A Long Ago Reflection

It just so happens that among the other TFA teachers at my school, two of them went to the University of Washington - and one of them was even in a sorority up the street. Even more weird is the fact that our classrooms are all within 20 feet of one another. So today the three of us sat and watched the Huskies get trounced by Nebraska, and the conversations unavoidably touched on things about Richmond High and teaching in general. Often talk about work feels like a disease you can't get rid of, but this time was different in that we discussed our first impressions of other people and RHS and talked about how the perception of TFA at our school has changed year-to-year with the changes in administration. Amidst all that, I remembered one thing that I had planned on writing about on here but had forgotten to do a while back. Something in the conversation made me bring up last year's race riot at nearby De Anza High School last year spurred by a group of black girls vandalizing the school lockers with "F*** Mexicans" in graffiti, and I recalled this being one of my biggest culture shocks of my experience last year.

Hostility between Blacks and Latinos in this community is to an extent that I never expected, and initially it didn't make sense to me. For some reason I assumed that the two groups, both historically oppressed in one way or another by upper-class white people would be somewhat united in their shared situation. It doesn't make sense to me that while the Black and Latino identities are fighting nationally against stereotypes and fighting for respect and positions of leadership, that so much hatred exists between them in a place like Richmond. I realize now though, that in this type of situation, it's a fight for superiority - or rather, it is a fight for who is not the lowest class. It's so sad to me that this community has the unique perspective to know how damaging discrimination can be, and yet so many race problems still happen on the streets of Richmond. A lot of it is gang-based, and a lot of problems begin or culminate at school.

Racial slurs are heard all too often in the hallways at school, and I can't believe how freely the word n***** is thrown around by Latino boys. And when I try to shut it down in class, my students laugh and tell me that nobody is offended by that word at school. I shut it down regardless, but I'm sure my classroom language rules have little effect on the RHS vernacular. From an outsider's perspective, with how much "playful verbal hostility" goes on daily, it's no wonder things get out of control so fast and fights break out so often. It's all fun and games until someone takes you seriously.