JRHS Writing BLOG

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Some Assemblies Required

A high school in California has recently decided to segregate “pep rallies.” This was done on the basis that students were able to work better when they were around other students of their own race. For example, students of Asian descent had their own rally with flags of their ancestral countries hung throughout the auditorium. African-American students had a rally featuring jazz music and banner that read “black power”. While white students had their assembly started off with the words “What up, white people?”These rallies were intended to increase student achievement testing by inspiring students to have pride in their race.

I understand that this was meant to improve the relations between students within the school, but I really don’t think that this was the right way to approach change. African-Americans , for example, are already faced with the stereotype that they are academically inferior to white people. Jason Lockett, an African-American student that attended one of these rallies, said that it enforced this stereotype for him: “It was to compare us and say how much dumber we were than everybody else.”

Studies have proven that racial segregation does improve academic achievement, but my personal opinion is that this is only true because people are racist in the first place. If the school system spent more time trying to abolish racism and less time worrying about academic achievement than I’m almost positive their academic scores would skyrocket. Schools should be focusing on tearing down the walls of racism, not building them up.

World Magazine: March 17, 2007