Columnis Bernie Hayes
How do you measure the strength or character of a community? Do you consistently test its resilience, strength of mind and determination, or attack its weakness? One thing is certain. The St. Louis African-American community must have endurance and stamina to withstand the many teats and obstacles hurled at us daily.
Persons of African ancestry enjoy a distinct culture. Before radio and television, people were constantly in one another’s houses, visiting, singing, dancing and telling stories. Although black people were segregated from white society, they were held together by a valued kinship and friendship. So it was in the Ville and other African-American communities or villages.
One of the most contentious and controversial conflicts engaging the villagers in this New Year is the debate whether the St. Louis Public Schools’ Special Administrative Board and Superintendent Kelvin Adams should eventually close Sumner High School. And, if it is closed, will other institutions in the Ville also be on a hit list by the City administration, developers and speculators?
Actually, this will be Sumner’s third attempt. In the Oct. 3, 1991 edition of The St.Louis American, Clearance Washington filed a report “Sumner High School: Dressed Up and Ready to go.” He reported that in 1989 Sumner High School was forced to transfer its 1,200 students to McKinley and close its doors. The story told of the reopening of the historic site after an $8.3 million renovation. The 1991 ribbon-cutting by Principal Joseph DuBose and the Rev. Earl Nance drew more than 1,600 people, including former students Ida Goodwin Woolfolk, Julius Hunter, and Dick and Ron Gregory.
It mentioned many of the nationally known graduates of the school, and the principal promised the school would be a drumbeat for the entire city. What happened in less than 20 years?
This is a time of growing cultural awareness of the importance of historic preservation, and The Greater Ville has become one of the most threatened historic black neighborhoods in the country. It lost Homer G. Phillips Hospital; the Annie Malone May Day Parade was moved; several elementary and middle schools were closed, and now perhaps Sumner.
“Charles E. Sumner High School, established in 1875, has a rich and proud history as the FIRST African-American High School west of the Mississippi,” Superintendent Adams has said.
“However, current incidents as well as poor student attendance and academic achievement have tarnished its legacy. While I do not believe closing Sumner High School is the answer at this point, maintaining the status quo will no longer be acceptable. The district, as well as the community, must work together to ensure the success of Sumner’s students.”
According to Adams, to remain open next year, the staff must get 40 more students to school every day. It must recruit 70 parents for a parent-teacher organization, trim student suspensions and expulsions, and find 60 more students to sign up for extracurricular activities. Also, dozens, if not hundreds more students must pass their classes and 100 percent of the eligible seniors must graduate.
Does this seem excessive or feasible?
The Ville neighborhood is a predominantly working-class African-American community, but the surrounding neighborhoods have experienced recent gentrification, putting the pressure on some of the city’s aldermen to draw upon considerable spiritual, personal and common resources.
Across the nation, deteriorating public school buildings are a major obstacle to achieving academic success and neighborhood vitality. According to 4th Ward Alderman Sam Moore, there will be a focus on empowering residents of The Greater Ville area to use historic preservation programs and other plans to stabilize and bring economic development. Moore said children in The Ville have a right to attend excellent schools that are safe and educationally adequate and improving education performance ranks high on his agenda, and he wants Sumner to remain open.
In the 1933 publication The Miseducation of the Negro, Dr. Carter G. Woodson said. “When you control a man’s thinking you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him not to stand here or go yonder. He will find his “proper place” and will stay in it. You do not need to send him to the back door. He will go without being told. In fact, if there is no back door, he will cut one for his special benefit. His education makes it necessary.”
We must document, preserve and present true accounts of the African-American experience and culture, because buildings aren’t simply structures. They serve human purposes. They do essential things, and we come to love them. Sumner and The Greater Ville must be protected and preserved.
I can be reached by e-mail at: berhay@swbell.net.