THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 16, 1994 TAG: 9406160471
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Marc Tibbs
DATELINE: 940616 LENGTH: Medium
Sometimes you couldn't write a better script than the one that plays out in front of your eyes. Just ask any inner-city educator who's read the recent stories of ex-heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.
{REST} In court this week seeking an early release from his six-year prison sentence for rape, Tyson was rebuffed by an Indianapolis Circuit Court judge who said she would have considered shortening his prison stay had Tyson passed the test for a General Equivalency Diploma. The heavyweight slugger missed passing the test by one point.
One lousy point!
No matter how they may have felt about his rape conviction, teachers all over America probably couldn't wait to get back into their classrooms to cite Tyson as their latest example of the importance of an education.
The judge's ruling couldn't have had more impact if a teacher had written it into a lesson plan.
Tyson, an orphan raised on the streets of New York, led a thug's life before being adopted by fight trainer Cus D'Amato. Before boxing, Tyson rarely went to school. After he began making a living with his fists, his fame and fortune came so fast that a GED was never as important as a TKO.
But, ironically, it was a lackluster education that kept the pugnacious prizefighter penalized.
Mike Tyson. Once the savior of the heavyweight division.
Mike Tyson. Whose right cross, alone, can generate enough wind to send the average man reeling.
Mike Tyson. Multimillionaire, do-whatever-I-want, beat-up-on-anyone-I-please, and do it on pay-per-view.
But despite his fame and fortune, Mike Tyson didn't do his homework, and now he's stuck in his room.
And the NAACP should open up
The ``We Outdid Ourselves'' award goes to the NAACP and its group of ``summiteers'' who met behind closed doors this week in Baltimore.
They banished the press, with the exception of Washington Post columnist Dorothy Gilliam, who participated in the meetings under the aegis of the National Association of Black Journalists.
When the Rev. Ben Chavis, executive director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, finally emerged from the talks with a public statement, he said little about the results of the discussions.
There are rumblings of a national black political party and economic boycotts. But Chavis walked headlong into the trap that befalls many a politician or activist group: shunning the mass media also means keeping your constituency in the dark.
Because the media know little and are reporting less about the summit, the millions of people whom these ``leaders'' represent are just as clueless as reporters.
The summit's over, but the summiteers still have their heads in the clouds.
Got a comment or a complaint? Call Marc Tibbs' INFOLINE number. Dial 640-5555 (245-5555 from the Peninsula) and enter category 6272 (MARC).
by CNB