Racism

Their classmate called them the n-word and told them they couldn’t do anything and said they looked like monkeys and swung from trees. The two 5th-grade boys came in to homework club on this festive day, their eyes brimming with pain. I don’t really know J., but I work with I. every single day. How should I respond? When I heard the story, I felt like I’d been kicked in the stomach. It was at that moment I realized I’ve never actually encountered such blatant racism first-hand before. It shocked me. I didn’t want to believe that anyone (even immature 5th-/6th-grade boys) still thought that way, or at the least still acted on those thoughts. The other kids asked them why they didn’t respond to the kid with in-kind put-downs or physical aggression. But wasn’t it obvious? Their spirits were crushed; they were too stunned and hurt; they would only get in trouble if they started a fight or an argument. And to top it all off, the vice principal didn’t believe their story. I thought I knew that this sort of stuff still went on in 21st-century America, but obviously I didn’t really know it…