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Diversity in Our Schools

© Melissa Sztuczko-Payk

As a substitute teacher in a rather large urban school district, I'm constantly reminded of how far we have to go yet to achieve true diversity in not just schools, but in life.

For the last several weeks, I've been subbing daily for the same 6th grade middle school class. The students range in the ages of 11 to 14 or so; a few are "repeaters", but most are new to middle school. It's interesting to watch them as they adjust to a new school, familiar with some of their classmates but strangers to most of them.

In particular, I've taken note of one particular student, an energetic young black male who I'll call Freddie. Freddie is a decent kid, but he seems preoccupied with the idea that other kids are looking at him. "Whatchoo looking at?" he's always growling at his classmates when they so much as glance his way. Yesterday, a female student grouched right back at him, and he replied something like, "Keep yer big ol' black butt and eyes to yerself!" Now, my number one rule is "Thou shalt not tease others about appearances," so I could not remain silent. Despite my admonishment, he kept going. It seemed every other phrase made some reference to the young lady's skin color, and I asked him why he felt the need to point out her blackness (for those who might be wondering, both children have a similar very dark brown skin-tone). He seemed baffled by my question, and said, "Hey, I'm black too, whatzit matter if I call her black anything?"

"Freddie," I asked, "let's pretend I'm out shopping at KMart, and I notice you shopping too. I tell my daughter, 'Hey, that's one of my students,' and she says, plain as can be, 'You mean that black boy?' My daughter is just as pale as I am. What would you think of her saying something like that?"

"I'd kick her butt!" was Freddie's reply, which didn't really surprise me. I asked if this would make my daughter sound racist, and he said, "Oh, yeah, she sure would be!" Of course, we never resolved the issue, although I told him that his comment made me think he was prejudiced as well, and I would not tolerate teasing based on appearances in my class. I won't fool myself into thinking that my comments had any impact on him, but I like to hope that it gave another student or two something to think about. A racist comment is a racist comment, regardless of its origin.

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