Black students at Boston Latin School have started a campaign against the racism they say persists at the nation's oldest public school.
In a YouTube video, organizers Kylie Webster Cazeau and Meggie Noel pointed to examples that range from the annoying to the infuriating - and urge other students to post examples under the hashtag #blackatbls:
"When you're the only black student in your AP US history course and when slavery comes up, they all turn to you," Cazeau says. She continues that when she collected "racial slurs and negative things about students of color" tweeted by white BLS students and printed them out and gave that to BLS Headmaster Lynne Mooney Teta, she did "nothing about it."
Responding - on Twitter - to the campaign, Mooney Teta writes:
Thank you #BLACKatBLS for bringing your concerns forward. Eager to work together to create a better BLS climate for all.
Some other examples cited by students on Twitter:
That one time I had to do in house suspension for cutting school because a Teacher saw a black girl exiting the bldg #ItWasntMe
"Can you come to Westie to work on the group project cause my mom said I'm not allowed in Dorchester"
"I don't know how to describe you, you speak too white to be ghetto"
When your people's history is completely disregarded
when people tell you you'll get into college only because you're black
when your teacher calls you the name of three different black girls in the grade cause y'all "look exactly alike"
When your peers are shocked at your success because they've let stereotypes define our degree of intelligence
When POC are the majority at every other BPS high school except for the one with the most opportunity
When you can't even have a hashtag voicing your experiences without white people somehow taking offense
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Comments
So are you suggesting that as
By anon
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 8:06am
So are you suggesting that as a white person I have done something wrong? And all other white people have done something wrong? What's your point of this article Adam?
Yeah, it's always about white people
By adamg
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 8:16am
Just like women complaining about stuff is always about all men.
Nobody's blaming you personally, Mr. or Ms. Anonymous, and nobody's asking you to do anything. But maybe if you'd turn off your Insta-Whine for a moment and actually listen to what these kids are saying, you'd realize that life's not all peaches and cream even at BLS, and that members of a particular group (in this case, black students) might actually have to deal with stuff that you never do.
I would just like to see you
By anon
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 8:19am
I would just like to see you being a little less irresponsible in the sense of falsely accusing people of not caring about any other race than white. That is dangerous and not acceptable.
Thin skinned much? Dangerous, really?
By adamg
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 8:30am
I'm no South End millennial looking to get drunk at a wine tasting and run down to Roxbury and start a race riot, please.
Where did I accuse somebody of anything and get all tough and dangerous? I was answering questions from somebody who seems to think that writing about a group of black kids complaining about something was akin to inciting violence.
"I was answering questions
By relaxyapsycho
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 8:32am
"I was answering questions from somebody who seems to think that writing about a group of black kids complaining about something was akin to inciting violence."
Where did that happen?
Right there
By lbb
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 9:10am
Right in Adam's comment. This is the asinine strawman question he was answering.
If the words in Adam's response are too hard for you, then perhaps "Of course not" and "Read it without a chip on your shoulder and it's obvious" will have to do for you.
Um, not getting that at all from Adam, Anon...
By whyaduck
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 8:32am
The young people have valid points. Racism is still present in many forms in our society (even if folks like you love to deflect that fact). And apparently at Boston Latin there appears to be an unfortunate issue.
Go to any predominantly black HS in Boston
By anon
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 8:54am
Pull a white and/or Asian student aside and ask them similar question, you'll get the same answers.
Really?
By lbb
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 9:12am
Really? White and/or Asian students say that people say to them that they'll get into college only because they're white and/or Asian? Or maybe that they speak too black to be white and/or Asian?
I went to a BPS HS
By anon
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 9:20am
And was given crap routinely for being white. Less the kids i associated with, my name and every other white kids name was "white boy."
I was always treated unfairly by teachers of color, except for two who i still see in Rozie Sq every now and then. Two of the nicest women i have ever meet!
I'v heard people ask Asian students if they eat dog. So ya it does happen, and its far from uncommon.
Still does not negate the fact
By whyaduck
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 12:26pm
of what is currently going on at BLS. Apples and Oranges. Oranges and Apples.
BPL?
