Racism—whether as aggressive as the vandalism in Cro or unintentional as ignorance and inaction—does not spring up out of nowhere. While issues of race on college campuses stem from a variety of perspectives and experiences, one fact is certain: all students here at Conn attended high school in some form. Had many Conn students, while homogenous in background, received more active race and social justice education during high school, racial tensions on campus might have been less prominent.
Although discussing race in high school—or, for that matter, middle and elementary school—certainly would not solve racism, it would help to bring the issue into consciousness for many students at an earlier, more impressionable age. Additionally, it could teach students how to engage in racial discourse without making problematic statements.
In order to understand why so many high schools neglect the issue of race, I spoke with Professor Dana Wright of the Education Department. Professor Wright explained how some “institutional barriers” limit the discussion of race before college.
“Teachers have a lot of pressure on them,” Wright said, referring to the intensity of high school curricula. She noted that many high school teachers are expected to adhere to the content of textbooks, which seldom deal with issues of race or social justice. Often, there is an expectation that teachers will “get through the whole textbook,” leaving little time for them to discuss issues beyond it.
Wright emphasized that a greater force contributes to the compliance with textbook-based curricula: standardized tests. She explained that even when teachers want to introduce social justice, current events, etc. into their classrooms, they find themselves limited by the notion that at the end of the year, test scores will be used to assess their worth.
This reaches a political level, she added, because “the expertise of teachers gets shamed by politicians, and that trickles down to superintendents and principals,” which builds the pressure on teachers to ignore their instincts and teach to the book or the test.
Beyond the institutional barriers, the censorship of these discussions also occurs as a form of ideology called “adultism,” which Wright defined as “the belief that young people are inferior or ‘in development.’” Following this theory, youth are regarded as less than whole people who require protection from the world’s more challenging ideas. “[Students] are thinking about these issues anyway,” Wright added. “They’re not being protected.”
To get the perspective of a current and local high school student, I spoke to Ilana Foggle, a sophomore at The Williams School. Ilana told me first-hand how poorly issues of race are handled at Williams.
Ilana, who is of Israeli descent, told me, “When I came here, a lot of stereotypes about Jews and darker people were put upon me. People kept asking me if I was black,” illustrating the ignorance and lack of understanding present among The Williams School’s student body. Ilana continued, “this one girl was just staring at me for five minutes and said to me, ‘You know, Ilana, you have a really big nose,’ and I know the teacher heard it and did nothing about it.”
Ilana’s comments were concerning, especially considering the teacher’s inaction in what was clearly an unjust situation. “A lot of bad words are being used and thrown around this school,” she added, “because people think it’s okay and normal when it’s really not, and no education has gone on about it.”
Hopefully The Williams School will catch up to its time, because according to Professor Wright, progress in high school discussions of race is on its way. “If teachers have a chance to visualize what they want students to learn, many of them do want to discuss [race],” she explained. In the past, the problem has been the fact that teachers rarely get to discuss curricula in spaces free of administrators, but with the rise of the information age, teachers have begun to share ideas and materials with each other more than ever.
“As these resources become available, more teachers are integrating them into their coursework,” Wright added, referring to tools ranging from storybooks to documentaries that can be used to teach children from kindergarten through high school about race and social justice.
With the methods described by Professor Wright and a shift in standardized test culture, hopefully high schools will begin to produce more informed students. Although Ilana’s accounts from The Williams School are not necessarily representative of all high schools, they do clearly indicate a need for change. The problem is close to home, but not exclusive to our community and neighbors. •
