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There are, of course, many schools that can point to their success stories, to students who overcame all the private obstacles to graduation, often with the help of innovative programs. In Cleveland, the Scholarship-in-Escrow program was set up by local businessmen in 1987. To encourage students to work toward college, the program offers cash incentives -- $40 for each A they earn, $20 for each B -- which go into an escrow account for their tuition. Since its inception, SIE has paid $469,300 in earned funds for 2,199 graduates. "It's good to know that money is being put away for you," says Faith Bryant, an 11th-grader at John Adams High School. "I had always dreamed of being successful, but now I know I have a way to do it."
The hope for these students lies in their understanding that no one group in society has a monopoly on success. "As long as you're able to term success as being black or white or red," says Oberlin's Sherman Jones, a placement specialist for the Jobs for Ohio's Graduates program, "as long as we put conditions and colors on success then it'll be difficult for our kids." Destroying such misconceptions is not easy, especially when they are old and deeply rooted. But given time, perhaps "acting white" can be a phrase retired to the history books as the emblem of a misguided attitude that vanished in the light of black achievement.