LISTEN UP RIVERDALE: Four Black Students Urge Us to Act and Reflect to Ensure that Every Community Member Is Accepted and Safe

Oct 14

Oct 14 LISTEN UP RIVERDALE: Four Black Students Urge Us to Act and Reflect to Ensure that Every Community Member Is Accepted and Safe

Mari Caffey, Awa Diop, Esi Samuels & Ava Frankel

Shortly after videos of George Floyd’s brutal murder began circulating on the internet, Black Lives Matter protests broke out across America. Police brutality is not a new phenomenon. In fact, many videos and stories of unjust killings of black people have gone viral in the past, but almost none of these killings have resulted in such a visceral reaction nationwide. It is traumatizing to watch someone who looks like you be killed on camera. Watching these acts of racial violence occur repeatedly and the murderers never being brought to justice makes the situation even worse for black viewers.

In addition to being a platform for news about such atrocities to spread like wildfire, social media has played an integral role in dispersing information and awareness about racism in the United States. Instagram accounts like @blackatdalton, @blackatfieldston, and @rivspeaksout created a space for black students and alumni to anonymously share accounts of racism at their predominantly white institutions. While black voices were still centered, @rivspeaksout allows space for anyone to share their experiences of marginalization at Riverdale. This summer, past and present students began sharing stories of racist, sexist, and homophobic aggressions that they experienced at the hands of teachers and other students. As black students at Riverdale, it was not surprising to us that the members of our community were capable of hurting others, but seeing so much hatred and aggression in one place was shocking. On one hand, it felt good seeing people share experiences similar to our own as it made us feel like we were not alone. However, if Riverdale is constantly evolving in so many ways, why are black students like me having the same unjust experiences as people who graduated years before us?

These accounts make it blatantly clear that the Riverdale community has a long way to go until it can ensure that all of its students are safe from discrimination and such aggression, so we encourage you all to practice allyship. Recall that feeling in the pit of your stomach as you read posts about racism, sexism, and homophobia. That sense of dread when the topic of slavery comes up in a class. That feeling when you think you are not going to say the right thing in a discussion on social identifiers. Is that feeling uncomfortable? Good.

We want you to sit in that feeling. Lean into it. It is a privilege to be able to ignore these feelings and walk in a space of comfort and safety. To not have to worry about the next time a student touches your hair without permission, a teacher calls you by the wrong name, or a stranger on the street could mischaracterize you by the color of your skin and becomes a threat to your life is a world not available to everyone. Many of your peers of color, female-identifying peers, and peers across the LGBTQ+ spectrum do not experience the luxury of ignoring these issues. Every student wants to feel accepted, heard, and appreciated, but this can only happen if those who do not experience prejudice for their social identifiers reflect internally and support those who do not experience their privilege. Ask yourself: “Why do I feel uncomfortable talking about these issues?,” and “How does my silence during these conversations affect those around me?”

Some nonchalant members of our community might question why it is important for them to act and be an ally. If you care about the marginalized people around you, it should not feel like a burden to do your part to make Riverdale a fully-inclusive community. Marginalized people at Riverdale are your friends, peers, classmates and teammates. They are allies to you when you need them, so I implore you to reciprocate that empathy and allyship. It will be a life-long balance of listening and asking questions and turning those conversations into actions, but that process will never start if you never lean in.

Acknowledging and empathizing with the realities of our community through internal and external dialogue using these questions is only the beginning. Riverdale cannot advance as an institution without recognizing the traumas it inflicted on so many. The subtle microaggressions, ignorance, bullying, biases, and violence chip away at some of our student body. Even though we should amplify marginalized voices, they are continuously ignored.

Riverdale cannot proudly promote the motto of “community” unless everyone in the community plays an active role in preventing such traumas from occurring in the future. As you educate yourself and reflect on your role, we also urge you to be mindful of how you obtain information that can be found through some quick research on the internet.

Though many students with differing social identifiers are open to converse with you, it is not their responsibility to make you a more inclusive human being. Truthfully, it should be our institution that teaches and answers your questions, but it seems as though our own teachers are not equipped enough for those “difficult” conversations.

Many teachers are quick to dismiss questions regarding race, using sayings like “that is not my expertise or my field of study.” Quite frankly, that is an excuse that teachers use to avoid uncomfortable conversations that some of their students have to grapple with daily. Even the few teachers that attempt to discuss race do it in a rushed manner that does not do justice to the subject matter.

If we do not learn about racism and other forms of discrimination from our teachers, how can we prevent ignorance or microaggressions at school, which can transform into more dangerous manifestations of prejudice, like police brutality? Education has the power to shape the minds of our leaders and authority figures, so teachers and Riverdale as an institution should not shy away from such discussions no matter how uncomfortable they can be. It pains us that it took this long and this much pressure for stories within our communities to be heard and acted upon. Regardless, these events of racial oppression and protests this summer allow us to look forward to a Riverdale that can make students feel like they truly belong.