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Date: 10/27/2021
LONGMEADOW – More than 250 Longmeadow Public Schools (LPS) alumni, representing the graduating classes 1974 to 2024, shared their voices and experiences with racism for a project from the Longmeadow Alumni Alliance. That project recently culminated in an open letter to the LPS community and a call to action.
The Longmeadow Alumni Alliance organized in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder in May 2020 and the call for anti-racism and civil rights that sprang from it.
“What happened in our country last year – we were enraged,” said Julianna Giordana, one of the organization’s leaders. Fellow organizer Jasmine Heffner said, “It brought up all of our traumas that we had tried to bury.”
A white, former LPS student began reaching out to other alumni on Facebook to talk about their experiences witnessing racism while growing up but, the open letter explained, soon realized that the conversation on racism in the school system needed to be led by the people who had experienced it.
To get an idea of the scope of the issue and to give as many people as possible a chance to shared their lived experiences, three surveys were created. Jupiter Dior, another one of the organizers, said they were shared on social media and spread through word of mouth. Alumni could choose to answer a survey focused on the experiences of Black students and people of color, white students or those identifying as non-Christian, primarily Jewish and Muslim individuals.
“The responses exceeded our expectations,” Dior said. “Everyone was committed to getting an array of responses.” They said that a generational range of answers was important. “I reached out to my grandparents. They were some of the first Black folks in Longmeadow,” said Dior.
The surveys and the open letter that resulted from them have received a lot of positive feedback, Heffner said. “Even Black alumni who didn’t participate in the original surveys have been reposting [the letter}.”
Dior noted that the stories and testimonials relayed to the organizers are deeply personal. “One of the things that is so important to use is protecting the dignity and respecting the trauma of their experiences,” they said.
The responses to the survey were varied, but several key themes emerged.
Starting Early
“According to testimonials, the anti-Blackness alumni experienced, witnessed or participated in began in elementary school. Black alumni reported being the target of racist comments from their peers at a young age and that this was often ignored or unpunished by teachers,” the open letter stated. “They also reported being taunted for their appearance (especially hair), receiving more immediate and severe discipline starting in kindergarten, and being openly disfavored by teachers altogether. One responder recounted being spat on by a white classmate – and that this classmate was never punished for their actions.”
Many non-white students experienced similar slurs, microaggressions and harassment as their Black peers. “Responders of Asian and Arab descent reported that, in addition to anti-Black racism, both anti-Asian slurs and Islamophobia were deemed acceptable by their peers and went unaddressed by teachers and administrators. These experiences are consistent with the responses of white alumni who reported witnessing how poorly their classmates of color were treated within the high school, and who admitted their own deep shame in having been complicit in the psychological and emotional violence of racism.”
Bias
Whether the result of intentional racism or an unconscious bias, the trauma experienced by non-white students was not solely because of the actions of other students. Racism in classmates, administrators, teachers, coaches and guidance counselors was also documented.
Gaslighting, the process of making someone question their own reality, was a term used by both Dior and Giordana regarding the way students were made to feel less intelligent than they knew themselves to be. Students of color were encouraged not to take AP classes or apply to their “dream schools,” the letter stated.
Dior told Reminder Publishing that despite having a “strong academic career,” testing well and having skipped a grade prior to being enrolled in LPS, teachers “tried to make me feel like I was dumb.” For students who want to pursue an academically rigorous course of study, “to be actively denied that, it’s not okay.” The experience left them, “thinking I was actually as dumb as they thought I was.” Before high school at LHS, Dior said they had a dream of becoming a mechanical engineer or mathematician. While Dior acknowledged they were responsible for their decisions, they said academic support in high school would have changed the trajectory of their life. “I was tired of fighting. There comes a point where the gaslighting gets to be too much,” they said.
Similarly, Giordana said she “vividly” remembered a teacher’s expression of shock that she could read at grade level. “It makes you insecure,” she said.
A more direct form of racist behavior can be seen in an activity recounted by alumni of all races. Williams Middle School conducted a “slave ship re-enactment” activity with its students and during at least one year of this exercise, a teacher wore a cowboy hat and carried a whip as a prop. While the years during which this activity was a part of the class curriculum could not be independently verified, Dior noted that their brother experienced it during his time in LPS around the early 2000s.
