Many people think that the city of Brookline is a very diverse place. Maybe that is what it appears to be from the outside but in reality, it is not. Brookline is 81.1 percent caucasian and 2.7 percent African-American.

Compared to surrounding towns such as Dedham, Needham and Natick which are all above 90 percent caucasian, Brookline may seem diverse, but clearly we do not have anywhere close to an equal mix of ethnicities. And other ethnicities besides caucasian do not seem to get equal treatment.

This may not be something that a lot of people in our town observe but once you are up close, there are many injustices to be noticed.

I am not African-American: I am caucasian. It may seem strange for me to be writing this, but I have been a witness of many different injustices, mainly small but still ones that make a large impact on the lives of those targeted. I am writing this to not only share the few injustices that I have experienced but also to encourage other s tudents to share their stories.

A lot of the injustices that are experienced come from our legal system, which is awful to think about but should not come as a surprise. I imagine that the Brookline police as well as the police in many other towns feel that they have the power. And it may be subconscious but they do target those usually of a darker skin complexion, just ask my sister.

“I think the police definitely have their priorities wrong… also they have the ability to impact the future of racism in our country positively or negatively and if they are going to target people because of their race, then the problem of racism won’t go away,” Heather Olafsson said.

One night my sister, Heather Olafsson (caucasian) and our cousin Natalie Ward (African-American) were walking with a small group of African-American boys. One of the boys was accused of throwing a rock at a woman’s bicycle. In reality it was a small prank of throwing a water balloon and it did not land anywhere very close. When the police stopped the group they let Heather go home right away, and no one else.

“I was confused because I was supposed to be walking home with a bunch of guys and felt safe, but all of a sudden the police who are supposed to keep their citizens safe were telling me to walk home alone,” Heather said.

This may not seem like a very big deal because it was the boys who were pulling the prank, but why not let Natalie leave as well?

“I was angry because I knew the situation was messed up and I was being treated differently for some reason,” Heather said.

This is the first injustice that I was close to and have been asking myself why Heather was treated differently ever since, but it has transformed itself into “why are people of different races treated differently?” Many people ask this question but I have not ever heard even one legitimate answer.

Brookline may seem like the perfect place and because we are considered as “diverse” it is as if we are excusing ourselves from the problem of racism. And so everyone who has ever experienced any sort of injustice needs to speak up, tell your story, get it out there, because otherwise, the problem of racism will never resolve.

Sarah Olafsson can be contacted at [email protected].