By Allstonian
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 10:28am
What's going on at the library? And what does that have to do with BLS?
Typo
By whyaduck
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 12:26pm
Corrected.
Nothing negated
By anon
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 2:18pm
I don’t think the above post was meant to negate anything. Rather it was to point out that anyone can be the recipient of racist, disrespectful treatment. Everyone needs to be aware of how they treat others and be respectful. Of course, we all know that. And it doesn’t lessen anything that happens at BLS.
It's called white privilege
By Waquiot
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 9:25am
You know, the system is stacked to get white kids into college while the system is stacked to get black kids into jail. As far as Asians go, well, they are naturally smart, right? The statements are as untrue as saying that someone attending the most academically challenging school in the city somehow got into a college "because they are black."
I'm sure one of the points the guy meant was the "they all turn to you" comment.
The people of color argument had to be modified
By bulgingbuick
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 10:02am
when activists realized that Asians were outperforming everyone. Now its address the needs of people of color EXCEPT Asians. As Hispanic students outnumber Black students will we see antagonism towards Hispanic progression?
Ummm, no.
By anon
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 9:34am
Ummm, no.
I went to English High in the 80's (after leaving BLS - and no it wasn't b/c I couldn't do the work). As a white girl I was the minority and what you are trying to say never happened. I was actually more accepted by my peers at English than I was at BLS.
Why do white people have such a hard time with admitting the absolute systematic racism that happens every day in this country?
Adam isn't doing anything dangerous. He posted an article about shit that happens to these students. What would be dangerous is if he DIDN'T post it. Conversations need to start happening people!
Maybe instead of getting your tidy whities all up in a bunch you can try to see things from a non white privilege perspective. And yes if you are white you have white privilege. Realize it, accept it, move on from getting your white feathers ruffled and maybe try & make a change.
Sweetie
By whyaduck
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 9:49am
I work for MIT (which, you might not know, has oh, a few Asian students) and some of our black students are also feeling less than.
Want to try again?
Official "Non" Minority
By SwirlyGrrl
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 11:18am
As of 1985 or so, "Asian" was not considered to be an underrepresented group at MIT.
While there may be many
By anon
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 11:30am
While there may be many students at MIT who are from China and India, there may not be many from say Cambodia or Laos. Please don't lump all Asians into a single category by saying: "Asian" was not considered to be an underrepresented group at MIT.
Thanks.
And yet its OK to lump all
By bgl
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 12:39pm
And yet its OK to lump all the white and black people together? What about Ethnicity and Hispanics?
We're not supposed to say
By Refugee
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 10:31pm
We're not supposed to say "Hispanic" anymore. It's considered a bad word. You're supposed to say "Latino."
Seriously, if you submit a research paper containing the word Hispanic, then a standards committee will kick it back to you and tell you to correct your error.
Semantics?
By Mjolnir
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 11:10pm
Are you sure you weren't just using the wrong form? Hispanics and Latino/as are not the same. A Brazilian would be Latin but not Spanish, a Mexican would be both. And a Xicano.
Not a bad word
By Abrasax
Thu, 01/21/2016 - 5:56pm
Hispanic isn't a bad word, but it isn't a very accurate descriptor and it's usage is becoming more and more outdated. So it's not so much about being PC as it is about learning how to write with a professional or journalistic standard. I wouldn't use words like Afro-American, Anglo or Oriental to describe people, even though they're not typically offensive words. Usage of those descriptors would make the writer sound like she hadn't written in a few decades. Even Caucasian turns out to be a silly nonsensical word since it has been used to describe people from so many disparate places: Irish, Turks, British, Armenians, white Americans.
Surely the same goes for "white"?
By Mjolnir
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 2:29pm
These monoliths are not so monolithic, as people of Boston know very well. The English, Irish, and Italian are not the same group, and those three are substantially different from Germans and Russians, Polish, etc.
Who are you to tell me that?
By Pete Nice
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 2:41pm
I will tell you who is white or not white.
Not sure what your comment has to do with my comment.
By whyaduck
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 12:36pm
3.5% of MIT's current student body is black (this has been the percentage since 2004, according to the below article).
http://news.mit.edu/2015/black-student-leaders-rec...
