WHY NOW?

Last December, The Sagamore had our first pullout about race. Since then, the issue of racism has risen to greater national prominence and come to the forefront of the high school in the form of Courageous Conversations. Last year, we aimed to begin conversations; this year, we aim to work toward continuing that dialogue and opening up new discussions about active solutions. We hope to inform and illuminate issues of racism within our community, beginning with definitions of terms students may encounter and then delving into how they are present around the high school. We would also like to acknowledge that The Sagamore is by no means perfect in both diversity and eliminating implicit bias; we appreciate any and all input about our coverage and what the community believes we should work on. Let us know what you think by commenting on our website or social media and feel free to reach out to us at [email protected].

Contents

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

the vocabulary of race

Race: A social construct that categorizes people based on visible differences, such as bone structure and skin, that are believed to indicate internal differences.

Racism: A system of advantages and disadvantages based on race.

Prejudice: An opinion or feeling that is formed without any knowledge, thought or reason.

Discrimination: The practice of unfairly treating a person or group of people differently than others based on prejudice.

Affirmative Action: An action or policy intended to promote equal opportunity, especially in employment and education, for those who are often discriminated against.

Anti-racism: The practice of opposing racism by changing systems, policies, practices and attitudes so racism is eliminated and power can be distributed equally among races.

Intersectionality: A concept used to describe the intersections of oppressive institutions with each other, showing that they can’t be set apart, for example Black feminism.

Segregation: The separation of groups of people based on race.

Research by Matt DeAngelo. Definitions from http://www.merriam-webster.com/, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/, http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ and http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/.

  A look at hiring practices by Juliana Kaplan and Maya Margolis  While 40 percent of the student body is of color, only 9 percent of faculty identify as people of color. Senior Manny Lorenzo said a more diverse staff creates varied student-teacher relationships and allows students to see their races represented. “Different types of people can connect with different types of teachers,” Lorenzo said. “So the more diverse the faculty is, the better represented the students feel they are.” According to Headmaster Deborah Holman, the Brookline School District has made a big effort to find more highly qualified candidates of color. In the 2014-2015 fiscal year, 19 percent of new faculty, including administrators, professional staff and paraprofessionals were of color, while 81 percent were White. African-American and Latino Scholars director Christopher Vick said he cannot believe the high school is not able to have a more diverse teacher body. “I do think Brookline’s an incredibly good school,” Vick said. “It just doesn’t make sense to me. Boston is able to attract and retain teachers of color. I refuse to believe that we can’t.”

According to Holman, the school attends the Diversity Job Fair for Educators held in Needham to find possible applicants. Holman said that last year she found a promising candidate at the fair and ushered them through the process of candidacy, but the candidate ultimately did not come to the high school. Additionally, Holman said she corresponds with other principals through a professional network. Principals will sometimes pass along candidates that they do not have positions for but believe are strong. Outside of any special recruitment, the hiring process usually begins with department heads posting listings on School Spring, according to World Languages Curriculum Coordinator Agnès Albérola and Holman. According to Albérola, after receiving resumés, Curriculum Coordinators select several candidates and interview them. Finalists then teach a demo lesson. Once department heads make their choices, candidates interview with Holman. “We’re definitely very interested if there’s a candidate of color that applies,” Albérola said. “We’ll definitely push that person forward. I think in this department we maybe have more diversity than in other departments, but it’s not as diverse as I would like it to be. I would like to hire an African-American.” Vick said that if the school wants more applicants of color, it should look in different places than it is currently. “Are we going to the diversity job fairs and not getting many applicants?” Vick said. “Stop going.” Vick, who attended a historically Black college, recommended that the school look at the graduates of those schools, and reach out to sororities and fraternities. He also cited programs such as the Institute for Recruitment of Teachers, which, according to its website, recruits strong college-level students of color who are “committed to diversity.” The program provides counseling throughout the graduate school process and works to create a stronger pool of diverse applicants for teaching positions. “I went to a Black college,” Vick said. “There are hundreds and thousands of teachers of color with degrees each year. Go to where the people are.” Junior Daniella Vasquez said that in her whole school career, she has only had three teachers of color. In those classes, she notices that other students of color talk when they might not with a White teacher. “It definitely helps people speak up more and feel more comfortable and safe compared to being in an honors class where the teachers are White and the rest of the kids are White,” Vasquez said. Albérola said the number of people choosing to teach in general has dried up in the past 15 years. She said she believes this could partly be because of the representation of education as standardized testing-based in the media. She also said that teachers can make places like Brookline too expensive. “If you’re educated and also want a pretty decent salary, you would choose another venue,” Albérola said. “I think maybe college students of color might not necessarily go to teaching as what they want to do.” School Within a School English teacher Abby Erdmann said that last month’s Asking for Courage Day, which featured several panels about race in the high school, was a good start to larger conversations about race but that follow-up and action will be important in changing the diversity of the staff. “I think we have to ask what besides talk are we going to do,” Erdmann said. “Are we going to teach differently? Are we going to track differently? Are we going to prioritize hiring people of color as teachers or administrators? If so, can we be imaginative about where we look, what benefits we give?” Erdmann, who teaches a class about race for SWS,  is retiring this year, and Vasquez said she hopes the school makes it a priority to hire a teacher of color to replace her. Senior Sophia Vos said that diversity is only the first step. She said the school should also work on having spaces to talk about students’ and teachers’ different experiences. “I think it’s equally important to have staff who feel comfortable being open about their diverse experiences,” Vos said. “It’s not enough to just hire Black math teachers. You have to hire teachers and then create spaces for them to be open about their experiences as Black people in order to benefit the student body.” ♦ BACK TO TOP  