The open letter pointed out that this type of exercise was not exclusively carried out around American slavery. “Additionally, alumni of color reported a classroom ‘role-play’ of the Indian caste system. Like the slave ship reenactment, this exercise brought undue harm to students of color for the perceived benefit of the white students in the classroom. These activities do not give the proper respect and dignity to Black and Brown history that is given in other areas of the curriculum and rob white students of the ability to empathize by making a mockery of an oppressive history,” the letter said.
Some testimonials depict a disregard of non-white students or active predjudice. A white survey respondent shared a memory of mistreating a Black student, who happened to be Giordana. The white student recalled that when the incident was spoken about, the principal said, “They tend to be dramatic,” referring to Black students. Giordana hadn’t known about that comment until reading the results of the survey and remembering the incident herself. Of the revelation, she said, “I was disappointed, but I wasn’t shocked.”
Other stories of similar treatment include a student who “had the police called when they attempted to stay after school for academic help. We received reports of gym teachers assuming that Black students did not know how to swim, counselors who had little empathy for Black students experiencing discrimination and teachers who falsely accused high-achieving Black students of cheating.” Additionally, “A white respondent recalled plagiarizing a paper from a Black classmate; while the original paper received a B-, the white student received an A grade.”
Isolation
The Black alumni who responded to the survey reported feeling unsupported and isolated from the larger community. As one of very few Black students, Giordana said, she struggled to find where to fit in. She said she had to “abandon” parts of herself and “live with the discomfort,” or risk being “othered.” Giordana recounted summoning the courage to speak up about something that was “deeply offensive,” and being judged and criticized by classmates and “friends.”
Heffner said, “For me, a lot of it was being a Black person, of which there were maybe 15 in the school.” She had to choose where to fit in and felt she had to portray “being the angry Black woman.”
The open letter described how formative those types of experiences could be. “For many non-white alumni, middle school is where they learned that to survive this hostile environment, they had to shrink their cultural pride and identity,” the letter said. “They reported that white students and teachers commented negatively on their appearance and made disparaging remarks about their perceived socioeconomic status and cognitive ability.”
Giordana said, “When you are the minority by a huge percentage, there is a fear of speaking up. We were all in survival mode.”
The Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunities (METCO) program, is a voluntary school desegregation program which is designed to offer educational equity, but alumni described alienation from their classmates as outsiders and “like their acceptance into the system was contingent upon their participation in sports such as track and field, basketball and football. But even then, alumni recall specific abuses from their former coaches and teammates.”
Unprepared
Respondents of all races reported feeling unprepared for life beyond Longmeadow and high school. “The whitewashed, non-inclusive curriculum has created severe deficiencies in the cultural awareness and historical education of LPS students to the detriment of all,” the alliance stated in its letter.
Dior explained that white alumni said they felt unready for the multicultural world outside of LPS. Black alumni felt they left school without the academic fulfillment and emotional-social support that could prepare them for the next stages of life.
Heffner transferred into Longmeadow High School in her junior year of high school. She said that she was roughly two years behind academically but never received support from programs that exist to help students like her. She said she was fortunate not to have been forced into remedial classes, as some of her Black peers were.
Today, Heffner is a second grade teacher in the Boston Public School system. The majority of her students are Black and Latinx. “I always wanted to be a teacher. I wanted to teach kids who were like me. Being able to teach them about the scariness of the world but teach them to be strong and brave.”
Safe Havens
The surveys also showed that there were respites and safe havens for students of color. Black alumni “also expressed deep appreciation and gratitude for the Black advisors and families who offered unconditional support.”
The A Better Chance (ABC) program offered such support. The ABC house in Longmeadow, ran by one of the few Black families in town, was largely home to academically-gifted Black and Latinx young men. This support system allowed the students who lived there to “envision a different path for themselves, and in turn, create more successful futures.”
Additionally, METCO advisors, ABC house families, and the Unity club were cited as “safe spaces.” The organization’s letter pointed out that these programs often stood in contrast with the “dehumanization” and trauma people shared in the surveys.
