High school students in Boston published an open letter calling for school administrators to act against anti-Asian racism, reports the Daily Free Press.
“We feel unsafe returning to schools with unaddressed racism. School is a place for learning, not a place for discrimination,” the letter read in part.
Students from Boston, Quincy and Malden signed the open letter.
“Our mental health is deteriorating and our grades will drop, impacting our futures in higher education. We feel unsafe returning to schools with unaddressed racism.”
17-year old Sarah Xu is one of six students who co-authored the letter. She acknowledges feeling tension at her school Boston Latin where 30 percent of the students are Asian.
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“I was definitely afraid and anxious because this has never happened in my lifetime so far,” she told the Boston Globe. “It did feel uncomfortable at times when people would talk about COVID. People couldn’t help but look at the Asians in the room.”
Students are calling for the hiring of more diverse faculty, ethnic studies classes and anti-bias training.
Boston Public Schools Assistant Superintendent of Equality Rebecca Shuster says the district has a multi-pronged approach to education.
“Ethnic studies is one approach where there’s a specific course developed, including courses that reflect the history of Asian Americans and help to affirm our Asian students’ identities and cultures,” Shuster said to the Daily Free Press . “Ethnic studies is woven through everything we do each day as well as, on occasion, being an extra area of study.”
The letter has won the support of the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center.
“Young people are very much concerned about these issues and very much want to use their voice to make change, so this was a way for them to do that,” CEO Ben Hires said. “It’s just inspiring to see these young people use their voices in this way,” the Globe quoted him as saying.
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