BACK TO TOP Opinion: All of our racial experiences are valuable contributed by JK Suh

During the Race Day D-block assembly run by and about Asian-Americans, I told my story: an Asian male with white friends. It isn’t one you hear about a whole lot. We’re not in the media at all. We’re seen as awkward and fragile. We face racism every day. That should be obvious, but racism against Asians doesn’t get the same awareness as other social issues do. I feel bad if I ever mention the racism I face because I’ve grown up learning that my problem isn’t really a problem. It’s like when compared to the injustices faced by African-Americans, the subtle racism faced by Asian-Americans isn’t a huge deal. If we do stand up for ourselves, we’re told we’re being overly sensitive. But really, how can anyone choose which issues they care about? If you fight against racism toward African-Americans, you’re not fighting for a world run by Black people. You’re fighting for the equality for all people. The idea that you can care about a certain problem and not others is a form of privilege in itself. For people like me, who look different from what an American is supposed to look like, there comes a time in your life when one moment you feel accepted and the next moment you realize that you’re different from the normal American and there is nothing you can do to change that. It’s a horrible epiphany to have, especially as a kid, and ever since then I’ve wanted to share my story. While preparing to speak, I was drunk on the anticipation of finally having this huge cathartic moment and so I never really felt scared. The stakes were so low because either people would care, or they wouldn’t. And either way, it was an improvement. I spoke that day not just for the audience, but for myself. Still, I was completely blown away by how people reacted. I’ve had a lot of people of all different colors tell me I did a good job. Many Asian students and teachers came up and told me how much they could relate to my speech and how amazing it was to see someone finally speak on our behalf. A lot of people also have told me how impressed they were with the amount of courage it must’ve taken to speak, but each time, I would just smile and nod and then walk away because, honestly, it didn’t take any courage at all. I’ve waited almost a decade to tell my story. Thanks to the amazing feedback, I’ve been inspired. I spoke to touch the audience, but I was also touched. The feeling of speaking on behalf of a whole population is like nothing I’ve ever felt. I want to experience that rush again and again. I never thought I would want to get involved in something like this. But now I need to. The hardest part about growing up facing racism was that I felt like nobody else understood my problem. Of course, many other Asians face exactly what I faced, but we still are all silenced. We’re guilted to shut up. I probably wouldn’t be this bitter if I had someone to speak up for me while I grew up and so it’s become a tentative life goal of mine to become that person to as many people as I can. Maybe I’m just naive because I’m new to fighting in the war against racism, but this experience has made me hopeful in a hopeless situation. ♦ BACK TO TOP

Q&A   with teachers who teach about race by Conor Amrien and Ashley Lee

Rachel Eio: Asian-American Studies How did you get interested in Asian studies/Japanese? I grew up in a very White, Italian Catholic neighborhood in New Jersey where there were very few people of color. I had a great history teacher in 9th grade and he did a unit on China and Japan, and I was hooked. What is it like being a non-Asian-American teacher teaching Asian-American Studies? It’s very humbling and it places a big responsibility on me because I don’t want students to see me just based off of the color of my skin. I address the students very early on in the course that I can ask a lot of probing questions, but I’m not always going to be able to provide the answers to those questions. The answers have to come from the students themselves. Anything else? It’s also important for the students to see that their experiences are being included in the conversation around race because I think you can feel very invisible when you’re not included in the conversation even if there’s this well-intentioned discussion about race. I like that the course gives students an opportunity to feel like they have a piece of that pie and can see themselves represented in the conversation.

