Have you wondered lately if racism is alive and well in Arkansas? This should answer you question.

H/T for photo to The Blaze

Courtesy of Think Progress:

A high school student in Arkansas was blocked from receiving sole valedictorian honors this summer, despite earning the highest G.P.A. in her class and receiving only a single B in her four years at McGehee Secondary School. Kymberly Wimberly’s offense? She’s black. School administrators worried that Wimberly’s accomplishment would result in a “big mess” at the majority-white school, so Principal Darrell Thompson told the student’s mother “that he decided to name a white student as co-valedictorian,” even though the white student had a lower G.P.A. The matter is currently pending in federal court.

Let me remind you that today's date is July 29, 2011, NOT July 29, 1965.

Today we also have a black man in the White House, a female Secretary of State, and a personal computer in virtually every one of our homes.  Yet in Arkansas a black female CANNOT take her place as valedictorian of her high school without having a white person assigned to share in her moment.

If certain people get into positions of power in this country, this is but a hint of the things to come.

It looks like the biggest challenges to Michele Bachmann's plans to run for President are all coming from high school students.

First Bachmann was challenged to a debate by Amy Myers, a sophomore at Cherry Hill High School East in Camden County. (A challenge that she ignored by the way.) And now she finds herself facing another challenge from seventeen year old Zack Kopplin:

I’m a 17 year old from Louisiana, and I’m calling Congresswoman Michele Bachmann’s bluff when it comes to creationism and Nobel Laureate scientists.

In 2004, while she was in the Minnesota State Senate, Congresswoman Bachmann tried to pass SF 1714, a bill similar to my state’s creationism law, the Louisiana Science Education Act (LSEA), which I’m fighting to repeal. This misnamed and misguided law creates a way to sneak the teaching of creationism into Louisiana public school science classrooms.

The LSEA is hurting my state and the students in it. And now, as the congresswoman is laying the groundwork to run for President, she is upping the ante for the rest of the country by bringing an anti-science, creationist stance to the national stage. Why is this a junk hand for students? Just look at the lessons from Louisiana. Colleges both at home and across the country may question our science education and withhold admission because of our dubious science background. In addition, Louisiana students may lose out on cutting edge science jobs to kids from countries like China and Britain where they teach accurate science and the theory of evolution.

This law gives Louisiana an anti-science reputation, which hinders the state’s ability to attract scientists who can help find innovative solutions to rescue the Louisiana seafood industry from disasters such as the BP oil spill and stop our coast from disappearing. The LSEA also handicaps our bio-tech start ups and efforts to attract investment in companies that do scientific research.

According to the 2009 survey of 8th grade students’ science education by the National Center for Education Statistics, Louisiana was at the bottom of the list, ranked lower than all but one state. Do not let Michele Bachmann drag the rest of the country down to Louisiana’s level.

In 2006, Congresswoman Bachmann claimed “there is a controversy among scientists about whether evolution is a fact… hundreds and hundreds of scientists, many of them holding Nobel prizes, believe in intelligent design.”

Intelligent design is another name for creationism. Teaching these exchangeable theories in public school science classrooms was found unconstitutional in the 2005 Dover vs. Kitzmiller case because they are not science.

Bachmann’s ongoing misrepresentation of science and scientists at a national level adds fuel and false authority to the lobbyists and politicians in my state who have an agenda to undermine evidence-based science.

Does Congresswoman Bachmann really think the public will fall for her sleight of hand and believe she has Nobel Laureate scientists who support these unscientific theories?

Congresswoman Bachmann, I see your “hundreds” of scientists, and raise you millions of scientists.

For the next hand, I raise you 43 Nobel Laureate scientists. That’s right: 43 Nobel Laureate scientists have endorsed our effort to repeal Louisiana’s creationism law.

Major science organizations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which represents over 10 million scientists, have publicly endorsed the repeal.

Congresswoman Bachmann, you claim that Nobel Laureates support creationism. Show me your hand. If you want to be taken seriously by voters while you run for President, back up your claims with facts. Can you match 43 Nobel Laureates, or do you fold?

Have I mentioned before how much I LOVE the young people in this country?