Cathartic
The process of hearing from so many former students with shared lived experiences served as a form of healing as well as a way to document the realities of LPS alumni.
“I think part of holding truth to power is speaking your truth. This experience has been cathartic,” Giordana said. “Many of us left Longmeadow and never turned back.” She added that a lot of students had lost contact with one another. “Through this experience we reconnected with the benefit of hindsight and therapy. To acknowledge what it was like in Longmeadow was cathartic. We were approaching it without the angst of high school.”
Dior reflected, “The foundation of our shared experiences was rooted in antiblackness.” They continued, “People could be honest about the hurt they had experienced and perpetrated.” They said the surveys created “safer spaces” in which people could talk about their “shared violence.”
Heffner shared a similar sentiment and said that it doesn’t feel like “performative activism.”
Giordana said some of the white respondents acknowledged their roles in the racist culture they grew up with, though not all. “Those who answered the questions had some level of self-reflection,” she said, but wasn’t surprised that some people hadn’t “made any progress.” She continued, “Because this was a group effort,” there was less frustration with those who did not see a problem with the school culture. “We read these accounts with empathy and understanding.”
Next Steps
Moving forward, Dior said, “Our goal is to create a holistic and inclusive place,” in Longmeadow. “Our data shows that the issue is both the school system and the greater community,” but the schools are the arena which they are able to address first.
Dior said some other community groups in Longmeadow have been supportive, but acknowledged that the wider community would be split. They said that the assumption that racism doesn’t affect Longmeadow is incorrect. They cited people wearing blackface in yearbooks as recently as the 1980s and a local graveyard known to contain an unmarked slave’s grave.
Of the school district, Dior said, “I think that they want to fix these issues, I just don’t think they understand the depth of the issues.” The equity audit, the report of which was released in March 2021, is “a really good first step,” Dior said, adding that the district “needs to bring us to the table,” to truly understand the scope of the problems. The “top-down” approach isn’t the “most effective use of [the district’s] time or money.”
Giordana said of the culture in the schools, “I don’t think it’s a Longmeadow-specific problem. School districts are meant to serve their audience and Black students aren’t their audience, their shareholders.”
That said she expressed frustration. “Longmeadow is presented as this beacon,” Giordana said, citing the academics and sports offered there. “All those things are true, but what about the interpersonal relations?”
Giordana said of the impact on early ages. “These children are experiencing this. You’re in charge of these children.” Not responding to the call for change would be “a dereliction of duty,” she said.
Speaking only for herself, Heffner said, “I do feel they need to do a deep dive into the curriculum, there needs to be anti-racist training for the staff.” Hiring faculty that reflect all students is also important. “Find teachers of color, not just janitors, not just [physical education] teachers, not just the token Black teacher.” She also said that Black history should be incorporated into the standard curriculum, rather than just during Black History Month. Heffner asserted, “Black history needs to be taught, because Black history is American history and I live by that.”
Heffner said the changes need to go beyond “the little things” and surface issues. She wants to make sure the district doesn’t take action to merely “tick the boxes,” but works on the underlying issues. “If they mean what they say,” any backlash to antiracism in schools and fears of critical race theory, “shouldn’t slow down anything.”
In an email from LPS Superintendent M. Martin O’Shea, he stated, “Our work to address systemic racism and inequity begins with a willingness to humbly and openly listen to the experiences of LPS students and families of color, both past and present including those experiences represented in the open letter written by the Longmeadow Alumni Alliance.”
O’Shea pointed those interested in knowing more about the district’s diversity, equity and inclusion plans to the LPS 20-21 Annual Goals, the LPS 2021-2024 District Improvement Plan and information on anti-racism and equity initiatives posted to the district website.
The District Improvement Plan includes: creating a system for inclusion and equity feedback, working with community organizations to create a more inclusive and welcoming community and curriculum to provide instruction and culturally responsive learning experiences.
There are also plans to establish a standing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) task force, add professional development on culturally supportive, identity-based teaching and a commitment to increase the racial and ethnic diversity of staff.
“Our commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity is steadfast, and will continue to be a focus for our school district. Included in our work is the commitment to listen and honor all voices.” O’Shea stated.
The open letter can be found at https://bit.ly/3AMygVK.