Christopher Vick: African-American and Latino Scholars Program Have there been any discussions recently that particularly resonated with you or with the students? Yeah, with all the Ferguson stuff going on, we talked about that. The overarching idea was let’s not get to thinking that White folks screaming “Black lives matter” is really making a difference. We try to contextualize current events so it’s not just, “This is what happened. Let’s be mad about it,” but it really is, these are the events that happened, these are the larger societal underpinnings, and what this means for you now. What would you say to teachers who feel that they’re not comfortable or well-equipped enough to teach about race? The best teachers give feedback, they scaffold instructions, they say “We’re going to work together to achieve a meritocratic objective.” I coach the young ladies’ flag football team so if I say, “I can’t coach White girls,” they’d have run me out of here already. So for teachers to say, “I don’t know how to talk to kids of color about race,” that’s crazy. You’ve got to know what you don’t know and own it and say, “Listen, I’m not ready to talk about it now but let me talk to some folks and come back and let’s address it tomorrow.” If you don’t, kids look at you like, “You’re not being real with us.” You’ve got to address race. Anything else? A question I get asked a lot is, “So why don’t we have it for White folks?” Because the dominant culture supports White achievement, this program exists for the acceleration of an incredibly talented cohort of young folks. And if we’re doing our job really, really well, they will be spreading what they’re getting to other folks and increasing the numbers. And hopefully, this program will include every kid of color here at the high school. I’d love to see that happen.

Abby Erdmann: Race and Identity in Literature How do you feel being a White teacher and teaching about race? As I taught it I began to think, White people have issues around race, we’re just not taught to be aware of our privilege. I didn’t really get it until something just clicked: a comment that a girl made in town meeting that was “Race is just skin deep.” I had a guttural reaction to that. It’s true and it’s not true. My journey really has been to figure out to what extent it is true and to what extent it’s not true. Have there been any specific discussions that have resonated with you or the students especially? We’re talking a lot about the importance of white boys listening and how white boys are trained to speak. Here’s a class where they really have to listen and listen hard. Everything that the kids of color are saying is new to them. We’ve seen a shift in our class from a line of white boys with their hands up, to putting their hands down and really trying to work on listening. What would you say to teachers who feel that they are not equipped to teach race or that feel uncomfortable teaching about race? I think everyone who’s white feels inadequate, and we are. I think we have to say, if not us, who? If not now, when? Know that everyone’s afraid and that doesn’t make it not important to do. When a student white or black or asian or latino says something and you don’t know what to say to take a deep breath and ask them to say more. We give kids the message that we’re scared of it, and I think it’s our job to interrupt the cycle of not talking about race.

Malcolm Cawthorne: African-American Studies What do you think inspired this interest? I was taking a Spanish civilization course that was talking about Hannibal crossing the Alps. It was the first time I had ever read that he was African. That was one of the first times I realized I might have been missing a lot. How do you approach sensitive topics in the class? One of the difficult things is that kids come at different stages of awareness. You have some kids who have heard this stuff before, and for other kids it’s really new, which can make the discussion somewhat difficult because you want to keep [everyone] engaged. I think it makes for a richer conversation. Hopefully, what they realize is that’s not going to change. They’re gonna go to college and that’s not gonna change. They’re gonna go into the workforce and that’s not gonna change. The only way to really move forward is to hear what people have to say, and then address it, and help them understand. Anything else? One of the things I worry about in today’s world is that there is sort of this movement that we should only be teaching this very patriotic story. But there are a lot of things [about ethnic studies] that are really distinctly American. Like the idea of protesting government. That’s a real American value. Being able to learn that from lots of different points of view is really important. It makes us more prideful of these rights and freedoms that are here and that they really do extend for all people. One of the ways to do that is to have a course like mine. ♦

