"Between 200 and 300 students staged a militant sitdown Monday morning
at Grady High School They were protesting a proposed new demerit system
which would take away from students what little power they have, and which
could be used by racist teachers especially to oppress Black and Third World
students. "
"All of them knew they were united and that no one would feed them
anymore..."
Monday's action was the first time black and white students have gotten
together in mass on an issue at Grady. (This is not because of a shortage
of racism there.)" Mike Flores
DEGRADYATION"
The GREAT SPECKLED BIRD
April 22,1971
All of the above excerpts were taken from a letter written by Mike Flores (a former Grady student) that was printed in one of the country's foremost underground papers.
Flores was much more than an observer of a protest that shook Grady's campus on Monday April 19, 1971. He was the organizer and leader of a sit-down, walk-out, and walk-in that broke out into havoc before it even had a fair chance to get started.
With a number of hips and radicals (and some who thought they were) backing him all the way, Flores was able to twist words around enough to make a racial issue out of a disciplinary system that was thought of, and accepted by, elected student representatives of the Student-Faculty Board. By making it into a racial issue, Flores led a small minority group of Grady blacks along with his other followers into protest.
RESULTS ASTOUNDING
What came about was astounding. The approximately 100 participants and other
supporters of the protest considered it the finest day in Grady's history.
Many of Grady's other 1000 students (the silent majority in this case) bowed
their heads in disgust, in the hope that Grady would never again see each
day. Nearly half a year has passed since the shouts of "one, two, three,
four-demerit system out the door" have been heard in the halls of Grady.
Summer vacation did a fine job of mending Grady's wounds and once again
everything is back to normal on campus.
However, the incident will not soon be forgotten. It makes one stop and
wonder if the cause of protest was worth the effort. The demerit system,
after slight revisions, remained intact for the rest of the school year.
It was so quietly intact that hardly a word was mentioned after Mike Flores
was involuntarily transferred from Grady.
Early in the summer an open meeting was called at which time results of a student evaluation of the demerit system were announced. The evaluation itself, was not significant in the decision of teachers to continue the system. Actually, it was not meant to be. In reality, it was used more as a barometer of student opinion than anything else.
A majority of the students who took part in the evaluation felt that the system was not too strict (284-271), was not unfair (259-258), did not promote a closer student-teacher relationship (455-71), should not be carried over to next year (336-197), and was more effective than the detention system (281-251).
However, it has already been designated that the demerit system will continue. The question that looms is, will anyone care?