The Morehouse Valedictorian:What's wrong with this picture?

I didn't attend Morehouse College.

Neither, I've determined, will my No. 1 son.

Reason 1: His going there, in relative distance terms, would be the same as if I had (socred a few SAT points higher) and matriculated at Notre Dame. Being within walking or bike-riding distance from home would have done me no good. Getting out on my own at 18 was crucial to my matutration.

Reason 2: Some things I've observed make me wary of all-male schools of higher learning.

No disrespect to the HBCUs out there. The No. 1 son's mommy attended one; and earns about twice as much as daddy.

And I'm not even tripping on the fact that a Caucasian's graduating at the head of the class at Morehouse this year. More power to him.

I'm more focused on the reverse angle.

The promo posters to buy the No. 1 son's class pictures at twelve bucks a (5x7) whop just went up at his school. Luckily, he sat up front in the photo (the better to be seen with his (Caucasian) parner in petty-crime. Otherwise, the out-of-focus and poorly-lit shot of Pre-School 2 would have obscured the questions of diversity we deal with.

Do we feel like our kids are gaining an educational advantage when they're they're in the distinct minority in their classrooms? Should our kids be pushed to be best-in-class when they have less in common than the majority of their classmates, and that lesson plans are geared toward what the majority of parents expect?

We twist and turn endlessly about what's gonna be best for the No. 1 when Pre-K's over and we have to choose whether to go the uniformed, gender-exclusive charter school route, the "urban model" public school route or the snooty-patooty private path some of his current classmates will like be launched down once this Pre-K period ends.

The white valedictorian at Morehous, who I salute, makes just makes me wonder what's best for my son.

Mommy went to schools that were predominatly black. Daddy's education _ K through college _ was just the opposite.

Is any end of the extreme best, where the future's concerned? Or ca we achieve a happy medium where the No. 1 son still gets an above-average education?