Racism

Greene, Tempy ETH125 Professor Meade September 11, 2011 The days as a Silverado Student Have you ever been to a school that made you feel as if you were walking into a war instead of a campus' Well, going to Silverado High school were African Americans and Hispanics were the minorities and the student population was mostly Caucasian that’s how I felt. The Caucasian students received a lot of advantages than other students. When I first entered Silverado High I notice that there weren’t a lot of students there that were of my race/ethnicity. I would say about 20 percent of the student were African American, 20 percent was Hispanic, 10 percent was other race, and 50 percent of the students were Caucasian. About half of the 20 percent of African American were biracial but consider themselves African American. What was wired to me and caught me off guard was that each race segregated themselves and stayed only within their own races. The African American students would stay downstairs joking and talking; the Hispanic students would sit on the tables upstairs talking, and the other students would be in the senior square. At Silverado High it seems like the guards, principals, and other supervisors would always seem the worst about the African American s students. If there was writing on the wall, a fight, or even an argument the guards would come to us first asking what happen and who did it. I remember an incident were my little sister and another girl was fighting (she was Caucasian) got into a fight, the girl hit my sister first yet my sister was suspended, but the girl only received a warning from the principal. Hispanic have the same issue, if they was to fight I wouldn’t see the Hispanic student, but the next day I would see the Caucasian student. Another occasion I remember one of my teachers telling us if it wasn’t for us kids coming up here from our projects in the hood the school would be a better place. The leaders really didn’t care too much for the student who was the same race as me. The leaders saw us as the problem of the school instead of future doctors, lawyers, and teachers. It was a lot of tension built up Hispanics and African American student but instead of taking it up with the people who is making us angry we took it out on each other while they sat back and watch. Each week there was a riot between the two races and some time the guards would let us fight for a good 10 to 15 minutes before they even tried to break up the altercation. That goes to show me how much the school did not care too much about the minorities. The only time I use to hear something good about my race was when the school was talking about the athletes, or it was black history month. Black history month was the only time when use to open up our textbooks and hear a couple good words about my ancestors. I don’t blame them because it goes the same way when it comes to our media. Since moving out here in 2006 I have never heard anything positive about my race, unless they were in athletes. If it wasn’t about athletics then it was negative, it was about robberies, drug deals, and abuse. I don’t understand why they can’t talk about the African American doctor or African American firefighters who save lives out here on a daily basis. It’s time for a change and hopefully one comes sooner than later. Silverado didn’t offer too many activities in the school for the minority students; there wasn’t anything like the black student union. They did have one group for the Hispanic students that taught them about their heritage and they did things for Cinco de Mayo. If they had more positive activates for the students of minorities there weren’t be so much tension between the two groups. The two groups would be too busy and focus on other thing such as trying to make a change or teaching other about their ancestor that they didn’t know. Silverado just need to take the time out to do these certain things. They need to go around the school to see what is going on and what the tension is all about. If someone of the high authority wouldn’t think so low of the minority students, and try to make it with such programs the school would be a better school. Since I graduated Silverado High School in 207 it seem like nothing has change with the school. I went to the school to volunteer and also my cousin decided to go there as well. The treatment and condition of the students was still the same and disgusting. The staff was call the African American students “hood rats” and calling the African American men “future dead beat fathers”. When I confronted the staff they quickly became defensive saying it was all just a joke and I was taking the situation way to serious. It’s not just the staff but the teachers there are still there throwing flams to the fire with their insults and touching of the students. Students are still complains about the teachers hitting them, going through their things, and even singling them out. The crazy thing that got my attention was that all the student that made the accusation was African American. Why is racism still a problem after all these years that have passed' What does it has to take for there to be a change about this issue at Silverado High' Silverado needs to think about what all this is doing to the students of minority that are attending the school. If you keep treating the student as if they are worthless then eventually the students are going to react and not in a positive manner. Treating student this way is going against the civil rights movement, they need to remember what Dr. King fought for UNITY. If I could change everything about the school that makes the student feels different and below from other students I would in a heartbeat. First, I would have a meeting with all the Hispanic and African American students and their parents to try to get an understanding of the tension between the two and try to break it. I would let them know that they are more alike than they know and let them know about the struggles both they ancestors went through so they would have a better future. After dealing with them then I would get all the staff together and talk to them about respect and understanding others. If this doesn’t work I would go to the board of education with the issue but I make sure I have a petition to get rid of the staff that is causing all the tension. Then I would start making more activates for the students that would get them working together. I make groups at school for each student’s ethnicity/race so not one person would feel left out. I would do all this so students wouldn’t feel left out, disrespected, downgraded, or feel like they want to drop out of school because of someone else’s ignorance. I just want to make a change for our future student does not have to go through what fellow students went through. It gives them a fresh start and positive though about Silverado High School. Since this is a small community with only one high school to go to I think the high school needs to perform a lot better than it have. Academically the school is doing okay but with kids dropping out or going to home school because of the teachers is wrong. The community talks and parents want better for their children(s) then the treatment they are receiving. A parent is not going to continue to send they child to school and sit back see them get treated like they’re less than human or worthless. I know if I was a parent I wouldn’t stand for this type of behavior. Silverado High School is supposed to be a place where kids go to get an education and brighten their futures. Instead, Silverado is a place where they get ridicule, where teachers put you down, and where races fight to relieve frustration. Silverado needs to get things in control before there will not be any more students nor Silverado High.