As the chairman of a landmark commission that bore his name, Alvin Thornton helped remake the way public education is funded in Maryland, a change that has channeled hundreds of millions of dollars to the state's public school systems. The 2002 legislation based on the recommendations of the Thornton Commission was a crowning achievement for Thornton, 62, a former Prince George's County school board chairman who is now the senior adviser to the president of Howard University.  Why he's successful: A commitment to fairness and a desire to help others. "I believe health care, education and the right to participate in the political decisions of the community are fundamental. Anything that denies one group of people those rights ... is a problem. That's what has motivated me."  Obstacles overcome: Racism and inequity in the Alabama town of Roanoke, where Thornton was the sixth of 10 children born to mill workers Lillie Mae and King Thornton. "As a child, I had a gun put in my face for entering the front of a restaurant ... There were inequities in the small town in which I was reared, which was a class-caste system ... America was characterized by aggressive racism, so as a young black male, obviously I was affected by that. But I was able to overcome it."  Worst job: Working in the fields. "Picking corn and peppers ...The most dignified person for me in that experience was my grandmother Maggie. I would just observe her. She never expressed anger, never complained."  Best job: Working at Howard in posts ranging from political science professor to interim provost. "I've been here more than 30 years ... I now have students whose parents were my students. It means a lot when they come and say 'You taught my mother or my father.'"  Smartest move: Attending historically black colleges and universities, including his undergraduate years at Morehouse College and earning his master's degree and doctorate from Howard University. "I needed a place where empowerment, politics and activism were supported. I needed mentoring and I ... also needed to be around a significant number of people who were trying to overcome." Biggest misstep: Not going to law school. "I would have gone back to Randolph County, Ala., and become the first black lawyer in that county. There still isn't one there. I can visualize how that would have turned out ...There is a young man here at Howard now, Marcus Ware, whom I mentored and recruited to come here from Randolph County, and he's in Howard's law school. I'm hoping he will go back and do that."  What he loves: His wife, Annette, a retired D.C. public school teacher. Married for 38 years, they have two grown daughters and three grandchildren.  What he hates: The problems facing historically black colleges and universities. "In my day if you drove through Talladega [Ala.], you'd see a thriving campus" at Talladega College. "Now you barely see the campus and there is a huge prison ... That troubles me greatly, especially with the urgent need for opportunities for blacks to go to college. Even though the larger society has opened up, we still need what HBCUs uniquely do. They graduate students at a much higher percentage. More importantly, they take under-prepared students and prepare them for professional degrees ... You still need institutions that will invest in the continued remediation of these kids."  What inspires him: Seeing children thrive. "I always wanted to be involved in the betterment of children."  What lies ahead: Chairing the 55-member commission that will recommend how to restructure Howard's academic programs. "That is the most significant challenge I have ever faced. It will be even more difficult than the Thornton Commission ... Howard is a very comprehensive university --12 schools, 181 programs, 33 graduate and doctoral programs. We are going to have to have fewer programs ... We're going to have to be more interdisciplinary." Once he's finished, he'd like to spend some time "chronicling what I've done. I need to do that, but that would involve taking a sabbatical and that's not what I do easily. I like to be in the fray."  Advice to the aspiring: "Choose friends wisely. Make sure they are going someplace you want to be. And never do anything to embarrass your family or your community. Always think about that when you have to make a decision or take an action."  Racism is alive and well all over America. When it became necessary for my family to flee IRan, my mother insisted she did not wish to come to the United States. She had attended graduate school at Columbia during a period of racial unrest, anti-Jewish racism, anti-black racism, etc. She didn't understand it, and she didn't want to.  Neither she nor my father would even consider Europe. It was decided that we would move to Israel. Events got ahead of us, and thanks to my mother's American colleagues, friends, etc., we were able to come here.  I recall my mother's misery upon our arrival, my parents consoling one another that their stay here would only be for a short time. It was racism they feared. My mother is fair, blond. My father is darkly complected, and I am brown. My siblings are of various "hues."  Since my father had only spent short periods here, he was unfamiliar with the "color consciousness," which he immediately chalked up to poor education. (How could people in a free society be so stupid, queried he?) They never stopped thinking we had to get out of this place.  As for me, I was mistaken for an Arab, which wasn't terribly good. However, when people found out we were Jewish, it was worse.  For one thing, they somehow thought they could say whatever insane thing they wished to us, including yours truly, a child, without fear of reprisal. I honestly could not understand that, and, thank God, neither could my parents, who taught us all to fight back, with our fists, if necessary, both boys and girls. And we did.  