11 minute read
Anti-Racism at CHS
Contrasting the CHS approach to Anti-Racism with students’ experiences
Student Perspectives Black students share their experiences with racism and the change they anticipate
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JOAN THYAGARAJAN
The Black Student Union at Cupertino High was recently formed to promote Black voices and provide a safe place for students of all races, genders, and sexual orientations. Co-presidents of the BSU--juniors Rochelle Awuah and Liza Thorpe --use this platform to foster inclusivity and a greater awareness of how racism is still prevalent in the Bay Area. However, Awuah and Thorpe both feel that their peers fail to recognize the difficulties of being a minority in this community and the microaggressions that Black students face.
Said Awuah, “The feeling is you’re walking alone, and it feels dark. No matter where you turn, it feels like you’re always going to be alone. When you stand up for an issue that means a lot to you it feels like you’re causing a problem even when the problem is the issue at hand, not you saying the problem.”
According to Awuah and Thorpe, members of the FUHSD community often do not realize the severity of the racism their peers can face. Said Awuah, “People say the N-word to me, or people tell me to say the N-word in place for them. This happens on campus [...] it feels like I’m a zoo animal, especially when the Black population is very low. It just feels like you’re lonely, and it feels like you’re like a spectacle.”
Additionally, black students on campus are often subject to harmful stereotypes, which can impact students and their families significantly. Said Awuah, “They made fun of my dad, calling him a drug dealer. They don’t even know him […] it was really hurtful because my dad is a man of integrity, and he’s honest and kind. He’s honest and kind and so respectful. He would give his shirt off the back to somebody.”
Said Thorpe, “[One of my classmates] was calling me a monkey, that I was uncultured, that I had no home.” Nonetheless, both noted that the administration’s efforts to make Cupertino a more inclusive campus had been somewhat successful. Said Thorpe, “I think that advisories can be extremely helpful. It just depends on the material, who it’s coming from, who’s teaching, and how open and receptive you are to hearing and learning about it.”
According to Thorpe, teachers, in addition to students, need to be receptive to learning. “If the teacher doesn’t care, if the teacher is just getting through it because it’s part of her pay, it’s not gonna work. The teacher has to believe in it. Even if he, she, or they don’t believe in it, it’s still their job to educate,” said
Thorpe. “
B o t h Awuah and Thorpe believe that the primary issue has been prioritizing representation and placing it on the same level as other school activities. One instance that showcased the need to emphasize black voices was how the Associated Student Body (ASB) did not acknowledge Black History Month until mid-February. ASB later posted a public apology on Instagram explaining that they would postpone their celebration in order to make sure that they were adequately prepared.
Said Thorpe, “You don’t get to sit there and tell me that you’re going to extend Black History Month just because you forgot about it. That’s not an excuse. You don’t get to say that you don’t have anything planned for Women’s History Month, but we will promote and support whatever WEA decides to do. No, they’re a club. [ASB is] an organization of the school, [they] control everything. It’s [their] job. It’s not a Club’s job.”
Both Awuah and Thorpe explained that regardless of the school’s numerous approaches to amplify minority voices— whether successful or not—there is little that can be done to curb the isolation Black students feel while being part of a minority at CHS.
Said Thorpe, “You see all of your teachers, and not a single one of them looks like you, how can they possibly relate to you? […] When I go to a teacher, and I’m like, I’m getting bullied because I’m Black, or I’m getting bullied because of this feature that I have no control over. Your teacher doesn’t understand that hasn’t been through that
“and hasn’t experienced that. That is extremely lonely.” This loneliness, while can never be truly erased, can be eased by an empathetic community. Said Awuah, “Being empathetic is really important. Sometimes you can’t make parallels to your life to a Black person’s problems. [...] We do have problems, especially when it comes to different factors like class and socio-economic status, and that does play a role in how we live our lives. However, it’s not the same struggles as a Black person”
Task Force Members
Officers of the Anti-Racism Task Force offer persepective on anti-racist initiatives
HYUNJUN KIM
writer
At Cupertino High, the Anti-Racism Task Force is a team of high school students who work with teachers and admin to provide better learning environments. Through consistent virtual meetings and gathered student incentives, students expand the organization with hopes of listening to those who feel underrepresented in our school and taking actions to abate racial and ethnic bias students experience.
Said Gauri Chawla, the president of Anti-Racism Task Force Team, “There is a lack of representation of minorities at Cupertino High School.” By planning member meetings and collaborating with other established student unions on campus, Chawla wants to raise awareness about the everyday racism that many minorities undergo.
Said Chawla, “We prepared open-ended discussion questions for students and had joint meetings with other student unions. Through advisories and member meetings that will mainly focus on student voices, we want to spread awareness on the struggles of the underrepresented and better the student environment for all.”
Vice President Jenny Chen and Secretary Sania Khadye of the Anti-Racism Task Force team also agree with Chawla, believing that there are often overlooked sectors, especially the minority communities, in the school community.