BACK TO TOP Opinion: History curriculum requires greater Asian presence contributed by Julia Finnerty and Jeremy Margolis A baby born in the United States is now more likely to be nonwhite than to be White, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report released in 2012. In other words, minorities are the new majority. The number of minorities in our country is on the rise, but the time devoted to their stories and heritage in the high school’s curriculum is not increasing proportionally. Last month, the school held its first “Asking for Courage” day on race. The D-block assembly was dedicated to the voices of Asian-American students at the high school, who spoke on topics ranging from Asian-American portrayal in the media to growing up without Asian-American role models to the absence of Asian-American history and representation within the high school. In the weeks following the day on race, we (a group of seven students in the Social Justice  Leadership program) have taken on the project of incorporating the often unheard, yet very important, stories of Asian-Americans into the high school’s U.S. history curriculum. This is not an attack on our history teachers, whose teaching we value very much, but more a challenge to the narrow lens through which we as a society view history. According to a survey randomly distributed to several senior homerooms, 46 percent of seniors surveyed had learned three or fewer main events in Asian-American history, including the Chinese Exclusion Act, Yellow Power Movement and the murder of Vincent Chin. We feel that it is difficult to expect our future leaders to be aware and inclusive if we do not show them early on that a comprehensive history of this country encompasses all Americans, not just White Americans. It is important to mention that our group could have chosen to focus on any other oppressed group and our work would have been just as crucial. Largely due to the oppressive and racist nature of eras in U.S. history, prominent American politicians, leaders and other figures have been mostly White. Their accomplishments are equally crucial. However, learning about the accomplishments, stories and injustices faced by oppressed groups, including Asian-Americans, needs to be incorporated more into the curriculum, and not just as a side note. Asian-American history is American history. All high school students are required to take a U.S. history course. In just two semesters, we cover the history of the U.S. from the first colonies until today. It is impossible, of course, to get an all-encompassing view of every aspect of the several hundred years’ worth of U.S. history in one school year. Many of the teachers we spoke with said they see value in incorporating Asian-American history but wondered what they should take out of the existing curriculum to make space. We feel that rather than devoting a certain amount of time to discussing Asian-American history exclusively, teachers can focus on mentioning aspects of the Asian-American experience throughout the natural progression of the course. We realize this is easier said than done, and to give teachers a place to start, we are creating a binder with potential articles and teaching plans. We do feel, though, that some of the topics we covered are less important than Asian-American history. Why do we not have students do research projects and presentations on the Yellow Power Movement rather than on the invention of the microwave, for example? Only about 11 percent of students who had taken a U.S. history class knew about the Ozawa v. U.S. Supreme Court case. In 1922, Takao Ozawa, a Japanese-American, was found ineligible for naturalization because he was of an “unassimilable race.” This legally confirmed that Japanese-Americans could not become citizens of the United States. This happened less than 100 years ago. How can we as Americans expect to understand the history of our country without understanding the severe injustices faced by minorities? As classrooms diversify, more and more students find themselves looking at faces different from theirs. There is a growing disconnect between students and their education, and this trend could reduce the education system to an outdated and unreachable version of what it could be. We hope that as students take these incredibly important history courses, they absorb the information but also look at it critically. What is being left out, and who is being excluded? ♦ BACK TO TOP How we move: Diversity throughout the day Below are data contributed by senior Shahar Amitay from a survey of students’ races and schedules. Whites are yellow, Blacks/African-Americans are orange, Hispanics/Latinos are green, Asians are blue and Multiethnic people are pink. Hover over each tag to view the course and course level that are associated with each room during a given block.

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Opinion: The “Black Table”

contributed by Jaime Serrato Marks

I used to wonder aloud why so many Black kids sat together in the cafeteria. I realize now that they comprise the only large group of students of color I see at the high school. There aren’t enough Black and Latino students in my classes to form a group.

As a student in honors and advanced classes, I have always been in White-dominated classrooms. Separation from people of my race has changed me. I hunger for more interaction with people who share my heritage or skin.

Small connections with people of my race bring me surprising comfort. When people speak to me about Latino culture, I feel a strange and new kind of support. I love to speak in Spanish to Anna’s Taqueria employees and a Guatemalan lunch lady in the school cafeteria – even though English is my first language.

I finally understand why students of color sit together. I see how people long for the connections I lack in class. Unfortunately, there is not enough diversity in my courses to grant me racial comforts.

