Agenda Packet 9-12-18 Work Session

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28 • Level of ignorance is root of the problem --- not just having knowledge of the issue, many people not really wanting to have that knowledge, don’t want to learn. • In my ethics class I did a presentation with my friend on white privilege. We weren’t asked any questions but all other presenters were. It was awkward and there are still kids from that class who won’t talk to me now. • There was a dude in a truck with a confederate flag and he called middle schoolers who were walking the N-word. • People think my sister is Mexican and treat her differently now. • My little brother is in elementary school. He looks Mexican and got called “Juanita”. • The problems at South, it’s never outright; it’s all the professors’ kids. They’re going to do it when you leave the room. • I have Courageous Conversations class and I stand up for stuff when the kids are saying something. • We did an implicit bias thing and this guy was, like it says, I’m more comfortable around white people but I don’t believe it. I said c’mon, you would be so uncomfortable if you were the only white person in a room full of black people. • Teachers: Don’t ask a brown person how they feel if you are talking about a black issue; let them raise their hand if they want to share. Don’t put them on the spot. Don’t purposely split up or clump the kids of color together. They put us in the same area or separate us if we are too close. • Everyone stares intently at you when you’re talking about racism. Then they clap when you are finished speaking! • You call somebody a racist in Eugene and everything stops. No one wants to be called a racist; it’s the most offensive thing. • You’re watching a slavery movie and the teacher says, if it’s too uncomfortable you can leave the room (everyone looks at the one African American kid); it pushes people farther into their shell. • The teacher brought up that African American people are most likely to have AIDS and everyone turned and looked at the only black kid in the room. The student came to me (a teacher) and said I like white girls, and now they are all going to think I have AIDS. • Black teachers go the extra mile to help us. White teachers might, but there’s no one who has gone as far as the black teachers do. They push harder for us because they know about our barriers. I had none at Sheldon, but I do at Churchill. • I had one black teacher, actually a principal, became like family. • We need more teachers of color, black computer science professors… • At one basketball game we didn’t stand for the pledge of allegiance. Why should I stand for people who don’t respect me? And all they can say is what about the veterans. But they fought for us to have the right to choose if we want to stand, not for us to have to stand. • 4J put more teachers of color at Churchill, concentrating the few they had in the District all in one school, so they could say Churchill is equitable. It is the system that is broken. • South Eugene High School would allow stuff to happen. Senior pranks, kids driving trucks across lawn and teachers helped. Okay to do that if you’re white. • At school, there isn’t enough training for teachers and administrators. Teachers don’t have support of staff; students asked for ethnic studies class and principal said No. Higher Education • Want more teachers of color, but colleges don’t provide support for their graduate students of color. Social Services Hostile Political Environment • After the election, I started attending NAACP meetings and I lost a handful of friends; people said I can’t hang anymore because I’m doing the black thing. • My best friend from grade school told me to stop talking to her the day after the election; she had a Trump shirt on; it’s like it’s okay to be racist now. “Brought out peoples’ true colors.” • Making America great again is a code for making America white again. • Kids have gotten really bold; confederate flag on truck. • If you don’t assimilate to making a lot of money or running with rich people, you’re going to be called the N-word, you’re going to be called less than. • Our liberals can hurt us too; they can fall back into the mainstream – every day we walk out the door, we are dark. • People who support Trump are bolder. We are seeing it a lot more than we were before. September 12, 2018, Work Session - Item 1