It appears, per this article, that the black student body perhaps has more concerns than our "Asian" student body (not to say that they might have a different set of issues/concerns regarding how they are treated)- that was my point, in response to the original post.
Aaaahahahahaha
By erik g
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 8:57am
Oh anon, you warm my heart. How dare someone have the audacity--the AUDACITY--to question your god-given right to merrily bludgeon your way through life without being told things you don't want to hear.
Anyway, I'll be back with a UHub Racism Bingo Card as soon as I can get to a non-work computer.
Ooooh
By lbb
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 9:07am
"Ooooh, how grimy and sooty is your ugly ass!" said the pot to the kettle. Irresponsible? Falsely accusing people? Your post is full of both of these things.
When the hell did Adam do what you're accusing him of?
By bibliotequetress
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 6:44pm
And drop the "anon" crap if you're going to accuse anyone here of "attacking" you. Takes no time at all.
neighborhood tag?
By bob
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 8:30am
why is this post tagged "roxbury"?
you even mention dorchester in the article. I bring it up because the media has historically used "roxbury" to mean black, and I am hoping we can move forward from that.
Otherwise, I am happy to see that you made space for these students.
Because of where the school is
By adamg
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 9:04am
Yes, it's a citywide school, but it's physically in Roxbury.
Uh, really?
By lbb
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 9:14am
I would have said that it was in the West Fens, or if you insist, in the Longwood Medical Area.
It's in LMA, yes
By adamg
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 9:29am
And LMA is part of Roxbury.
If you say so
By lbb
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 11:11am
I used to live in the West Fens, and I would have said that BLS was a neighborhood school. Certainly they used the park for sports practices.
And they still do
By adamg
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 11:40am
Clemente Field is as close as BLS gets to an official field. But it's on the other side of the river. OK, not much of a river, but still ...
The Muddy River is a Mighty Conveyance
By 500Monkeys
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 2:12pm
The Muddy River is a Mighty Conveyance with a long and noble history. Just... sometimes much more river than it should be:
Muddy River Restoration and Olmsted's Vision
Mighty Conveyance? You've got
By chaosjake
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 3:22pm
Mighty Conveyance? You've got that right!
Actually, Fenway
By A
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 3:09pm
Actually, according to the government website its 02115 is Fenway.
http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/docs/dcf/boston-office-b...
Don't use Zip codes ...
By adamg
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 4:58pm
They're a decent approximation, but most of lower Roxbury is 02118 - and that's not the only variance in the city.
Actually, 02115 also covers
By anon
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 5:07pm
Actually, 02115 also covers the Back Bay.
If Sarah P. WESSMANN, p.p.a.
By wtf021
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 9:08am
If Sarah P. WESSMANN, p.p.a. Henry Robert Wessmann, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. Robert P. GITTENS, Chairperson of the Boston School Committee, et al., Defendants, Appellees. was in place back in 1992 I might have been admitted to BLS. I was denied because I was white.
Why would you have gotten in?
By lbb
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 11:15am
On what grounds would you have been admitted now that excluded you then? Did you outperform other students who were admitted on the exam (and were the exam -- and race, as you claim -- the only criteria for admission)? Or were you a non-Boston resident, product of private or suburban schools, who (after eight years of superior educational advantages) wanted admission to a Boston public school?
Sorry, It was me and my four brothers and sisters from Ireland.
By Padhraic
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 12:16pm
We came over illegally, scored extremely well on the entrance exam (I wore Acid wash jeans that day, oh the horror) and then took your seat. Sorry, not sorry.
My brother didn't get in and
By anon
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 2:23pm
My brother didn't get in and I did. You know what he didn't do? Blame a person of color.
This article is about "When
By anon
Thu, 01/21/2016 - 4:42am
This article is about "When you're the only black student in your AP US history course and when slavery comes up, they all turn to you," yet it's the parent post that's "whining." Riiiight.
So are you suggesting that as
By Scratchie
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 11:27am
Not at all. But one thing you (as a white person) could do, that would be really, really helpful, would be to assemble a list of what things black kids are allowed to be offended by. I'm sure you're up to it.
