Photo credit:Laura Hirsch, grade 12. Forum leaders from left to right in picture: Jimmy Martinez, Justice Williams, Korri Benton-Pettiford, Mia Goldstein, Sofia Petros, Sam Peers, Diandra Allen.
On Thursday, December 11, Columbia High School students organized and held a series of forums on race. Here CHS senior — and forum organizer — Mia Goldstein explains:
How it was put together:
Sofia [Petros] and I had met with the key members of the administration, as well as [SOMSD In-House Counsel] Phil Stern to discuss the format, our goals, and to reserve a space.
How it was moderated:
It was moderated by a panel of seven senior leaders: Diandra Allen, Korri Benton-Pettiford, Mia Goldstein, James Martinez, Sam Peers-Nitzberg, Sofia Petros, and Justice Williams. There was an administrator present each period, but they let us facilitate the discussion entirely.
When we began each period, we’d hand out a small sheet of paper with the rules for discussion on it as well as a couple of ice-breaking questions. The rules were in place to ensure that everyone would speak respectfully and so that the students knew that each opinion and experience is equally valuable.
Because we only had three lunch periods of 45 minutes each, we could only scratch the surface of these issues. Luckily Principal Aaron wants to make these forums a regular thing so we can really get to the root of the issue and not just hit the tip of the iceberg.
As moderators, we would pose questions like, “Is CHS truly as liberal as we claim to be and are we truly diverse?” and “Is Columbia High School even integrated?” We covered topics that ranged from “reverse racism” to privilege and institutional racism as it pertains to SOMSD.
Number of people in attendance:
I’m not sure exactly how many students were in attendance, but we were well over the capacity of the Black Box theatre. We filled the floors with people and there was hardly any standing room.
About the Forum:
We weren’t there to talk about the protests or the non-indictments in the Garner and Brown cases; the purpose of the forum was to discuss race as it pertains to student life at CHS. What we found was unsurprising given the structure of the district, but it was important for our school (which prides itself on its statistical “diversity”) to actually unite and discuss the issues that divide us.
What we found is something I’m deeming “academic mobility.” It’s nearly impossible for students in lower-level classes (who are predominantly black) to move up a level, and on the same coin, it’s nearly impossible for an honors student to move down. There is a clear difference in expectation in this school when it comes to the treatment of black students versus white students. The overall consensus of those in attendance is that CHS is a tale of two schools—two separate institutions, sharing a building.
Students opened themselves up to the perspectives of others and came to an understanding that the CHS experience is diverse instead of pretending that we all experience the same school.
Read Board of Education Student Representative Maggie Kritzberg’s report on the forums to the BOE here.