The underrepresentation of minorities in honors and advanced classes has caused my separation from – and longing for – racial pride and identity. I feel out of place. I don’t sit with people of my race at lunch.

I view the distance between myself and other Latinos as a failure. It is a personal failure and a failure of the school.

Our system of tracking at the high school minimizes diversity in courses like mine. It is nearly impossible to move up a level in a course. Most students are unknowingly locked into decisions they made in eighth grade.

Brookline’s middle schools have fewer supports in place than at the high school, which negatively affect course choices for Black and Latino students. African-American and Latino Scholars is not available until freshman year. At my elementary school, there is no tutoring specifically geared toward students of color and METCO students are rushed home on a bus after school, leaving less time for them to spend one-on-one with teachers.

Understandably, many students sign up for less rigorous courses due to a lack of early support. Low expectations do not raise students with high grades willing to enroll in tough classes.

It may not be my place to speak. After all, I have two successful parents who have had the time and resources to give me necessary assistance. My family motto is, “Extra credit is not optional.” On the other hand, the assumption that all Latinos and Blacks had a poverty-stricken or underprivileged childhood is entirely untrue.

It is my wish that Brookline schools and their students create a culture of expectation and support for Black and Latino students. If tracking cannot be diminished, I hope students of color will be able to join difficult classes and succeed. Until then, I will continue to search for a personal understanding of my race despite separation from Latinos. ♦

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Leading conversations about race remains a complex effort

by Rachel Gubar

Gallery • 5 Photos

Schoolwide, English teachers were asked to have discussions about race with their students before the “Asking For Courage” day, which was held on March 3.

White English teacher Jennifer Rose-Wood said she got some information for the discussions from self-education, such as reading books and watching some documentaries about race. According to Gaelan Harrington, a White English teacher, the teachers set norms together to help prepare for the discussion.

“[The document] had all kinds of different strategies, different ways of framing the conversation,” Harrington said.

During one of Harrington’s class discussions, the conversation focused on Ferguson and the police. In Rose-wood’s classroom, discussions varied from the psychological impact of racism to privilege.

Harrington said she found it difficult during the discussion to not interject, and instead let her students lead. She said she wanted her students to come away from the discussion with more empathy and the understanding that everyone’s perspective is limited by their own experience.

“It’s such a layered and delicate topic,” Harrington said.

Sophomore Jack Armand, who is Black, said he did not find the class discussions helpful.

“It was just annoying. Like, we don’t need to talk about our race, we are all just people,” Amand said.

According to Armand, he did not feel prepared for the race discussions.

“It just popped out of nowhere,” Armand said.

Junior Vivian Eggleston said she found it difficult to talk about race in her School Within a School English class because there were not many students of color present.

“I think that the fact that about everyone pretty much in the conversation was White was a little like, ‘Okay, how do we have a raw discussion if there isn’t like a mix,’” Eggleston said. “It puts pressure on the few people of color in the room to be representatives which isn’t fair because they only have their individual experience.”

According to Eggleston, in SWS there is enough of a continuous casual dialogue about race so that discussions are not out of the ordinary, but it is still difficult to talk about.

Eggleston said she realized everyone is prejudiced in one way or another.

“I think that the most important thing was even if you are not someone who is you know, running around and saying the N-word or being like overtly racist, no matter what, just because of society, there’s internalized stuff that you have to actively work against,” Eggleston said. “To solve it, you just can’t kind of be like, ‘I’m not racist,’ and then just ignore it.”

Armand said the discussions felt alienating for him.

“I hate when I keep being reminded that I’m Black because like I don’t feel any different from anyone else,” Armand said. “I don’t know why anyone would.”

Ensuring that every student feels comfortable when having any discussion is important, according to Rose-Wood.

“A big part of students feeling prepared to have any discussion no matter what the topic is, is feeling safe and comfortable and supported and heard and so that’s just important to me, no matter what we are talking about,” Rose-Wood said. “But I think that’s especially important talking about race because of all the emotions that go with it and the importance of really listening to people without judging or disagreeing or stereotyping.” ♦

Jake Brodsky and Leon Yang contributed data.

Conor Amrien, Matt DeAngelo, Rachel Gubar, Juliana Kaplan, Ashley Lee, Jeremy Margolis and Maya Margolis can be contacted at [email protected].

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