Not wrong for being white
By SwirlyGrrl
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 11:29am
Our Zero is wrong for being white AND oblivious AND entitled about having some "right" to be oblivious (defensive when others state the obvious because it conflicts with being special).
https://www.facebook.com/theguardian/videos/101538...
The point of this article is
By Carolyn Parker
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 7:31pm
The point of this article is draw attention to a very important issue that is often overlooked in our school community. It's important to understand we are not "blaming" white people. Our goal isn't to make people feel guilty. Our goal is to educate, inform and make change. What we wish is to be acknowledged and respected in our communities, in school and out.
I guess I'm getting old
By mrotown
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 8:20am
I just can't take anything seriously when it's accompanied by a #
#Iamseriousandstopcallingmeshirly
By Pete Nice
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 8:54am
#nt
"Looks like I picked the
By anon
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 9:36am
"Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue!"
I guess I'm getting old too, because
By peter
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 12:48pm
I get annoyed when people use "old" to imply "fuddy duddy stick in the mud refusing to acknowledge anything invented after they got their first gray hair" *especially when it appears calculated to be dismissive of an underrepresented group's message*
I'm old too. Other old people may remember a time not that long ago when previous curmudgeons were lamenting how they couldn't take anything seriously if it was reported on a computer screen :) And yet, here we all are, commenting on a web based news site. (And before that monks were complaining about printing presses, and before that Socrates was complaining about the popularity of writing.)
Why do older folks on this
By 2
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 1:00pm
Why do older folks on this site so proudly broadcast their refusal to accept present and future social technologies, especially when said technology is tied to teenagers aka the future of our world?
These students are using a technology that is tied to our socio-global networks, which allow them to easily share with a broader base how the atmosphere in their school negatively affects them. That hashtag will also allow for their classmates and alumni to chime in with their own experiences at BLS. Yet, you think that it's funny to dismiss this fact, announce about how narrow-minded you are because you think their message shouldn't be taken seriously because of a hashtag, all while throwing in an unspoken, 'Kids these days!'
KiK and Yik-Yak is slightly ahead for me as they are for the HS and current college crowd, but I don't find cause to dismiss it because it doesn't disseminate information the way I've always been taught to (which is changing every day).
That closed-off way of thinking doesn't look favorably on you.
But...
By anon
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 8:32am
Students of color are a majority at BLS--52.7% (http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/profiles/student.aspx...)
Maybe they don't think Asians count as non-white.
Yes, but ...
By adamg
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 9:06am
Since you seem to have ready access to the stats, compare the number of black (and Hispanic) kids at BLS with the numbers in the rest of BPS.
Statistics are a funny thing
By Waquiot
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 9:20am
Compared to BPS as a whole, yes, Latin is whiter, but compare Latin to the average for high schools across the Commonwealth and it is very diverse.
That said, the movement has nothing to do with being a "minority" at Latin. It has to do with being black, which is a bit different than being Asian at Latin. Sure, send these kids to Concord-Carlisle and they will get this shit, but all their classmates are Bostonians, so we should be doing a better job in getting along.
I'm usually thin skinned to cries to racism, but their gripes seem reasonable.
Maybe
By Roman
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 11:35pm
but all's I know is that back in the day, lily-white me in a lily-white suburban high school got detention for something I didn't do that had more to do with the teacher being an ass than with racism.
Maybe Boston has equal opportunity asses, too?
I also remember the whole class turning to me when Soviet Russia came up in history class, and I don't recall being nearly as worked up about it as this young woman seems to be.
Maybe it's just instinct and the class didn't mean anything nasty by it?
Or it's Racism!(TM), the one, the only, the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems.
Are you saying
By anon
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 9:23am
A multiple choice exam is racist?
Whats racist the multiple choice format or the Scantron? I bet its those racist Scantrons.
Nope
By adamg
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 9:34am
I'm not saying the ISEE is racist, as opposed to past standardized tests.
I am saying that BLS is whiter and, um, East Asianer than BPS as a whole, by a significant margin. And I will say there are reasons for that that go beyond a simple standardized test.
