Young people today face different challenges than the ones their parents had to face. Some daily challenges they face are: staying away from sex, drugs, and alcohol, and above all, gangs.
Gangs have become one of the biggest problems the youth of Rose Park, SLC face in their daily life. Sometimes, you don’t need to be a part of a gang to be affected by gang activity. Dressing like a gang member or wearing a gang color can cost you your life. You could be jumped, assaulted in drive-by, or simply harassed.
The dictionary’s definition of a gang is three or more individuals that associate themselves with a color or sign. Society criticizes individuals involved in gangs, but we don’t realize that behind their involvement lies a story that caused them to find a sanctuary in gangs. From my experience growing up in Rose Park I’ve seen many gang members come from minority groups that either live in a low-income areas, or belong to a conflicted family.
I interviewed kids at West High that are involved in, or associated with gang activity. I asked them what they thought the main reason was that would cause someone to consider joining a gang. They expressed to me, “that a gang is like a family, they protect you.” The sense of family is something I think a lot of gang members like about the gang life. In gangs, along with the protection also comes the risks, but the consequences are something these kids in gangs have a clear vision of. If anyone desires to leave the gang life, their ticket out just might be there life. Even though the consequences of gangs are very severe, youth prefer the family protection feeling than taking the risk of not being in a gang. I think they prefer the risk because they don’t know what it’s like having family and when they join a gang they discover that feeling.
A recent Salt Lake Tribune article stated that right now there are 4,000 registered gang members in the Salt Lake area. In 2010 there were 3 gang-related homicides and in 2009 there were 5. Gang-related homicide is a serious issue that has to be addressed. Kids in Salt Lake are losing their lives because of their involvement in gangs. If we want to see growth and positive changes in our community, we should promote different ways for youth to identify themselves, rather than joining a gang. These young people deserve a chance to see the world in a different way and they deserve the opportunity to succeed in life.
http://www.ncjrs.gov/spotlight/gangs/summary.html
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
"Friday" media portrayal
Hey everybody guess what! Apparently it's now awesome to be awful! At least that's the case for thirteen year old "pop start sensation" Rebecca Black and her infamous "Friday" song. After Daniel Tosh posted her song on his Tosh.0 blog it caught the media's attention which sparked its popularity. The message of Rebecca Black’s song leaves only one question to ask ourselves, What has our society come to?
Pop has been criticized for sounding similar, however I think "Friday" definitely reached a new low. We've gone from lyrics like "I am a traveler of both time and space, to be where I have been to sit with elders of gentle race" by Led Zeppelin to lyrics like these "Yesterday was Thursday, today it is Friday, tomorrow is Saturday, and Sunday comes afterwards,” by Rebecca Black. If I do recall correctly, I listened to songs about the days and weekend on a show called Sesame Street.
It is sad to see that people no longer become famous for being talented but instead for being exactly the opposite. To be fair, we shouldn't blame the media's craze on a thirteen-year-old girl. Realistically, any other privileged thirteen year old could easily be target by the media. So I believe that it is unfair and unrealistic to blame this on Black. After all, our society proved that as long as you have a computer, money, or a video camera then you too could become the next big thing.
After viewing the music video, it was apparent to me that the underlying messages were not only stereotypical but also very obvious. The first thing that I MUST point out is the fact that the children driving this convertible are probably not any older than Rebecca's age, which is three years younger than the legal driving age. But that’s not the only thing wrong with that image. Did anyone else notice that these kids are driving a convertible? Thirteen year olds driving a CONVERTIBLE... Hmm sketchy. No wonder in today’s society there is an urging need among teens to look older.
Last time I checked, you never saw 13 year olds portraying high school students in movies probably because they only showcase twenty year olds as high school teenagers. Throughout the video, Rebecca sings about “Getting down on Friday” and the video went as far as to show Black at a “party” singing on stage, objectifying her and placing herself above everyone else. Are these truly the type of images we want to exploit to young viewers?
Another very disturbing and stereotypical aspect of this video was the fact that they showcased the only African American in the video as a male rapping about “getting down on Friday”. If the actual image of watching a 30-year-old rapping along to a 13 year olds’ cheesy song is not disturbing enough then what is?
Also, has anyone else noticed that songs and music videos in today’s culture only portray black males as rappers? Of course, to make my point clear, I don’t have anything against talented rappers but it’s interesting to see that the media stereotypical portrayal of African Americans as rappers. As if this is the only role they could have in society.
