Why I Reject Labels (Follow-Up)

This is a very interesting article about the possible impacts of labels on the success of kids going through school: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/curtis-valentine/american-excellence-does-_b_841195.html?ref=fb&src=sp

Three different parts of the article stood out to me:

1. The article contends, "For those minorities who have reached some level of academic achievement, there is a chance they have been ridiculed by someone at least once. For many of us, the key to persevering through the gambit of name calling in the name of academic achievement was a strong self-image instilled way before we entered school." 
2. In addition, "In a survey of 166 Black 5th- through 12th-graders identified as gifted, students described "acting white" as speaking properly, being smart or too smart, doing well in school and taking advanced courses. Of the respondents, 60 percent reported knowing someone who had been teased or ridiculed for doing well in school, while 42 percent reported being teased for this reason themselves. Sociologist John Ogbu made a related claim in his book, Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb: a Study of Academic Disengagement, concluding that Black students' own cultural attitudes hindered academic achievement and that these attitudes are too often neglected." 
3. Finally, a different Harvard Univ study was summarized as follows:  "In other words, a Hispanic student with a 4.0 GPA is the least popular of all Hispanic students, and has 3 fewer friends than a typical white student with at 4.0 GPA. For Black Americans, the number of friends they have increases as their GPA increases until it exceeds 3.5 when he/she begins to lose friends. There are many theories that may explain away the drop off, but the idea that the number of friends continues to increase for whites until they reach 4.0 can not be overlooked."

I won't re-hash what I said in my original "Why I Reject Labels" post, except to say that I find this all too familiar.  I went through the full spectrum of negative emotions when reading this: sad for those who have to deal with this; fear for what my son may (and probably will) have to go through; and anger that people can be so ridiculous.

My original post was an add-on to my post about Rodney King, and his quote that is often ridiculed, but in reality is way too ignored:  CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG??????