So are you saying East Asian
By anon
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 9:51am
So are you saying East Asian students and their parents are racists? I don't understand. What are you implying, but not saying? I went to a public school which didn't even offer AP classes let alone have the money to always heat the building in the winter, so I'm not acquainted with elite exam school
speak.
You're not really that dense, are you?
By adamg
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 11:44am
No, I'm not saying East Asian parents are any more racist than the white parents with kids at BLS. That doesn't negate the issue of that there are fewer blacks and Hispanics at BLS than at other BPS schools. The reasons behind that statistic are many and longstanding and obviously not easily fixed, but just ignoring them doesn't make them go away or absolve us (excluding, of course, many of the anons here who obviously don't care) from wondering if something could be done about them.
not again...
By bibliotequetress
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 7:25pm
Before you post again, anon, look here so you don't write something stupid.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/CMi3nT][img]https://farm2.static... Flickr
No doubt.
By Sally
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 12:26pm
And yet I wish that these young women, with their tremendous energy and intelligence, were tackling broader issues of why that is rather than just carp about this or that slight. Trust me--I have years of BLS stories about racial and ethnic issues, from grouchy old white teachers and cosseted Westie kids not wanting to go to xyz, not to mention threats and fights and name-calling between Southie kids and black kids, bullying of Jewish kids...honestly it goes on and on. But I guess I'd rather see more people figure out how we get BLS to look more like the rest of the BPS. I've written here before about my kid's incredibly diverse elementary classes which then split in 4th grade--most white kids, Asian kids, many new immigrant kids of all shades, went to AWC, while the "regular Ed" classes were majority American-born black kids and Hispanic kids. The black and Hispanic kids who were in AWC faced innumerable hurdles in my observation, from parental and economic issues but also with a lot of negative peer pressure along the "you think you're white" variety. And those classes--private and parochial schools aside--are the main feeder for the exam schools. I just wish that we could start tackling this split then, when kids are eight, not eighteen.
Rewind, reverse that
By Sock_Puppet
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 12:38pm
I guess I'd rather see more people figure out how we get the rest of BPS to look more like BLS.
I think you are missing the point, Sally.
By whyaduck
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 12:40pm
Yes, all well and good. But these students have specific and apparently documented concerns. And what is more broader (as well as important) that tackling the issue of racism in any way, shape or form? I applaud them at such a young age to do so. And if the headmaster "poo-pooed" their concerns, than shame on her.
How on earth do you start monitoring Twitter?
By Sally
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 1:04pm
I'm all for addressing current issues at the school but I honestly can't imagine that BLS administrators have the wherewithal to get involved with student scraps on Twitter unless there are actual threats or really egregious examples of racist language or behavior. And sorry, but how do you start tackling issues of racism at the school if the incidents are on the scale of "everyone looks at you" when slavery is discussed? Call me crazy--I'm still more bothered by the notion that there's only one black student in the AP History class.
Not to mention
By bosguy22
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 2:46pm
How does the school prove a student is the author of a specific twitter account. I could start @SallyonUhub and say all kinds of nasty things.
not as hard as you may think
By bibliotequetress
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 7:36pm
Most students aren't on snapchat, twitter, et cetera, anonymously. They may have a pseudonym-- as I do-- but that's different from actual anonymity. For example, BLS Wolfpack has fewer than 500 followers on twitter. If 20 people who know each other are tweeting or tagging during a game all of them are attending, they'll figure out who's who.
Making this all easier is that most of the students I know incorporate their name or a distinctive identifying feature into their handle.
Yes, people can start anon accounts to troll, but that doesn't seem to be the case here.
What are the total city stats though?
By anon
Wed, 01/20/2016 - 10:15am
How do the demographics of the general Boston population of high school kids compare to BLS and BPS? I have always assumed the percentage of white kids is less than at BLS but higher of course than BPS as there is a lot of parochial/private school opt out by white middle class families. But is that true?
BTW, this is not to say these black kids aren't right to bring up their issues with the school. I just hate the zero sum approach of some people that because lots of white families opt out of BPS k-8 that means it's problematic that they opt into exam schools.
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