Our society has come to such extremes that thirteen-year-old girls or even younger must view themselves as teenaged, privileged sex symbols as an actual way to gain popularity. And, this always seems to lead us back to the media that ultimately targets the young population. But if we allow these images to be accepted and adapted into our society we set these standards or images of what is accepted.
Personally it is truly horrifying to see that the music industry is in such bad terms. I think that future generations will view the objectification of young girls as horrendous. In all seriousness, what will future generations think of us? We are a generation in which our "role models" strip almost every piece of clothing on TV, a generation in which women are mostly seen as sex symbols, a generation derived not only by the media but also by the rich, a generation where you are targeted not by your intellect, but mostly and almost always on your looks.
Pop has been criticized for sounding similar, however I think "Friday" definitely reached a new low. We've gone from lyrics like "I am a traveler of both time and space, to be where I have been to sit with elders of gentle race" by Led Zeppelin to lyrics like these "Yesterday was Thursday, today it is Friday, tomorrow is Saturday, and Sunday comes afterwards,” by Rebecca Black. If I do recall correctly, I listened to songs about the days and weekend on a show called Sesame Street.
It is sad to see that people no longer become famous for being talented but instead for being exactly the opposite. To be fair, we shouldn't blame the media's craze on a thirteen-year-old girl. Realistically, any other privileged thirteen year old could easily be target by the media. So I believe that it is unfair and unrealistic to blame this on Black. After all, our society proved that as long as you have a computer, money, or a video camera then you too could become the next big thing.
After viewing the music video, it was apparent to me that the underlying messages were not only stereotypical but also very obvious. The first thing that I MUST point out is the fact that the children driving this convertible are probably not any older than Rebecca's age, which is three years younger than the legal driving age. But that’s not the only thing wrong with that image. Did anyone else notice that these kids are driving a convertible? Thirteen year olds driving a CONVERTIBLE... Hmm sketchy. No wonder in today’s society there is an urging need among teens to look older.
Last time I checked, you never saw 13 year olds portraying high school students in movies probably because they only showcase twenty year olds as high school teenagers. Throughout the video, Rebecca sings about “Getting down on Friday” and the video went as far as to show Black at a “party” singing on stage, objectifying her and placing herself above everyone else. Are these truly the type of images we want to exploit to young viewers?
Another very disturbing and stereotypical aspect of this video was the fact that they showcased the only African American in the video as a male rapping about “getting down on Friday”. If the actual image of watching a 30-year-old rapping along to a 13 year olds’ cheesy song is not disturbing enough then what is?
Also, has anyone else noticed that songs and music videos in today’s culture only portray black males as rappers? Of course, to make my point clear, I don’t have anything against talented rappers but it’s interesting to see that the media stereotypical portrayal of African Americans as rappers. As if this is the only role they could have in society.
Our society has come to such extremes that thirteen-year-old girls or even younger must view themselves as teenaged, privileged sex symbols as an actual way to gain popularity. And, this always seems to lead us back to the media that ultimately targets the young population. But if we allow these images to be accepted and adapted into our society we set these standards or images of what is accepted.
Personally it is truly horrifying to see that the music industry is in such bad terms. I think that future generations will view the objectification of young girls as horrendous. In all seriousness, what will future generations think of us? We are a generation in which our "role models" strip almost every piece of clothing on TV, a generation in which women are mostly seen as sex symbols, a generation derived not only by the media but also by the rich, a generation where you are targeted not by your intellect, but mostly and almost always on your looks.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Racism at Alta High School, by Amy Novoa
During my elementary school years, in Kearns Utah, I remember waking up in the mornings and looking outside during the wintertime to see a strange “X” grafted into the snow on our front lawn. I asked my mother, “What is that? Who did that?” Her only response was, “It wasn't us.” She didn’t explain what the Swastika meant, or why it was on our lawn multiple mornings during that winter.Was that an act of racism?
