A Banner Doesn’t Stop Discrimination
Front hallway sign misses the mark
A screenshot from the @westjags Instagram showcasing the banner
April 27, 2022
On March 22, I was approached by a staff member after school while talking to my friend in the hallway.
The teacher asked me how I liked the new banner. The sign in question sits in the south hallway across from the windows on the way to the Commons. It displays cultural and religious holidays students may observe throughout the calendar year.
The teacher gave me a series of response options: thumbs up, in the middle, and thumbs down. After pausing for a moment to decide if I should be honest or tell them what they wanted to hear, I decided to be honest. I shared that I believed it was not the thing that BV West needed right now to fix the issue. My opinion is the issue of racial and cultural disparities is more of a district-wide issue, not a high school-specific issue. Individual high schools alone attempting to fix the problem with poorly designed posters does not do much.
My example was that two days of teacher development fall right after Easter Sunday. This “coincidence” gives the appearance that Blue Valley is observing the Christian holiday by not having school on the Catholic holy day of “Easter Monday.” Meanwhile, the district has an ever-growing Muslim population. The month-long fasting of Ramadan ends on May 2. Wouldn’t it have made more sense to schedule the second teacher development day on Monday, May 2, so Muslim students could celebrate Eid al-Fitr? Christian students get a four-day weekend, while Muslim students have to either miss school or forego the celebration of one of their most observed holidays.
If the district wants to appear more sensitive to the growing percentage of Muslim students, consideration would be reflected on the school calendar. Recognition would give a large portion of families the impression that Blue Valley “walks their inclusion talk.” Posters in the hallway without any action? Not so much.
The staff member proceeded to say that they had worked on the banner for two years and was heartbroken by my response and walked away. They did not acknowledge my opinion or feelings. Ironically, everything they attempted to do with their banner now reeked of self-aggrandizement instead of an act of inclusion.
This is what took two years? The countless stories of students being impacted by racism from peers and ignorance from staff, and the answer is a big poster? The impact of racial discrimination, bullying, and ignorance harms children throughout the district. And this teacher wants praise for a poster?
While the action seems like a nice gesture, it feels performative. Creating a banner full of celebrations and then not advocating for the school district to find ways to celebrate each of the holidays listed is indeed a gesture, not action. The lack of true acknowledgment makes it feel like the display of these cultural holidays in the front hallway for maximum visibility uses students as tokens of diversity, not the reflection of the cornerstone of family.
On April 6, 2021, I interviewed the former principal, Dr. Brett Potts. I was researching the rising incidents of hate towards Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders individuals within our country and school His response:
“As a staff, we have been engaging in work and professional learning around diversity, equity, and inclusion for over two years,” said Potts. “Our plans are to expand this work into our student body [in the fall of 2021].
It was heartening to hear that the adults were working on some of the issues plaguing students of color: hijabs being ripped off of students’ heads, a teacher using the “n” word, students afraid to give their opinions regarding race or COVID-19. It felt promising.
Putting up a banner and checking off the notion that racism and discrimination are solved is equivalent to putting a bandaid on a broken arm. Let’s get student input and have teachers and administrators address instances of discrimination and ameliorate them. It seems the issue is discussed only when it is trending on social media.
BV West is not responsible for the policies at the district level, and all schools consist of the same inclusion statement. Saying that these schools are safe and inclusive learning communities committed to providing everyone with a safe and supportive school environment for ALL individuals is disproven repeatedly.
At the end of the day, using one school’s diverse student body’s valued holidays as a token for performative action is disappointing. Rather than showing words on a banner, why not create a curriculum to teach about those holidays and the diverse experiences of our students? Undoubtedly, the 1,100 plus comments made on your social media posts in 2020 (some of which were deleted) gave ideas on how to improve and implement proper representation in this multicultural district.
Donna Syed • Nov 17, 2022 at 11:54 pm
The National Scholastic Press Association awarded Aminah Syed with an Honorable Mention at their 2022 convention. This distinction underscores the importance of talented and courageous young minds in journalism.
Marie Hoeven • May 19, 2022 at 10:53 am
Thank you for the great suggestion to do better with planning our Professional Development days so they don’t both fall in concert with the Christian Easter holiday and instead, schedule one during EID. That idea is something we should consider with all of our breaks and professional development days for more major holidays, such as Diwali and Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah.
As the teacher in the brief conversation discussed in this piece, I am sorry you didn’t feel heard. Please know what I heard from your response was that regardless of our efforts, it’s not good. Please also know I did not want an atta-girl. All I hoped for was that you might acknowledge it’s a nice step in the right direction.
I am further disappointed this piece overall, which I first read today, 5/19. There are many falsehoods and errors, unfortunately. In your future reporting – even in opinion writing – it’s professional journalistic courtesy to make the subject aware, ask for comment, investigate fully and make certain you have the whole picture – or at least attempt to do so.
