@ ICCSD
Students have created Instagram accounts to share stories of race, gender, and sexuality based discrimination
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By Jesse Hausknecht-Brown
or months, well-designed, color-coordinated, patterned squares flooded City High students’ Instagram feeds; however, the content of these boxes was less pleasing than their aesthetic exterior. All under similar handles, these Instagram accounts, most created in late July and early August, call out discrimination faced by students and teachers in the Iowa City Community School District (ICCSD). The first of these accounts to be created was the @blackaticcsd Instagram account, whose first post is dated July 19, 2020. “I started the @blackaticcsd page after seeing Ivy League universities create similar social media accounts,” Taylor*, a high school student in the ICCSD, said. “I wanted it to be a safe space for students of color to share their stories… I don’t consider myself an activist— I’m just doing what should have been done by the district.” Within a week of the account being created, @ blackaticcsd had posted nearly 50 submissions and received many more. Soon after, the @lgtbaticcsd and @girlsaticcsd accounts were created, first posting on July 22 and 30, respectively. “I saw the other two accounts, @lgbtaticcsd and @ blackaticcsd, and I felt like we needed a place for girls
to report sexism and misogyny, but it ers comment about experiencing or seekind of turned into an account to report ing a similar instance happen to them,” sexual harassment,” Violet Whiting ‘25, Taylor said. an eighth-grader at South East Junior While Taylor was upset by the stories High and the original creator of the @ about racist students, what hurt them girlsaticcsd account, said. the most was the stories about students Astrid Carlson ‘24, who identifies as who would report incidents of discriminon-binary, describes their friend reach- nation to staff members and not see any ing out to them about creating the @ action be taken. lgbtaticcsd account. “After talking with the other ac“As an LGBTQ person in the counts I realized that many of the teachICCSD, I have personally dealt with ers being named for racist actions are harassment and bullying because of that also showing up in stories of sexism, and I felt that it was important for us homophobia, or unequal disciplinary to have a space where we could share actions,” Taylor said. “Whenever there those stories and bring awareness to the is a story with a teacher, I always keep fact that this is still happening, even in the name in so that other students could a school district that is slightly more lib- comment if they have something simeral,” Carlson said. ilar; usually there are multiple similar They’re one of the six owners of the stories from the same teachers.” @lgbtaticcsd account and described the However, Taylor does blur out the six of them getting together as a group names of students who come up in subto create the account. missions because they are not employees “It was more of a thing of like we of the school district. were just all LGBT people at ICCSD “It is tougher for the district to take and so we thought it would be better if action against a student, whether that we did it together, even if there wasn’t student has graduated, left the school, enough work for six people to do,” Carl- already been punished, in case the story son said. “Then it got bigger and then isn’t true, etc., so student names are alall of a sudden there was enough work ways blurred out, for that student’s safefor six people to do.” ty, and also due to the lack of action the Megan Fields ‘21 underestimat- district is allowed to enact, or they will ed how many incidents of harassment enact,” Taylor said. or discrimination would show up on City High principal John Bacon exthe accounts and was surprised by the plained how if a student reports an incistories that she saw, but is glad the ac- dent that occurred with a specific teachcounts were created. er, then there would be an investigation. “My first reaction to the ICCSD “I have not read transcripts of everyaccounts was really positive because I thing that was posted on [the Instagram thought it was a really good idea for peo- accounts] so I’m not aware of a great ple who feel like they can’t or don’t have deal of specifics,” Bacon said. “I would a voice in the district,” Fields said. “I tell you in general, that if there was a thought it was really important because specific concern brought that warrantI know in my ed an investigaexperience as a “I felt like we needed a place for tion, we would young woman investigate. And who’s grown girls to report sexism and misogyny, there’s a proceup in this dis- but it kind of turned into an account dure for that in trict, that there the school disto report sexual harassment.” trict.” have definitely been many casM o r e o v e r, VIOLET WHITING es where womBacon describes CITY HIGH FRESHMAN en don’t get the two equity comchance to speak of their experiences.” mittees at City High: one, a staff equity Taylor describes how they quickly team that met weekly during the spring noticed similar things in the submis- and the first part of the summer, and the sions they received: the same teachers, other, a student diversity, equity, and inthe same experiences, and the same clusion team. problems. “[We want to] really invest in that “I have received some horrible sto- student equity team and make sure ries, but none of which were surprising; that the student body knows about that many people comment on the shock group,” Bacon said. they had reading it, these tend to be Whiting would like to see the district white students and teachers, whilst oth- take more action and do more to help
4 The Little Hawk - FEATURES
10.23.20
