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UNC-CH recommends a book
New students at UNC-Chapel Hill this fall will be asked to read a book about racial strife in North Carolina.
The summer reading selection, "Blood Done Sign My Name: A True Story," by Timothy B. Tyson, is a memoir and history about Oxford in 1970, when the killing of a young black man ignited race riots. The book explores the Southern conscience through the unpunished crime and its violent aftermath.
Tyson, who earned a doctorate at Duke University, is a
professor of Afro-American studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Tyson, who is white, grew up in Eastern North Carolina as the son of a Methodist minister.
The book selection was made Wednesday by a nine-member panel of fac
ulty, staff members and students. The committee's second and third cho
ices, respectively, were "Mountains Beyond Mountains: Healing the World: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer" by Tracy Kidder and "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel.
Eight hundred transfer students and 3,650 freshmen will be asked to read the Tyson book over the summer and be prepared to discuss it Aug. 29 in small groups.
Holden Thorp, a chemistry professor who led the committee, said the book was the unanimous choice because of its compelling tale, well-documented history and the personal journey of the author. Tyson was a 10-year-old boy in Oxford, a small town in central Granville County, when the events unfolded.
"We think a frank and candid discussion about race is a wonderful thing to try to stimulate," Thorp said. Thorp is also director of the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center.
UNC-CH's summer book used to be required reading, but now
it is recommended reading. Controversy surrounding previous selections led to the change in policy.
In 2002, a book of excerpts from the Quran led to a
federal lawsuit by several UNC-CH students, which became an international news story. The 2003 choice, "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich prompted outrage by conservative students and legislators.
Opponents of both books charged the university with trying to indoctrinate students.
The university started the reading program seven years ago as a way to get new students acclimated to academic life early in the semester.
Last year's selection, "Absolutely American: Four Years at West Point" by David Lipsky, was well-received by some conservative students. Book discussions proceeded without controversy.
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"We think a frank and candid discussion about race is a wonderful thing to try to stimulate," Thorp said. Thorp is also director of the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center.
Memo to incoming UNC-Chapel Hill freshmen: Don't forget to bring up these items in your discussion groups!
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Racial differences exist, with blacks disproportionately represented among homicide victims and offenders
...
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#036;10,000 had a mean SAT score of 980. This is 123 points higher than the national mean for all blacks.
"â┚¬Ã…¡ÃƒÆ’”�šÃ”š¢ Whites from families with incomes below $10,000 had a mean SAT test score that was 46 points higher than blacks whose families had incomes of between $80,000 and $100,000.
"â┚¬Ã…¡ÃƒÆ’”�šÃ”š¢ Blacks from families with incomes of more than $100,000 had a mean SAT score that was 142 points below the mean score for whites from families at the same income level. ...
The Expanding Racial Scoring Gap Between Black and White SAT Test Takers
...The report found that only 22 percent of all high school seniors
nationwide met benchmarks for competence i
n all three subject areas of biology, algebra, and English composition.
But for blacks the situation is far worse. In English 38 percent of black ACT test takers demonstrated college-level competency. But whites were twice as likely to meet the established benchmark.
In algebra only 11 percent of black ACT test takers met the competency benchmark for college-level study. Whites were four times as likely as blacks to reach the competency benchmark.
The ACT report found that only 5 percent of all African Americans who took the ACT met the established benchmark for competence in biology. Whites were more than six times as likely as blacks to be competent in biology. ...
Report From Testing Organization Finds That on Average Blacks are Unprepared for College
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ats_Trends/1998Surveillance/STDMinorities/img004.gif
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STDs in Minorities Slide Show
T.N.B.