It hasn't been fun, although I will say this country has greatness. Anti-Jewish racism, among other racisms, is evidently endemic among Christians and that appears to be that.  As for us, we had nothing when we came here. We were stuck. I don't know how my life would have turned out had I moved to Israel. I think about it a great deal. When my daughter finishes college, my husband and I will go. For good.  Posted by: FarnazMansouri | April 21, 2010 11:23 PM Report Offensive Comment  Priviledged Blacks, like Obama, are part of the Liberal elite. They use the race card to appear in solidarity and equal to the urban ghetto black. They are not. Don't believe any of this post-racial non-sense. The race card and racism is a thriving black business that will not easily be stamped out, especially since you have blacks (like Obama) who actively seek to keep the poor majority of black america downtrodden, depressed and DEPENDENT victims of the government. Unfortunately for these poor people they remain faithful Democrats. 40 years of the war on poverty and the black ghetto tragedy and these poor people still vote democrat...shameful.  Posted by: 65apr | April 21, 2010 9:45 PM Report Offensive Comment  Blame the white women who decided to pursue careers instead of raising broods; whites aren't replacing themselves. POSTED BY: GBOOKSDC ________________  I've read the pronatalist arguments lamenting how America isn't reproducing enough. I think that is a racist statement, really. What would end up happening is that most of our population increase would come from immigration and children in our schools might be of color. That would seem to bother some people.  What difference does it make what color the next generation of Americans are?  I have a more important issue. Can they function in tomorrow's America and world? We can arrange for that to happen if we know what the future is and make the necessary sacrifices now. We probably won't have too many humanities majors in colleges: career counseling will need to steer high school graduates into future careers.  Their success is America's success and vice-versia.  Posted by: cmarshdtihqcom | April 21, 2010 6:04 PM Report Offensive Comment  It's been my experience that blacks are far, far more racist than whites. Posted by: dl4550 ______________________  When you have history on your side, it can be hard to forgive. Holding on to bitterness though eats away at you. What kind of life is that?  I am not one to talk: Dad was one of twelve generations of Yankee stock, starting with John Marsh emigrating in 1633. Mom was born of Finnish immigrants and Scandinavia had resolved its slavery (thralls) issues with the advent of Christianity centuries earlier.  But the slave holders are dead, as are their slaves and all Confederate officials and soldiers. The slaves' Yankee Civil War liberators, including one, a direct ancestor of mine, are also dead.  There is no shortage of people wronged who are still living. European Jews under Hitler. People who lost land when the United Nations gave their land to Israel. Arab civilians who did not ask for the Six Day War who lost homes. Just being even handed.  Do you want to argue over dead people's reparations until Jews and Arabs grow old and die too?  The best compensation is from history. Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it.  Posted by: cmarshdtihqcom | April 21, 2010 5:42 PM Report Offensive Comment  I wish the racists would die off.  There is always a next generation GBooks. Racism is driven underground, not dead. At good old Shepherd University I was a junior and there was this other fellow playing his stash of Skrewdriver for me, volume down-low.  Driven underground, not dead, like I said.  When Jesus gets back, racism will be dead. Not before.  Posted by: cmarshdtihqcom | April 21, 2010 5:27 PM Report Offensive Comment  Maybe being "free at last" requires us to get beyond color.  Posted by: cmarshdtihqcom | April 21, 2010 5:23 PM Report Offensive Comment  First of all, Obama's election showed most of the country isn't racist. Second, to the extent that "(some) whites want their country back", ain't happening. Blame the white women who decided to pursue careers instead of raising broods; whites aren't replacing themselves. White kids will not be the majority in 20-30 years. Demographics were a big reason Obama won, and those trends are intractable. All the heat the racist white minority is creating is only going to redound against all white people when the targets of this racism seek payback. And by the way, the country is maybe ten years away from being completely post-racial in my opinion. Racists are dying off, and they're not being replaced, either.  As for the article itself, I thought it was very good. There will always be a place for institutions that can help kids who are still not receiving the best in educational opportunity. As a professor of mine told me (I went to an elite, white school) as he explained why he was leaving the faculty: "we turn good high school students into good college grads. I want to turn poor high school students into good college grads."  Posted by: gbooksdc | April 21, 2010 12:22 PM Report Offensive Comment  I survived racism - had a mugger point a gun at me and tell me he wanted to "shoot my white @ss"  Can I be a professor at Howard now?  Posted by: pgr88 | April 21, 2010 10:24 AM Report Offensive Comment  It's been my experience that blacks are far, far more racist than whites.  Posted by: dl4550 | April 19, 2010 7:04 PM Report Offensive Comment  I think race relations have been in a deep decline due to the old civil rights leaders not fading away. Rep. John Lewis has played his race card once too often and needs to go away.  