By Jon Sills, Superintendent of the Bedford Schools
Editor’s Note: This message from Superintendent Sills was emailed to Bedford families and faculty on Monday morning, November 19, 2018
This message is a follow-up to last week’s email (click this link to read Sill’s first email) regarding charges of racism at Bedford High. I am writing to you for two reasons: first, because I have become aware of some new information that I believe is important to share; and second, because I have received some valuable feedback that suggests that some people perceived my first email as “sweeping issues under the rug.”
Given society’s, and many schools’, history of refusing to recognize, let alone acknowledge and rectify racism, I can understand why my attempt to hold individual students responsible for constructively channeling their criticisms and for resisting generalizations that are inaccurate could be perceived by some as blaming the victim. But it helps us neither to eradicate racism nor to develop all students’ capacities for analysis, critical reflection, and effective communication if we either ignore real instances of racial intolerance on the one hand or if we shy away from the facts when they don’t fit a preconceived notion on the other. Above all, we believe that racism needs to be addressed proactively and with full transparency; despite some very productive work on closing achievement gaps and changing beliefs and practices, we still have a great deal of work to do.
It is alarming how quickly virulent racist ideology has shifted from the societal fringe to the mainstream in recent times, and it is incontrovertible that our students have been impacted by this change, as recent disclosures of racist peer-to-peer comments have been witnessed and reported. Unfortunately, however, we need to acknowledge that these kinds of overt behaviors, as sporadic as they have been, predate this present political climate. The demise of civil discourse, the increasing “we-them” characterization of differences, and the backlash against the Black Lives Matter protests against the murder of African-American individuals have recently amplified in-school racially hurtful comments, but the underlying causes are certainly not new. Nor are the claims, recently re-voiced by some Lane and high school students, that they have been subjected to adult double standards.
In my previous message, I stressed that the district’s challenge and our students’ challenges of sorting out what is racist treatment and what is perceived racist treatment is both important and fact specific. But I may not have been sufficiently clear that the district’s primary responsibility is ensuring that there is no racist or biased or unfair treatment and that students’ and adults’ comments, actions and inaction do not create a hurtful and hostile learning environment. And more than this, understanding that some of our students come to school with a self-protective wariness, born of racist interactions, perhaps with a business owner, a boss, a police officer, or a past educator, we must take authentic, sincere and skillful steps to build trust and support high levels of academic achievement. To build this trust, it is critical that we are honest and transparent about racist incidents when they occur and about the steps we are taking to address them.
For example, during the past few weeks, several of our Lane School African-American students have been the recipients of offensive, hurtful, racially provocative, and in some cases, racist comments by their peers involving demeaning comments about a headscarf, not belonging because of skin color, and, while the investigation was inconclusive, the use of the “N” word. Earlier, a hurtful comment about skin color was directed towards a South Asian student. While it is worthwhile in individual cases to try to understand what is learned biased behavior, what is Internet-fueled, attention-seeking provocation, and what is mean-spirited, for the targets of these comments, it doesn’t really matter. They are hurtful, disempowering, demeaning and “othering”- they say, “you do not matter/ you do not belong.”
Several of the students who have received these comments have begun to feel and allege that they are also the victims of differential treatment by the faculty. While at this point their allegations are broad and non-specific, when taken with similar charges from several of our high school students, they clearly require a much closer look at our own behaviors as adults in the district. Among other steps, in order to develop a clearer picture of what our students experience and perceive, and how faculty views our own actions, our district-wide Equity and Diversity Committee will conduct “racism audit” surveys for students, faculty, and parents. Some years ago, we videotaped a panel of METCO alumni who shared their experiences and perspectives with the high school faculty. It is time that we do this again with students of color and parents of color across the district. We will look to our Interracial Parent Advisory Council and our METCO Parents Association to help us with the parent portion.
Many, if not most, of our teachers and administrators are looking for ways to make a difference, and the more data that we can provide, the clearer we can become about how we can become more effective. We also need to provide more regular opportunities for all students to discuss these issues together, and for our students of color to have more safe places where they can process what they are experiencing.
Next week, I will share an additional message that will provide more detailed information about the equity and diversity work currently in place, where we need to provide increased focus and ways in which we can partner with families around this work. Because real change depends upon dialogue, I welcome your questions, criticisms, and suggestions. I can be reached at [email protected].
Loading ...
