Take A Knee Action in School Exposes Racism Students Were Protesting:
Only the Students of Color Were Punished for Action
SAN JOSE, CA. On Tuesday, October 18th, three middle school students at Cupertino Middle School decided to protest racial injustice during the pledge by taking a knee. Afterwards only the two students of color were called on by the teacher for punishment, not the female white student who had joined them in solidarity. The white ally, who wishes to remain anonymous along with the other students to protect their privacy, addressed the disparity and insisted she would accompany her friends to detention “because if they were punished then [she] should be too.”
According to a social media story posted by the white student, while the students knelt during the pledge “the teacher obviously noticed this”. After their action of protest, the teacher called the two students of color to her desk and told them “they are getting detention for being disrespectful”.
The white student then noted, “The teacher is white, so I found it odd that she called two POC (people of color) over to punish them but not me.”
This student approached the teacher at her desk and asked her why she was not punished for protesting along with her friends. “She gives me no answer and tells me to sit down. I knew at this point that it was my white privilege protecting me from punishment.”
She decided of her two choices to sit down or do something about it “being someone who supports POC” she told the teacher “if they got detention then so did [she].” She insisted on appearing at the detention the next day with them.
The shock of the teacher and the students was apparent, but the students of color were grateful their friend had stood with them and the inequality was noted, instead of ignored. When this post came out it was on a “story” which disappears in one day, but those who saw the story wanted to help spread the incident. Others feel strongly something must be done, but the three students are only interested in spreading the word about what happened.
“Here is a learning opportunity,” said Native American activist Mano Cockrum of Denver, CO. “These students are protected by a Supreme Court decision in 1943 to not have to say the pledge. Schools must take note that their attempts to silence this right are a direct violation of this ruling.”
There is a bigger problem than just punishing students for taking a knee.
Cockrum explains, “ I commend the female student who stood up for the racial injustice blatantly displayed by her teacher. She shouldn’t have had to say that it was due to her ‘white privilege’ that she was spared punishment.The fault lies in the racism of the teacher herself.”
The students are concerned about further retaliation against them and only want this to be known as an instance of racial injustice, as the “take a knee” movement is addressing. Although others around them have suggested more drastic tactics, they are not interested in punishing the school or teacher for racist actions or violation of their rights.
“These are just young concerned citizens exercising their free speech and standing up, or should we say 'kneeling down’ for what they believe in,” said Cockrum. “What their action signified was blatantly shown to be a reality for them in the moment when their teacher punished only the students of color, and not the white student.”
#takeaknee #racism #racist #injustice #equalityforallstudents #studentsrights #takeakneeduringpledge #kaepernick #studentsofcolor
NOTE: IMAGE EDITED TO REMOVE STUDENT’S ACCOUNT NAME AND CONFLICTING TEXT ONLY. Original Words replaced.
izzy806
tangentwithtanner
prguitarman
blakekathryn
dailybridgerton
yousharknotpass
ellievsbear