In Sandy, Utah, at a recent Spirit Bowl Assembly at Alta High School, a bi-racial student, Larz Cosby, was taunted by a classmate wearing a white suit and a KKK hat. Cosby told the kid with the KKK hat to take it off. The kid jumped around him and continued taunting him. Cosby took the hood off from his head and threw it behind him. The administration didn't attempt to stop him from taunting Cosby until he stepped onto the basketball court and started "heiling" Hitler. Larz Cosby posted a blog on the internet where he explained the incident, reflections from past experiences, and also mentions the talks he has had with his family about racism. "Who in their right mind would plan to blatantly enforce their hate for others in a large gathering in a public school? How is it a joke? How is that funny?" Cosby asked on his blog. I agree, this is not a joke, it is not funny. The goals of the Klu Klux Klan consist of racial segregation and white supremacy. The KKK is a group of hate; hate is shown through jokes, humiliation, etc. This is what the classmate was doing. Cosby says, "If your child has to attend Alta High School and they are nonwhite just know that the chances of being treated unethically are very high."
We have a long way to go for equality.
The blog post has received over 1,000 comments. Out of 1,000 comments, over 500 were violent and racially offensive. A comment posted by a person using the username “the real kkk member” says: “take the tampon out, because if this was a kkk deal you would’ve been wrapped in barbed wire, beat with a bat, dragged behind a car, and shot in the head.” Many of these types of comments were posted by students from Alta High School.
Does a murderous act have to take place in order for it to be considered racism?
Why do people consider racism as only physical abuse? Racism can be any type of aggression towards an individual based on that persons race that can affect them mentally or physically. Physical damage might be more obvious than mental damage, but they are both hurtful.
As a young child I saw different shades of skin color, but I never saw superiority vs. inferiority. I grew up playing with many diverse kids in a diverse neighborhood without racial hate. How did I begin to classify racism if I didn’t have an exact definition? After the incident of the Swastika grafted into my lawn, I started observing people's differences like; skin color, or the language's they spoke. We are used to defining racism as words, or actions like "nigger," but we don’t talk about the institutional racism that students and everyone experiences from work or teachers. A teacher once pulled me out of an advanced placement class because I was obviously one of the few minorities in the class, so I was seen as incapable of succeeding in the class. Our administrators need to be more aware of the issues going on in our school in order to prevent these incidents from occurring and not only promote awareness, but also equality. Race is something humans invented. Ethnicity is what is in our blood as humans. We are all of the same race, the human race.
In Sandy, Utah, at a recent Spirit Bowl Assembly at Alta High School, a bi-racial student, Larz Cosby, was taunted by a classmate wearing a white suit and a KKK hat. Cosby told the kid with the KKK hat to take it off. The kid jumped around him and continued taunting him. Cosby took the hood off from his head and threw it behind him. The administration didn't attempt to stop him from taunting Cosby until he stepped onto the basketball court and started "heiling" Hitler. Larz Cosby posted a blog on the internet where he explained the incident, reflections from past experiences, and also mentions the talks he has had with his family about racism. "Who in their right mind would plan to blatantly enforce their hate for others in a large gathering in a public school? How is it a joke? How is that funny?" Cosby asked on his blog. I agree, this is not a joke, it is not funny. The goals of the Klu Klux Klan consist of racial segregation and white supremacy. The KKK is a group of hate; hate is shown through jokes, humiliation, etc. This is what the classmate was doing. Cosby says, "If your child has to attend Alta High School and they are nonwhite just know that the chances of being treated unethically are very high."
We have a long way to go for equality.
The blog post has received over 1,000 comments. Out of 1,000 comments, over 500 were violent and racially offensive. A comment posted by a person using the username “the real kkk member” says: “take the tampon out, because if this was a kkk deal you would’ve been wrapped in barbed wire, beat with a bat, dragged behind a car, and shot in the head.” Many of these types of comments were posted by students from Alta High School.
Does a murderous act have to take place in order for it to be considered racism?
Why do people consider racism as only physical abuse? Racism can be any type of aggression towards an individual based on that persons race that can affect them mentally or physically. Physical damage might be more obvious than mental damage, but they are both hurtful.
As a young child I saw different shades of skin color, but I never saw superiority vs. inferiority. I grew up playing with many diverse kids in a diverse neighborhood without racial hate. How did I begin to classify racism if I didn’t have an exact definition? After the incident of the Swastika grafted into my lawn, I started observing people's differences like; skin color, or the language's they spoke. We are used to defining racism as words, or actions like "nigger," but we don’t talk about the institutional racism that students and everyone experiences from work or teachers. A teacher once pulled me out of an advanced placement class because I was obviously one of the few minorities in the class, so I was seen as incapable of succeeding in the class. Our administrators need to be more aware of the issues going on in our school in order to prevent these incidents from occurring and not only promote awareness, but also equality. Race is something humans invented. Ethnicity is what is in our blood as humans. We are all of the same race, the human race.