In terms of the education curriculum, the team had taken measures to amplify student voices. Shared Chawla, “Many BIPOC [Black, Indigenous, People of Color] students believed that To Kill A Mockingbird was not constructive [for] their learning about anti-racism due to its lack of providing insight to them as a student and understanding in the systemic racism that is rampant throughout America.” Numerous students’ voices had a substantial impact as the team set up meetings with the English Literature team to discuss the topic and concerns. As a result of the task force’s efforts, the team is now aware that the literature teachers have a plan in removing To Kill A Mockingbird from the curriculum, hoping their efforts reflect the curriculum changes in the next school year. Said Chen, “To address the ongoing problem, I have taken part in the Anti-Racism Task Force team to spread changes through advisories and panels that give students an opportunity to voice themselves.” With the officer team, Chen shared her vision and communicated with Principal Kami Tomberlain to modify the freshman literature curriculum and demonstrate changes in response to the minority community. Recently, many students also shared disappointment and frustration from ASB’s absence in celebrating Black History Month in a timely manner. Although ASB created a spirit week, highlighted notable Black figures and acknowledged the Black Student Union (BSU), still, minority students felt disregarded within the school community.
Said Chawla, “Many feel the daily microaggressive behaviors are frequent on the school campus. Therefore, developing safe spaces where students can share their voices on campus is important when trying to foster inclusivity and education throughout Cupertino High.”
Stated Khadye, “I believe collaborating with different student unions, such as GSA (Gender & Sexuality Alliance) and MSA (Muslim Student Association), helps students understand how they can assist in creating a more inclusive campusa.” Additionally, by inviting guest speakers as means of offering new perspectives and breaking up the routine aspects that students experience, the Anti-Racism Task Force Team worked towards creating solidarity across different ethnic groups.
“Personally, the student panel and guest speaker sessions were effective in highlighting the voices of the underrepresented,” said Khadye.
Added Chawla, “Our team’s long term goal is to provide members with information and resources to take action on campus through guest speakers. We would like to have a national advocate for student voices to speak on how racial equality can be fought for and preserved in school. We also want to expand the taskforce by sharing our goals with the Teacher Equity Task force and implementing strategies with administrators more. Communicating with other task forces is crucial in maintaining racial equity both inside and outside of the classroom.”
Ultimately, the Anti-Racism Task Force Team strives to establish an outlet for students and faculty, acknowledging the struggles of minorities and creating resources to aid them
Administration
Principal Kami Tomberlain shares insight regarding the district’s involvement in ABAR learning
SOHA ROY
photo editor
Following the murder of George Floyd and the surge in anti-black speech and violence, the Board of Trustees of the Fremont Union High School District adopted a resolution denouncing racial discrimination and vowing to improve the public education experience for Black students. The resolution, as published on FUHSD’s Anti Racism Resources, specifically aims to, “create a platform for Black students and students of color to share their voices and experiences in an effort to better educate the District and its community regarding systemic racism and social injustice.”
The District has since incorporated advisory lessons across FUHSD schools, focusing on anti-bias and anti-racist language.
Advisories concerning anti-bias, anti-racist (ABAR) learning have been customary to Cupertino High School (CHS) since 2015, according to CHS principal Kami Tomberlain.
“We decided that we were going to teach our community, our students, our families, our staff, how to interrupt or speak back when that kind of hateful language is going on,” said Tomberlain. “We began a series of advisory lessons around vocabulary of anti-racism and anti-bias––we’re looking at stereotypes, we’re looking at unconscious bias, we’re looking at slurs and why they’re hurtful.”
In the 2020-2021 academic year, the District sustained weekly advisories teaching ABAR principles and behaviors with the asynchronous day built into the schedule. CHS held two advisories on Black History in America to celebrate Black History Month (BHM) 2021. The resource remains on the CHS website, but a similar educational session was not held this February. The decline in advisories concerning ABAR learning is due to the District settling on 10 advisories, five of which were arranged by the District and the rest unique to each school.
Said Tomberlain, “The [advisory] for February was a District one. And it was less about Black history and more about diversifying your media outlets so that you’re taking in the multiple perspectives and being deliberate about following folks that aren’t like yourself so that you’re getting that multiplicity of voices.”
CHS Admin released a BHM calendar with topics relating to this year’s theme of Black Health and Wellness. The Associated Student Body (ASB) and the Black Student Union (BSU)
“published informative posts on Instagram and organized a BHM Celebration Week for the first week of March to celebrate Black culture. Activities included Music in the Quad, a BSU meeting, a dance party and BHM trivia. There were some initial setbacks with the establishment of BSU as it was denied due to club applications occurring in September.
Said Tomberlain, “[The policy] didn’t have the intention of preventing particular groups of people from forming a club, but it had that impact. It’s an example of how you look at not just the intent of a policy or practice, but also the impact of a policy or practice. [ASB] did some learning—it was very uncomfortable for a little bit. And they eventually came to the idea that you collaborate, you work together with others. And I think, from that perspective, all of us have the right and the responsibility to
continue to learn. And share that learning with others.” CHS also supports a staff equity task force to keep staff engaged in learning about effective anti-racist practices. Said Tomberlain, “We were looking at ways to develop our confidence and skill as teachers in addressing racism and bias. And it would be all of our responsibilities, not just the responsibilities of the administrators or a handful of [...] ALL OF US HAVE THE RIGHT AND THE RESPONSIBILITY TO CONTINUE TO LEARN. KAMI TOMBERLAIN “ “ teachers who felt comfortable doing it––that we were trying to build everyone’s capacity.” Over the past few years, CHS has dealt with concerns about the English and History curriculum by working with a group of students called Diversify Our Narrative to bring change to what students read and learn. Another group of students who took initiative is the Anti Racism Task Force, who met with different groups on campus to consolidate learning and find intersectionality and solidarity. Looking towards the future, said Tomberlain, “I need more of our students to have the opportunities to do that and to feel confident that they can share their ideas for improvement. And that they’re going to be listened to”
