The Plague Of Racism

An article I wrote about the small town high school I live in.

Joy* High School has an estimated student population of 1,159 students, 98% of which are Caucasian. With over 80 staff member (of which only handfuls are of different ethnicity) this raises the question among students and teachers alike: Is racism a major problem at Joy* and if so, how are our minorities being treated?
           
            Superintendent James Falwell*, 66, noted the system’s employees have responded well to racism and other “isms” here. “I feel we are making solid attempts at making everyone feel connected with a balance of academics and connections. I just hope every teacher is sensitive to other people’s feelings. When we hire staff member we look at their qualities and general factors,” Falwellsaid.
            Jake Lee*, 18, Native American student who will graduate in May, doesn’t agree with Falwell’s positive assessment of staff sensitivity to racial concerns.
            Lee said when he was at the middle school, his sixth grade teacher told the class to “stop running around like little Indians.”
Additionally, is involvement in an active protest of Madison* High School’s mascot “The Redskins.” “To me, ‘Redskin’ is the most derogatory word to Native Americans. So, why would you want that as a school’s mascot?” Lee asked.
         
            Sam Smith,* a 17 year-old senior, feels the lack of understanding here for the Hispanic culture is alarming. “People go to vacation in Cancun or Acapulco [but] they’re [like] American cities. Those places are not a representation of Hispanic culture; they’re just tourist sites,” Smith* said.
“For the first few years of my life, my family and I lived in a chicken coop. Now we’re pretty well off. It’s an example of what happens when you work hard. I was working in the field since I was five years old. Just because you work on a farm doesn’t make you lower class. White Americans go to shelters rather than stepping up and doing the tough jobs. We [Hispanics] step up and do the tough jobs that they won’t do; therefore, it’s not job stealing it’s just doing a job so you can have something,” Smith* stated.
                 
            As an Iranian American who was born in the United States, Kim Elami*, a 16 year-old junior, said many “outrageous questions” have been asked of her ever since Sept. 11, 2001 “After the attack people would yell at me ‘Go back to your country.’ I was born in America; this is my country. People would call me ‘Dirty Arab,’ ‘Camel Jockey,’ and other things. Some people even accused me in being involved in the 9/11 plot. I was eleven years old! How could I ‘plot’ anything?” Elami said. “People today still ask me ignorant questions, like ‘Does your dad wear a turban?’ Or ‘Do you own a camel?’ Well, no, to both. A lot of people expect me to be a Muslim, as well. I just wish there wasn’t so much ignorance.”
         
            Senior Ashley Tarbell* 18, and a former Cat’s Eye reporter of African American descent, recalls an event with her and her Caucasian friend. “I said ‘it sucked that the school wasn’t celebrating Black History Month.’ My friend got really mad and me and said,’ There was no Black History Month!’” Tarbell said.
                        On this mater, Lee* added, “There is censorship in history. The school hasn’t done much of anything to celebrating other [cultures’] holidays.”
            Holidays and religion can become hot topics as well as issues of race, at the school. Performing Arts instructor Gary Host*, 46, who happens to be Jewish, expressed his concerns about the high school’s winter holiday decorations and the exclusion of others. “There is a line that the schools cannot cross, as far as religious decorations I understand candy canes, snowmen, fake snow, and such, which is alright. But, when I see Christmas trees and ‘Noel’ written on the bulletin boards, that’s really pushing it. You never see a Menorah or anything else from a different religion,” Host said.
    When Falwell was asked about the lack of celebration of other cultures’ holidays, besides Christmas, and lack of school-wide notice of important historical celebrations such as, Black History month, he responded, “Seasonal things like; the Musical and Choir performances. Mr. McLean* [JHS’ choir director] inserts a lot of songs from diverse celebrations. There are some religious Latin songs and other songs about other holidays and such. As far as the school, it’s really up to the Social Studies teachers, they can discuss that when they come to it in their course plan. And, we really dance the line with religious decorations. There is no candle holder for that one Jewish holiday but, it can be talked about as to the teacher discretion,” Falwell said. He later corrected “candle holder” to Menorah and “that one Jewish holiday” to Hanukkah.

      Darryl Murrow*,40, the high school’s only African American employee is not going to be returning to Joy High School next year, after working here since Dec. 2005. “In my opinion Joy is a racist school. I just don’t want to come back next semester. I’ve had students call me ‘nigger’ to my face, but that’s not the reason why I am going to quit. I’m just fed up with the way situations are handled. Everything is kept hush-hush,” said Murrow. “This [past] summer when the school was hiring teacher I noticed no black candidates. I went down to the office and asked why there were no black candidates applying. They said to me that ‘no one was responding,’ I told them that they need to go out and recruit candidates of color, and they didn’t,” he added.
      Dr.Simon K.*, 54, president of the Joy Metro branch of the National Advancement for Colored People, wad whose three daughters attend or have attended JHS said, “Less racism? No. There are just as many killings and starving people. Warfare has changed in racism; it’s just not as obvious as it used to be. Today a racist doesn’t wear white bed sheets; they wear a suit and tie just like the one I’m wearing.”

*names have been changed to keep the people's identities private. I mean, it's the internet. Other then that, the rest is true. ONLY NAMES AND LOCATIONS HAVE BEEN CHANGED!