Posted by: economy48 | April 19, 2010 5:33 PM Report Offensive Comment  "MLK said get beyond color, he hasn't..."  And neither did many, if not most, white Americans and that's the problem. Sure, legal segregation and overt racism no longer exist in America. But, segregation by white flight and subtle discrimination that still marginalize blacks and other ethnic minorities still exist and are mor common than whites would like to admit. When there are many whites who are stupid enough to support George Worst or Sarah Palin, but not better minorities than either, that speaks volumes about how race still matters to the white majority. No minority with either one's qualification could have received the white votes to be the governor of Texas or Alaska, let alone be the President. And that's no bull!  Posted by: TalkingHead1 | April 19, 2010 4:54 PM Report Offensive Comment  Now, not all whites received this benefit, others were given a head start in the game of life by receiving a superior education, starting in the "First Grade". I had the benefit of going to an all-white elementary school in Oakland, California in the 1950's. I was taught Algebra, Geometry and Calculus in the 5th & 6th Grade. We took Science courses at the Chabot Observatory and Art Classes at the Dunsmir House. In high school I realized how woefully unprepared my fellow "Brothers & Sisters" were when competing for jobs, etc.  Posted by: Taylorsucram | April 19, 2010 11:01 AM  Errr. Studying calculus in 6th grade (if you really did) is the exception. 99.999% of kids aren't doing that. It has nothing to do with race.  Maybe you need to adjust your world view...  Posted by: ghokee | April 19, 2010 1:15 PM Report Offensive Comment  Dr. Thornton was one of my Professors while I was a student at Howard University. His words are more profound and true now than they were back in the late 80's - good job Dr. Thornton and keep the faith!  Posted by: brikki | April 19, 2010 11:33 AM Report Offensive Comment  dwightcollins wrote: "just as many non blacks were treated the same as blacks..." . A dubious statement at best. It fails to mention that blacks are still being discriminated against in this society. And stop derailing, this article isn't about non-blacks. And stop deluding yourself that MLK would somehow agree with your obvious racism.  @chatard: if blacks weren't oppressed for so many hundreds of years and were allowed to attend any university of their choosing, maybe there wouldn't be a need for HBCUs.  Posted by: distance88 | April 19, 2010 11:06 AM Report Offensive Comment  Interesting comments. .Discrimination and racism towards black people is as real now, as it was in the past, for example;  Diane Fedele, who was then the president of a Republican women's club in San Bernardino County, Calif., resigned last October after she sent out a newsletter with a drawing of Obama on a bogus food-stamp coupon surrounded by ribs, watermelon and fried chicken.  Sherri Goforth, an aide to Republican state Sen. Diane Black of Tennessee, sent an e-mail to Republican staffers showing the first 43 U.S. presidents in stately poses, but Obama's image, as the 44th president, was a pair of bright white cartoonish eyes on a black background.  Steven Anderson, the pastor of the Faithful Word Baptist Church in Arizona, preached a sermon last month entitled "Why I hate Barack Obama", in which he declared, "I'm going to pray he dies and goes to hell".  Litigation known as "The Pigford Case" established a longstanding pattern of discrimination at the U.S. Agriculture Department against black farmers who had applied for farm loans and support from federal programs. The problem is that some "whites" are tired of hearing about the benefits they accrued from their descendants, who helped them get where they are on the backs of "Free Slave Labor". Now, not all whites received this benefit, others were given a head start in the game of life by receiving a superior education, starting in the "First Grade". I had the benefit of going to an all-white elementary school in Oakland, California in the 1950's. I was taught Algebra, Geometry and Calculus in the 5th & 6th Grade. We took Science courses at the Chabot Observatory and Art Classes at the Dunsmir House. In high school I realized how woefully unprepared my fellow "Brothers & Sisters" were when competing for jobs, etc.  It is changing and that change consists of a Multi-Cultural, Multi-Racial Society. This is also a reason for all of the Tea-Party Madness. They are becoming a minority and they "want their country back".  Posted by: Taylorsucram | April 19, 2010 11:01 AM Report Offensive Comment  Race....black.....black....race.....black race....black.....race......race....race. Uh huh. Did you notice how often the phrae "historically black colleges" was used in the article? That's the new buzz word; the new phrase from the talking points memos, because the MONEY SAVED FROM THE STUDENT LOAN EDICT FROM BARACK OBAMA AND ARNE DUNCAN IS GOING TO BE GIVEN TO BLACK STUDENTS, STUDENTS OF THE BLACK RACE, RACIAL STUDENTS AND "HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES". historical. historically. history, dontchaknow. Just letting you get used to it. Writing it a lot so you'll accept it Black .....race.....race....race....black.....history.....historical......historically black.....  Posted by: chatard | April 19, 2010 8:42 AM Report Offensive Comment  just as many non blacks were treated the same as blacks... and all I read in this article is how I did this or that for blacks... doesn't that make him a racist too... MLK said get beyond color, he hasn't...  Posted by: DwightCollins | April 19, 2010 6:32 AM Report Offensive Comment
Educator Alvin Thornton has already helped to change the lives of hundreds of thousands of Maryland school children. Now he's about to reshape Howard University's academic horizons.