Bridge and Tunnel Club Blog Home
Bridge and Tunnel Club Blog

That’s Pronounced, “White Nationalism Is What Put You In Bondage. Pirate And Vampires Like Columbus, Morgan And Darwin.”

This story is starting to sound like a really bad Paul Haggis screenplay:

Autum Ashante, a 7-year-old black girl who caused a stir at two Westchester schools by reciting a poem she wrote about white nationalism, received support from some New York City leaders on Tuesday.

First, she stood on the City Hall steps with Councilman Charles Barron, who denounced what he described as attacks and harassment since Autum spoke last month at a middle and high school. Barron said he planned to ask Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s office to look into whether the girl’s free speech rights were violated.

Later, she had an appearance scheduled with the Rev. Al Sharpton.

On Feb. 28, Autum delivered a poem titled “White Nationalism Put U In Bondage,” in which Christopher Columbus and Charles Darwin are likened to pirates and vampires. She also asked students to stand and recite the “Black Child’s Pledge,” an oath of responsibility and black pride.

When white students at the Peekskill High School assembly stood with black students, Autum told them to sit down, the school district’s superintendent said. The Peekskill City School District then sent recorded messages to parents of its 3,000 students apologizing to anyone who was offended.

Barron said he couldn’t understand why anyone would be offended. He characterized the girl as “brave” and “outspoken in telling the truth,” and he defended her 162-word poem, praising it as evoking “peace, power and pride about her heritage.”

. . .

On the steps of City Hall, Autum recited the poem and pledge, drawing yelps of “Tell it!” and “Hallelujah!” from Barron’s staff and others in the small crowd.

Then she took questions, cautioning a reporter to use the term “African” instead of “African-American.”

Asked how she felt about some white students and parents being upset, she said, “I feel bad, but I know it was the right thing to do.”

When asked how much help she received to write the poem, she replied, “My dad helped with spelling and pronunciation.”

Posted: March 15th, 2006 | Filed under: Tragicomic, Ironic, Obnoxious Or Absurd
Anarchy In The Bronx, Or Why That Strange Taylor Law Might Make Sense »
« What Civil Service Title Does Imam Fall Under?

Recent Posts

  • “Friends And Allies Literally Roll Their Eyes When They Hear The New York City Mayor Is Trying To Go National Again”
  • You Don’t Achieve All Those Things Without Managing The Hell Out Of The Situation
  • “Less Than Six Months After Bill De Blasio Became Mayor Of New York City, A Campaign Donor Buttonholed Him At An Event In Manhattan”
  • Nothing Hamburger
  • On Cheap Symbolism

Categories

Bookmarks

  • 1010 WINS
  • 7online.com (WABC 7)
  • AM New York
  • Aramica
  • Bronx Times Reporter
  • Brooklyn Eagle
  • Brooklyn View
  • Canarsie Courier
  • Catholic New York
  • Chelsea Now
  • City Hall News
  • City Limits
  • Columbia Spectator
  • Courier-Life Publications
  • CW11 New York (WPIX 11)
  • Downtown Express
  • Gay City News
  • Gotham Gazette
  • Haitian Times
  • Highbridge Horizon
  • Inner City Press
  • Metro New York
  • Mount Hope Monitor
  • My 9 (WWOR 9)
  • MyFox New York (WNYW 5)
  • New York Amsterdam News
  • New York Beacon
  • New York Carib News
  • New York Daily News
  • New York Magazine
  • New York Observer
  • New York Post
  • New York Press
  • New York Sun
  • New York Times City Room
  • New Yorker
  • Newsday
  • Norwood News
  • NY1
  • NY1 In The Papers
  • Our Time Press
  • Pat’s Papers
  • Queens Chronicle
  • Queens Courier
  • Queens Gazette
  • Queens Ledger
  • Queens Tribune
  • Riverdale Press
  • SoHo Journal
  • Southeast Queens Press
  • Staten Island Advance
  • The Blue and White (Columbia)
  • The Brooklyn Paper
  • The Columbia Journalist
  • The Commentator (Yeshiva University)
  • The Excelsior (Brooklyn College)
  • The Graduate Voice (Baruch College)
  • The Greenwich Village Gazette
  • The Hunter Word
  • The Jewish Daily Forward
  • The Jewish Week
  • The Knight News (Queens College)
  • The New York Blade
  • The New York Times
  • The Pace Press
  • The Ticker (Baruch College)
  • The Torch (St. John’s University)
  • The Tribeca Trib
  • The Villager
  • The Wave of Long Island
  • Thirteen/WNET
  • ThriveNYC
  • Time Out New York
  • Times Ledger
  • Times Newsweekly of Queens and Brooklyn
  • Village Voice
  • Washington Square News
  • WCBS880
  • WCBSTV.com (WCBS 2)
  • WNBC 4
  • WNYC
  • Yeshiva University Observer

Archives

RSS Feed

  • Bridge and Tunnel Club Blog RSS Feed

@batclub

Tweets by @batclub

Contact

  • Back To Bridge and Tunnel Club Home
    info -at- bridgeandtunnelclub.com

BATC Main Page

  • Bridge and Tunnel Club

2025 | Bridge and Tunnel Club Blog