Women in Islam, by Amber Smith
A major concern about Islam from the western world is that an Islamic woman is oppressed. Many westerners view the fabric on her head as a human rights violation, without really understanding the veil’s meaning. At East High school, I sometimes hear slurs about Muslim women supported by hurtful misconceptions; it makes me sad to hear such ignorance.
The first, and one of the largest, misconceptions about a women’s veil is that it is required. Islam the religion does not force a woman to cover herself, although the cultural traditions and the society she lives in might. I recognize that some authoritarian Islamic nations commit multiple human rights violations, but I would like to define how the doctrine of Islam differentiates from these societies. Veiled women today are associated with alienation or fundamentalism, and are looked upon with pity by “liberated women”. The veil in reality is a measure to maintain modesty and a symbol of devotion to Allah.
The Quran says:
"O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw upon them their over-garments. That is more appropriate so that they may be recognized and not molested." [Quran 33: 59]. Notice this verse says “recognized and not molested”.
The veil is worn to protect women from being considered sexual objects and to demand respect as the intelligent individuals they are.
Islamweb.com describes this well:
“Why does one need to show a semi-clad woman in a car's advertisement? Why do we not see a veiled woman? In the first case, because the advertisers are trying to sell the image of the woman with the car. Unconsciously, you buy the car wishing it will provide you with such a "babe." In the second case, the woman has refused to be treated as an object for trade and has worn the veil, a sign of dignity rather than humiliation.” (www.islamweb.net).
Last year my friend from the United Arab Emirates and I discussed her veil. She flicked her veil as if it were so insignificant and expressed to me that it was just a piece of fabric, not an oppressor. When she removed it and unleashed her beautiful dark curls, I better understood why the veil protected her from unwanted male attention.
Other misconceptions include that Muslim women can’t inherit property (they can), can’t keep their name (the practice of adopting the males last name actually came from England), and that the veil must be worn at all times (it is only worn in the presence of males outside of the family).
This week I had the privilege to speak with Imam Shuaib Din from the Utah Islamic Center about the significance of women in Islam. He explained to me that women are “highly respected and honored” because they have the ability to “fulfill the important role in society that makes life complete and whole”. He also explained to me that Islamic women are encouraged to get an education, but are privileged because they have the “right to refuse work”. By this he means that it is the man’s job is to provide for the family, but if I woman desires to also seek a career, she may, as long as it does not prevent her from fulfilling her duties within the family.
Islam is not the only religion to request women to wear veils either. For example, this quote from the bible states in is a disgrace for a woman to pray without her head covered.
“Any man who prays or prophesies with his head covered disgraces his head. But any woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered disgraces her head” [1 Corinthians 11:14-15].
Mr. Din also explained that unlike Christianity, Islam does not blame Eve for tempting Adam with the forbidden fruit. In Islam, it is said that the devil caused both man and woman to sin.
Next time you see a veiled woman in the car next to you or checking out at the store, don’t pity of fear her. In my opinion, oppressive societies and governments abuse the Muslim woman, but the oppression is not justified through Islam as a religious philosophy. In Islam, women are “spiritually equal (to men) in the sight of god” (Imam Shuaib Din).
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Reflections on recent incidents at Alta High School from an Alta alumnus
Alta High School has received a lot of attention recently for the acts of racism carried out by a student during a school spirit assembly. I was not at the assembly, did not see what happened, and so won't take it upon myself to comment upon the assembly itself, but rather on some of the fallout that has resulted, informed by my own experience as a white upper/middle class boy who grew up in the racially-segregated enclave of east side Sandy, Utah.
Not surprisingly, one of the most common responses to the charges of racism leveled against the Alta High student who paraded through the gymnasium wearing a white pillow case over his head in the fashion of a KKK hood, is that his actions were just an ill-informed joke, nothing to take offense at. "Yes," many of his defenders argue, "it was a bad decision, but hey, he's just a kid and he made a bad decision, so just let it go. It's really not that big of a deal." The folks who make this argument charge Larz, the young bi-racial man who posted a blog critical of his classmate's actions and brought it to the attention of the school administration, with making a mountain out of a molehill. In a classic case of blaming the victim, they blame Larz for taking this all too seriously and making it into a much bigger deal than it really is.
