACA promoted the first black teens to participate in the Shad Derby Queen competition.  I, myself, am a WAACA product.  While a member, I was elected to the BOE, and then to the Town Council,, when Guy Jacobs, also a member, stepped down (the prevailing wisdom being that no political party could risk having more than one black candidate on the ticket).------------------------------------------------------------------------------On the education front, there was BTOW, the Black Teachers of Windsor.  Though they taught all of Windsor's kids, they paid particular attention to kids of color, seeing first-hand a burgeoning achievement gap.  One observation was the lack of recognition given to black kids at the end-of-year academic awards ceremonies.  The highest achievement awards went primarily to white students.  So BTOW started its own achievement awards ceremony, with the goal of eventually bringing up the achievement levels of kids of color.  And black parents took this awards ceremony seriously.  The Sunday of the ceremony, LP Wilson was packed with some extremely proud parents.  The purpose of the ceremony was to give a sense of achievement to the students, recognizing them for what they did accomplish, and to see their older achieving peers as role models.  The culminating awards went to the graduating black Seniors.  When their names were called to receive their award, they stood on the stage and announced which colleges they would be attending.  They were the positive role models for the younger kids in the audience.---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WAACA and BTOW have disappeared from the Windsor landscape.  But I still see the need for some type of support structure for parents of color (for all parents, actually) to make sure they understand the leverage they have in navigating our educational system, a structure that begins in pre-school.  Sometimes these parents are referred to as "irresponsible", when it could be more a lack of awareness of the active role they need to play in planning the educational path of their children, something many of  us take for granted.

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