How teens are using online platforms to call out racism in high school

In 2019, close to half, or 45 percent of white students scored proficient or above in reading comprehension, compared to 18 percent of Black fourth graders, and 23 percent of Latinx fourth graders. However, research shows that exposing students of color to books that reflect their culture increases reading comprehension and motivation. In the wake of those disparities, American teachers are beginning to reckon with the lack of diverse authors they teach. Some teachers are launching social justice classes, requiring more diverse books, and challenging norms.

Glenn Cantave is bridging two worlds- AR technology and school curriculum, in order to educate students about Black and Brown people's history. With a team of coders he created an app called “Movers and Shakers.” The app has a catalog of “heroes you never learn about in school.” Student users navigate the app to learn about the heroes; women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ community. The app is being tested in one school district. “This sounds horrible, but we need to see what white people actually did to Black people because textbooks only tell you this much — and it’s not enough."

Despite segregation being deemed unconstitutional, nationally, many schools remain segregated along racial and class lines. Integrate Schools, a national grassroots movement, is focused on integrating schools.

There is a race problem within Christian schools. More than half of non-Catholic Christian schools reported that 80 percent of their students are white. At a time of heightened racial tensions in America, some evangelicals are trying to change that. Hiring more staff of color, changing requirements that excluded black and brown students, and having difficult conversations, are some steps some schools are taking. “The world expects more from Christians,” Gross said, “And they should.”

In this excerpt from Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt’s book, Biased, the author details the role surveillance and apps like Nextdoor play in perpetuating and disrupting discriminatory housing policies, racism, and segregation in the United States. Furthermore, it details how online communities can be spaces for meaningful discussions on race and racism in America.

In order to combat xenophobic attitudes against refugees in Europe, three friends founded Solomon; a media outlet that “gives voice to non-native populations, countering negative stereotypes about them and helping them integrate into their new communities.” Recent grants have helped the magazine expand and pay staff. “We’re not like other media that focuses on refugees’ selling their bodies or selling drugs. We go with our camera and write about integration.”

In the mid-60’s, Anne Forsyth, an heiress, noticed that despite Brown V. Board of education, white prep schools in the South were not being integrated. She wanted to change that. She also thought that by exposing white students to Black students it would make them less bigoted. So, she created the Stouffer foundation, which recruited Black students and placed them in white prep schools. In its first year, 20 black teenagers were placed in 7 white prep schools. Decades later, one student says it made him less racist.

For many years, Leschi Elementary was a divided school - white kids were overwhelmingly enrolled in Leschi's Montessori program, while students of color were most likely found in the "contemporary" classes. In 2014, staff decided to combine the two curricula, offering all students a "Best of Both" blended model. Leschi now openly encourages conversations about social justice and inclusion among both students and parents and while there was some initial attrition after the change, most families are now quick to point to the clear benefits of the school's shift.

Educators in the Seattle area are making a move to desegregate schools by removing track-based course structures. Inspired by the work and research of one school in New York, Washington is seeing results in closing the achievement gap by blending general-education students with those in advanced courses, creating a stimulating environment for all and better opportunities for minority students.

A school in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, has been specifically engineered to reflect the true diversity of NYC. It's one of the only schools in the district that does so: 39% white, 33% black, 20% combined Hispanic and Asian, and 8% "other."