In order to put the actions of the Alta student who wore the hood in context and those who have defended his actions, let me tell a story about my own youth. When I was 13-14 years old I hung around with a group of boys who were very creative with their use of language, and specifically putting standard words to new uses. This largely served the function of creating a tight social network of those who were "in," i.e. those who understood the new usages of the word and could engage in the slang dialogue of the group. This language game took a decidedly ugly and racist turn after the TV mini-series Roots, based on Alex Haley's novel of the same name, aired on network TV, however. Not long after Roots aired, this group of young men with whom i associated, starting using the name of the main protagonist in the story, Kunta Kinte, as an insult, as in, "shut up you stupid Kunta Kinte!" Let me clarify, this was primarily used in my circle of friends as we jested and joked with each other. There were no African-American families or people in our community to actually use this with, and i'm confident we actually knew better than to use this language in their presence, but it became a part of our regular jargon. It wasn't limited to using Kunta Kinte as an epithet, however, we soon took it another step and started usually other racial slurs to belittle each other. Terms such as "jungle bunny," "spear chucker," "cotton picker," and "banana lips," were combined with Kunta Kinte as we insulted each other or other things we wanted to belittle. We became especially adept at using them in combination, e.g. "you're such a banana-lipped, spear chucking, jungle bunny!"
Of course i never used this language in my home or around my parents, but only with my group of friends. But it wasn't long before we did become more public in our use of this racist language. Most of us belonged to the scout troop associated with our local LDS congregation. Our scout troop (about 20 young men) was divided further into smaller "patrols" of 4-6 boys. Each patrol was assigned to pick a name for the patrol and design a patrol flag. So what did we decide to call out patrol? The "Kunta Kintes" of course. And how did we design our flag? We cut a white sheet into a nice, square, and then proceeded to draw a caricature of a black man in the middle of the flag, complete with oversized lips, large ears, and a big, flat nose. What is perhaps most startling, but not surprising in light of the current debate that has ensued since the Alta Spirit Assembly, is that as we went public with this flag and our new "patrol" name, not a single adult, or anyone for that matter, said a word about it. My friend's mom, at whose house we designed and made the flag, said nothing about it. Our scout master said nothing about it. In fact no one, at any scouting event or church where we paraded our new flag, said a word about it.
Now let me clarify, i knew that what we were doing was racist, but i went along with it. I laughed with the rest of the guys and used the same language when i wanted to insult them or engage in our juvenile banter. But i knew it was wrong. The fact, however, that not a single adult said anything to us gave us tacit approval for our actions. Their silence gave us the leeway to continue with the ugly words and hateful stereotypes and insults that we threw around casually in our everyday conversation, that we even proudly carried as a mascot in our scouting activities.
It appears now that the same type of silent and tacit approval of this type of activity has been going on at Alta for some time. But now that a courageous young man of color has called it out, we're seeing another level of resistance being raised by the primarily white community to defend the racist actions of the young men who have been protected by that very white privilege enough that they can claim they didn't see anything wrong with wearing a white hood cut from a pillow case and shouting "white power" at a spirit assembly. The silence has ended, but instead of seeing a critical introspection about how our actions just might hurt and offend others and bring up a violent past, we're hearing a chorus of white privilege claiming that it's not that big of a deal, it was just a joke that went wrong. It was not just a joke that went wrong, however, it was a decision, made by the young student at Alta, situated in a historical context of violence and intimidation, to take the very symbol of that violence and intimidation and wear it before his peers at a school-wide function. If he truly was ignorant of the historical context of his actions then shame on Alta High and his parents for failing to teach him, but this was a racist act, and cannot simply be dismissed as a bad decision.
Given the district's investigation of Alta, it appears that this was not an isolated event, but rather is just one act in a series of racially hostile and aggressive actions that have happened at Alta.
Rather than blaming Larz for making a big deal out of nothing, i hope we, and by we i am specifically referring to the majority white community that attends and has attended Alta high, can take a critical look at our actions and our words and recognize that what we sometimes see as just a joke, is actually representative of a very painful and violent past and present for those who do not share our white privilege.
Dr. Matt Bradley
Alta High '88
Not surprisingly, one of the most common responses to the charges of racism leveled against the Alta High student who paraded through the gymnasium wearing a white pillow case over his head in the fashion of a KKK hood, is that his actions were just an ill-informed joke, nothing to take offense at. "Yes," many of his defenders argue, "it was a bad decision, but hey, he's just a kid and he made a bad decision, so just let it go. It's really not that big of a deal." The folks who make this argument charge Larz, the young bi-racial man who posted a blog critical of his classmate's actions and brought it to the attention of the school administration, with making a mountain out of a molehill. In a classic case of blaming the victim, they blame Larz for taking this all too seriously and making it into a much bigger deal than it really is.