Some corrections:
First, Blue Valley West is committed to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) yesterday, today and tomorrow. Our work will never be done because as we know from research and common sense, we cannot “fix” racism and discrimination, as you put it. This is an enormous societal issue, which runs deep and stems from centuries of legal and systemic racism. There is a past of racist incidence reported with insufficient responses. We always say at each meeting, training and more: this is a journey, and we must do better.
Second, the banner is one thing among a multi-faceted, three-pronged, research-based program at Blue Valley West (BVW). Since the last time you spoke with someone knowledgeable about our staff and building work, former Principal Dr. Brett Potts in January 2021, we have held four additional all-staff DEI Professional Development sessions. In the eight total we’ve held since 2020, we have reviewed student focus group feedback, read and practiced interrupting racist incidences strategies, learned about and reflected on implicit bias and white privilege and MORE.
Further, we have three staff-led committees that have been at work to make our building and classrooms more culturally responsive and engage students and families. The Culture, Curriculum and Community groups have done things from the banner and hallway displays of representation throughout the building, to improving teaching strategies and content to include more the perspectives, products and experiences of all races, ethnicities, religious groups, gender identities, sexual orientation, economic stratification and MORE. Our Community group works in collaboration with student groups and a panel of parents that engage with and advise us.
One example of MANY of our work is initiating and succeeding, as you know, was getting Blue Valley School District to shift from AP European History to AP World History. Another example are the year-end celebrations we hosted with the Muslim Student Association and Black Student Union, among others. These are TWO things, so please do not assume these purport to have “fixed” anything… it’s just doing better.
Third, the banner took two years for good reasons. We wanted to make it as inclusive as possible. Thus, we spoke with hundreds of students and families. We intentionally gave extra time for this – reaching out to some families multiple times and giving them ample time to respond; not all did. In researching the holidays we found a common theme among many: they symbolize light over darkness. We wanted the banner to reflect this, and while it’s largely letters on the banner, we decided to write a grant for professional graphic design services. Grant writing and approval processes take time. I’m sorry you do not like the look of it. Please know it was designed, though, with great attention to “getting it right.”
Fourth and final, I do not, nor do any of us, want praise for the work we are doing. Perhaps that’s why you were unaware – we aren’t advertising it, just doing it. I was hoping you would like the banner and my disappointment was that even though you know of my broader commitment and leadership in DEI at West, you didn’t acknowledge the best of intentions.
Please, please critique and give suggestions. We want to do better. Every once in a while, though, maybe acknowledge that there are people working hard to do the right thing.
I wish you all the best – Ms. Hoeven
susu • May 20, 2022 at 6:31 pm
To be fair, you asked the writer for her opinion and she gave it. It seems a lot like an atta-girl was precisely what you wanted because you expressed disappointment in her response and her entire article focuses on the fact that this ISN’T a step in the right direction because the banner is useless.
The author wanted to convey the raw experience from her POV—how she felt as a POC at that moment and how it impacts her opinions on the district’s stance on diversity. If you didn’t intend to make her feel that way, you could have been more considerate as to how your reaction would come across.
Maybe because you knew the article was written about you, you saw it as an attempt to smear your reputation (again, even though the author does not mention anything about you, not even your gender), but most students saw it as a critique of the district as a whole, with your actions being representative of the district (as are those of any teacher or administrator) and an indication of a bigger problem.
Many of us agree that it’s great that there’s an attempt to be more diverse at BVW, but most of us are wondering how this board does that. It’s great that you and a handful of others spent so much time reaching out and researching these holidays, but how do the words “Maslenitsa” or “Diwali” on the wall ACTUALLY teach everyone to be more inclusive. The board gives no information about the holidays whatsoever: not when they occur, their significance, or who celebrates them. Any one of the students can google a list of holidays or look at their apple calendars and read the words there, but that doesn’t make us more inclusive or culturally aware. You said that “it was designed, though, with great attention to ‘getting it right’” but what was there to get right on the poster? The spelling of the holidays’ names? Again, there is no actual information on there, so it also just feels like a waste of all the hard work you all put into researching this subject for three years. Is there no way to convey all that information in an informative and interactive way?
Unfortunately, many students, myself included, speak from personal experience when we say the district does not do nearly enough to ensure that students of color are treated well. I have many friends who have been called racial slurs, had their head scarves pulled off, had other inflammatory/racist comments made towards them, and even had people contact them through social media to give their opinions on cultures and religions. Not a single one of us has ever seen the instigators of these violations receive anything harsher than an in-school suspension (if that). With all due respect, how can you speak about our experiences without having lived them yourself? Do you know what it’s like to hear your younger brother come home and tell you that one of his classmates has been calling him a terrorist or to have people tell you to drop out of high school because you’re just going to be a housewife anyway (due to a stereotype that all Muslim women are forced to marry young and have kids) on you? Almost all of the POC at this school can attest that comments like these fly under the radar daily. And again, we ask you, how does your banner address any of this?
