Addressing Racially-Charged Hate Speech at School

As some of our community members may know, though the members of Unfiltered knew of each other before working together, most of us had never really had a full conversation. However, our first meeting turned into an emotional six-hour long conversation about our experiences at GL, how we wished we’d had each other for support, about how we wished we’d seen administration actually respond to instances of racial bias with clear consequences, and how helpless we felt, being surrounded by classmates and faculty, who didn’t seem to get it or to care at all. We’ve seen and heard comments around town that “racism doesn’t exist in Berkeley Heights”, that BIPOC and their allies in town are being too sensitive and are calling for the inhibition of free speech, and that the once peaceful, neighborly towns of Berkeley Heights and Mountainside are being disrupted by unnecessary activism.

For those of us who have experienced or witnessed racism, we have not felt heard.

We want to attend schools and live within a community that deems racism as seen and unacceptable.

We’ve decided to share some of the things that have happened to us or things we saw, and the lack of associated consequences, to hopefully clarify why the assumption that “racism does not exist within the BHPS district” is not accurate.

Throughout high school, self-deprecating humor was Kenedi Facey's safety net when she felt awkward about directly addressing the racist comments and microaggressions that often came her way. "You're pretty for a Black girl" were words that she received throughout her time at Governor Livingston high school that made her feel excluded from what she thought beauty "looked like" at the time. Kenedi remembers the time when she was denied entry at a high school party and was called racial slurs due to the color of her and her friend’s skin. Kenedi recalls a time when a classmate shared with her: “My family and I do not go to Walmart because there are too many Black people”. She also recalls a time when another classmate comfortably said, “If a Black person only has White friends, then you know they’re a good one. You’re a good one.” The deploring comments and microaggressions never subsided; she not only expected the completely ignorant comments, but she had no choice but to accept them.

Who was she to turn to when no one seemed to listen?

As a high-performing student athlete, Victoria Vanriele experienced the discordant dismissal of her work ethic and belittling of her accomplishments. A student suggested that the primary reason she would get into certain prestigious universities was a result of being Black and not her credentials. It was implied that she would take away a spot from a white student and because universities take into account diversity in their admissions decision, she would get priority. While it is true that universities do indeed consider diversity, it is because they recognize that people who live in predominantly Black communities are often at an unfair educational disadvantage due to inadequate resources but all else being equal, they are just as capable of excelling as other races. Even so, Black students are admitted into selective universities at a very small number, hardly ever a critical mass. As a top athlete in the state, at several of her races, it was suggested to her that she does not belong in a distance-running setting because many stereotype Black people solely as sprinters.

She believes that everyone has a responsibility to proactively rid the community of racism and for everyone to see Black people as being equals and deserving of every good opportunity.

For Noah Brogden, high school was also a time where he encountered racial slurs and disparaging racial comments. One comment he had to face frequently was “you’re not really/actually Black”. Whenever he had the composure to ask why a specific someone would say that, he was often met with the following: “You’re not like the other Black people, you don’t sound Black, you’re pretty white for a Black guy, and being half Black isn’t really Black.” Although he never complained about said comments officially to avoid creating a bigger situation, these frequent remarks caused a lot of insecurities and frustrations for Noah. He didn’t want to get people in trouble for ignorant speech or even a joke, but continued to be harassed. In more serious incidents Noah has been referred to as a “n****r” by white students as both an insult and a joke, the former leading to an altercation that caused disciplinary action for all parties. During instances when the word wasn’t used as an insult, Noah would kindly ask whoever was using the word to stop using it. Though, this nearly never worked because they’d stop, but then the next day he’d hear the slur again. This can be further seen for Noah because of how members on his sports teams would use racial slurs, but receive no repercussions if they were “good” players. The lack of accountability seemed as if the issue of racism at school was not a big deal to the students, faculty, and coaches as Governor Livingston.

If there was one thing Noah wished he’d done in high school it would’ve been to stand up and make sure those who knowingly used abusive language towards students were held accountable.

Constantly hearing the phrase “you’re basically white” in our predominantly white town often silenced Tara when she saw bias because she feared falling into the stereotype of being the token person of color. Assimilating and agreeing with untrue statements about her perceived “whiteness” seemed to make people feel more comfortable around her and shielded her from jokes she heard about other Indian-American students, such as “all Indians smell bad”, or “all Indians work at the gas station”. Those making the jokes didn’t consider that she might be offended by these slights, because after all, she was “basically White” and “not really Asian”. Both of those phrases were implied as compliments, however, it should not be a “compliment” to be White or white passing. For Tara, constantly being told that “Whiteness” was better than her own race contributed to cognitive dissonance and an internalized shame about her race and her culture. Most importantly, it often silenced her when she saw other people of color experiencing microaggressions and direct racism. To speak against racism in a homogenous student body often meant disrupting the facade of assimilation to become an oversensitive, token person of color, incapable of “taking a joke”.

She regrets not standing up more for herself and for her BIPOC peers, and she hopes to see more action taken by other students and administration to condemn microaggressions and direct racism at school.

Free speech is indeed an integral part of our country and our town. But when it threatens to undermine the fabric of our town, the safety and wellbeing of our children, how far should we go? Scrolling through social media and seeing ignorant and racist slurs being thrown around is exhausting for POC students within the BHPS district. With comments such as “All Indians smell like curry”, or when someone comments on a girl’s tan and she responds with “Yeah I know, I am a n****r.”, it really highlights the ignorance and the moral disregard that resides in not only the schools, but also within the community.

Our schools have policies outlining procedures to deal with bullying, harassment, and intimidation, and no one has argued that those policies are limitations on free speech. By attending and sending kids to the BH schools, parents and kids implicitly agree that there is a boundary in terms of free speech: students should feel safe when they’re learning; they shouldn’t be uncomfortable or fear implied or direct comments about their appearance or their personality. And yet, all of these accepted ideas don’t extend to racism. Why is it controversial to actually act on reducing racially charged hate speech in our schools if we already have regulations in place designed to limit “free speech” in other instances? What message are we sending to our BIPOC community members when there are no consequences for flying the Confederate flag, a recognized symbol of slavery and oppression, on school grounds? What benefit are we conferring to our children by condoning the casual use of the n-word or by telling our kids it’s okay to make fun of an Asian person’s eye shape? We wouldn’t allow bullying to go unnoticed; why are we giving racism a pass?

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