via U.S. Air Force
Three years ago, white students at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in the Bronx once sang out the n-word and other misogynistic and homophobic slurs. It was caught on video, a video that’s recently surfaced.
Now, students attending the school today are taking action in a way school officials have never had the courage to.
In response to the school’s lack of response (to the video and to a “culture of bias”), an alliance called Students of Color Matter led a sit-in.
They barricaded doors, blocking administrators from entering the school. They shut the whole place down, then locked themselves in overnight.
From this protest came an impressive list of demands, including disciplinary action against students in the video, more faculty of color, racial bias training for employees, and a new system to report any bigoted incidents.
After 72 hours, the protest proved to be successful - all 20 of their demands were accepted!
Clearly, systemic racism is everywhere, including in schools that laud themselves as progressive and diverse.
But with students like this - who are using the power of civil disobedience that won so many of us our civil rights - the future is bright for Black youth.
In the words of Huey P. Newton, “The young always inherit the revolution.” Look at what the young are already doing with it!