I reiterate, that the author simply said that the banner does nothing to help students and she used the conversation she had with you to bolster the fact that a lot of the teachers and administrators in the BV district don’t want to listen to the personal experiences of students and make actual improvements., but rather they want to tick the box of “cultural inclusion” and move on.
As much as you deny wanting praise, your comment reads as “I’m upset because a student wrote a critique about the way I handled a situation when she did not praise me”. Had you reacted by saying “that is an interesting take, we should discuss how we could help students at BVW and how those solutions can be implemented” she wouldn’t have written the article. I remember telling a friend that I hated an activity we worked on in class and when the teacher overheard us, they approached and asked what we thought went wrong and what could be done better. We were both more than happy to provide feedback and, as embarrassing as it is to know the teacher overheard me, I’m glad they engaged me in a conversation rather than telling me that they were disappointed with what I said. They showed me that, rather than being passive aggressive, I could approach them with feedback and they would actually engage me. I’m not going to name the teacher, but they are the perfect example of how negative comments should be handled, even if it’s just the student being bratty.
esha • May 21, 2022 at 8:00 pm
Firstly, I would like to state that I 100% agree and can attest to everything @Susu said. After reading this article, I immediately reached out to Aminah about my experiences with the teacher mentioned which she later published as a follow up. You can refer to it here: https://bvwnews.com/uncategorized/2022/05/09/follow-up-a-banner-doesnt-stop-discrimination/
Secondly, I would like to reiterate a few points and add my own personal experience/viewpoint. A banner does absolutely nothing. If anything, it makes it seem like the school is attempting to make students who celebrate other religions feel like they are doing something without actually doing anything. At the end of the day, the banner is just a poster with words on it that have no meaning to someone it does’t relate to. I see Diwali and know the customs and traditions that go with it because I celebrate it, but what about people who don’t celebrate it? They know absolutely nothing. The banner doesn’t create awareness. I remember my debate teacher telling me that I had to go to a tournament and miss my favorite holiday if I wanted my grade to stay an A. How does this banner help other students avoid having any experience where they have to place school before their religion? It doesn’t.
While I understand Ms. Hoven may be trying to encourage inclusion and celebrating diversity, she is not doing a good job of asking POC or people from a different religious background what they think and incorporating that in her committee’s work. When she first told me about this banner, never once did she ask me what my thoughts were. She simply wanted to present it to me and receive admiration. I hope she can learn from this article rather than fight it because this article reflects the opinions of many BVW students. My suggestion: first ask yourself, “what does this actually do?” before implementing. If it just looks pretty, then it is not enough. There should be a clear plan of action that students can take advantage of.
I am grateful for BVW’s principal, Dr. Bonnema, for supporting my inclusivity endeavors which are discussed in the article linked earlier in my comment. She understood that she is not the expert in this area and gave me the power as a POC to define how representation should look like in the school setting.
Colleen • Nov 18, 2022 at 10:20 am
I just wanted to thank you for your advocacy work. I’m the parent of a BV middle school student who comes home from school literally every day with stories about racism she’s observed, and students of color being the people forced to deal with it, rather than the adults in the building. I appreciate that you spoke with Dr Merrigan about your experiences, and am disappointed to say that your experiences are not dissimilar to mine, as a parent. I was referred to join a parent diversity committee, which then was ended by the district a couple of weeks later. We need district-level change, as well as at the building-level and in our community more broadly, to address the discrimination students are dealing with.
alina • May 21, 2022 at 10:24 pm
Wow. I am shocked that this banner managed to take two years when all it really needed was searching a list of international holidays and putting them on a poster. The celebration banner says “We are diverse!” and nothing more. Aminah presents her point of view: that Blue Valley is not doing enough. Instead of rethinking your approach, it seems that you are upset that the reasoning behind this shallow display was not included.
Why do you ask for acknowledgment on taking a step in the right direction? What determines the “right direction” is not always up to you. Reaching out to students and getting some responses is not enough to understand the decades of racism in the school district. Representing diversity is not just about listing what holidays we celebrate, but also all of the harmful words and experiences we have gone through at school. It took until 2020 to do something when I have been called racial slurs in school since kindergarten, yet these efforts all feel oddly… quiet? As Aminah said, they slap a bandaid on a broken arm but somehow claim they helped. I am glad there is at least some hint of an effort to make us seen, though. I believe the efforts to include diversity in the curriculum have had tangible effects, such as including AP World and more discussions of race in the classroom. Eventually, this will have to be taken further than the white idea of what culture, ethnicity, and race are if these expensive efforts are to get anywhere.