In order to put the actions of the Alta student who wore the hood in context and those who have defended his actions, let me tell a story about my own youth. When I was 13-14 years old I hung around with a group of boys who were very creative with their use of language, and specifically putting standard words to new uses. This largely served the function of creating a tight social network of those who were "in," i.e. those who understood the new usages of the word and could engage in the slang dialogue of the group. This language game took a decidedly ugly and racist turn after the TV mini-series Roots, based on Alex Haley's novel of the same name, aired on network TV, however. Not long after Roots aired, this group of young men with whom i associated, starting using the name of the main protagonist in the story, Kunta Kinte, as an insult, as in, "shut up you stupid Kunta Kinte!" Let me clarify, this was primarily used in my circle of friends as we jested and joked with each other. There were no African-American families or people in our community to actually use this with, and i'm confident we actually knew better than to use this language in their presence, but it became a part of our regular jargon. It wasn't limited to using Kunta Kinte as an epithet, however, we soon took it another step and started usually other racial slurs to belittle each other. Terms such as "jungle bunny," "spear chucker," "cotton picker," and "banana lips," were combined with Kunta Kinte as we insulted each other or other things we wanted to belittle. We became especially adept at using them in combination, e.g. "you're such a banana-lipped, spear chucking, jungle bunny!"
Of course i never used this language in my home or around my parents, but only with my group of friends. But it wasn't long before we did become more public in our use of this racist language. Most of us belonged to the scout troop associated with our local LDS congregation. Our scout troop (about 20 young men) was divided further into smaller "patrols" of 4-6 boys. Each patrol was assigned to pick a name for the patrol and design a patrol flag. So what did we decide to call out patrol? The "Kunta Kintes" of course. And how did we design our flag? We cut a white sheet into a nice, square, and then proceeded to draw a caricature of a black man in the middle of the flag, complete with oversized lips, large ears, and a big, flat nose. What is perhaps most startling, but not surprising in light of the current debate that has ensued since the Alta Spirit Assembly, is that as we went public with this flag and our new "patrol" name, not a single adult, or anyone for that matter, said a word about it. My friend's mom, at whose house we designed and made the flag, said nothing about it. Our scout master said nothing about it. In fact no one, at any scouting event or church where we paraded our new flag, said a word about it.
Now let me clarify, i knew that what we were doing was racist, but i went along with it. I laughed with the rest of the guys and used the same language when i wanted to insult them or engage in our juvenile banter. But i knew it was wrong. The fact, however, that not a single adult said anything to us gave us tacit approval for our actions. Their silence gave us the leeway to continue with the ugly words and hateful stereotypes and insults that we threw around casually in our everyday conversation, that we even proudly carried as a mascot in our scouting activities.
It appears now that the same type of silent and tacit approval of this type of activity has been going on at Alta for some time. But now that a courageous young man of color has called it out, we're seeing another level of resistance being raised by the primarily white community to defend the racist actions of the young men who have been protected by that very white privilege enough that they can claim they didn't see anything wrong with wearing a white hood cut from a pillow case and shouting "white power" at a spirit assembly. The silence has ended, but instead of seeing a critical introspection about how our actions just might hurt and offend others and bring up a violent past, we're hearing a chorus of white privilege claiming that it's not that big of a deal, it was just a joke that went wrong. It was not just a joke that went wrong, however, it was a decision, made by the young student at Alta, situated in a historical context of violence and intimidation, to take the very symbol of that violence and intimidation and wear it before his peers at a school-wide function. If he truly was ignorant of the historical context of his actions then shame on Alta High and his parents for failing to teach him, but this was a racist act, and cannot simply be dismissed as a bad decision.
Given the district's investigation of Alta, it appears that this was not an isolated event, but rather is just one act in a series of racially hostile and aggressive actions that have happened at Alta.
Rather than blaming Larz for making a big deal out of nothing, i hope we, and by we i am specifically referring to the majority white community that attends and has attended Alta high, can take a critical look at our actions and our words and recognize that what we sometimes see as just a joke, is actually representative of a very painful and violent past and present for those who do not share our white privilege.
Dr. Matt Bradley
Alta High '88
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