by Anonymous, student
On March 7th and 8th students at my school put on an Equity Assembly as a result of a survey taken a week prior. At the beginning of the assembly, the group put on short skits of students being insulted and targeted because of their racial identity. It bothered me that these students felt they had been discriminated against because of their race. It also bothered me that the people perpetrating the injustices were always depicted as the same rice, white. It was hard not to notice this.
…I did not feel that the equity assembly group did a fair job of representing injustice. Later on, the group members shared personal stories of racial injustice. One of the members said, with glee and pride on his face, “I have to put a mask on every day because of, You!” Who is “You”? There was no doubt in my mind that he was talking about “white” people. I am white. Was he talking to me personally or am I now just swept into a big racial bucket of jerks? Every other story was the same. A white person offending one of the group members one way or the other. A white police officer pulling someone over. I was pretty offended. It felt as if they were characterizing all white people as racists, which is wildly unfair. All people have been pushed against a wall at some point in their life or in history. The equity team rightly called out slavery and immigration laws, and high profile cases of police brutality against minorities. But, they failed to mention other horrific crimes against humanity, especially against whites. They failed to mention how 6 to 9 million Jews, slaves, and gypsies were murdered by the Nazi regime…
…All examples from both sides are undeniably bad. This is not a game of who was discriminated against the most. This is about doing what is right, judging people according to their character, not the color of their skin. The presenters talked about how important it is not to stereotype other races, but then seemed to stereotype police officers and all Caucasians later in the same presentation? I was told by a teacher that “if you are white, you shouldn’t take this as a personal offense and you shouldn’t complain.” I did take it personally and to hear this advice only made me feel worse. To be honest, the whole assembly felt like an attack on a group of people just because of the color of their skin…white. That feels unjust and shameful. The irony is that the equity group was battling racism with racism….
…It made me feel like they think that I am going to be the first person to discriminate against others just because of my skin color. It is depressing and ironically makes them kind of seem racist…
…The equity assembly was not balanced and made me feel like a victim of discrimination, not because of anything I have done, but because of the color of my skin. I too hate the way that feels. No matter what, try to forgive those people anyway. I forgive you.
*This is an anonymous student write-in and does not reflect the opinions of the Pony Express staff.
