Barbara Sullivan and Danielle Lopes have more in common than their darker skin tones. The two spoke before the Old Rochester Regional School Committee on May 22 to talk about young people they love very much who have experienced racial discrimination at a young age in their own community – the Tri-Town community.
“I grew up in the town and I went through the school system,” said Lopes. “I also was a Spanish teacher here at ORR years ago. I’m very invested in this community and I’m now raising my own children, and in this community we have some uncomfortable issues that we would like to present.”
Lopes and Sullivan have been meeting as a group with others in the community to talk about how they could deal with the “touchy subject” of racism as it has been described by three young women who attend ORR and experience it differently than the majority of their peers. They experience it as minorities.
The three girls hadn’t been friends before they found themselves together for the Spark Program, and before long they were discussing their shared experiences of racism within the ORR school district, leading them to realize that their experiences were not that isolated.
“My daughter started coming home from school in tears. She wanted to leave school,” said Lopes. Her daughter described the frequent use of the N-word at school, harassment, and the presence of confederate flags on some students’ belongings. She said recently a substitute teacher made a reference to her daughter that she should be home-schooled … “or in New Bedford Public School where there would be more people like her.”
“All very upsetting stuff to a 15, 16-year-old,” said Lopes.
Lopes said that while at Sippican School, her son experienced a severe incident of racism, saying, “My son was smacked in the face and called a dumb … N-word.
“He went into the bathroom and called me from his phone … and said, “Mommy. I’m scared. Can you please come and get me? … Somebody just hit me and said something bad.”
She was unhappy with the Sippican School principal’s response, which was to call out the fact that her son had used his phone at school, which was not allowed.
“My son came away seeing that that was … the problem of this situation,” said Lopes.
The two have met with ORR Principal Mike Devoll, “Who has been awesome,” Lopes said, “but he can’t do it by himself.”
“It’s important for you to know what is going on in this school system,” said Sullivan. She then read a statement written by her granddaughter, age 13, from Marion. She wrote wondering what her experience would be like if she were white and, although ORR is a good school, there are racist undertones and racism is a problem at ORR with students and with teachers.
“Teacher behavior is so blatantly racist in some instances,” said Sullivan, “that one has to wonder why the district hasn’t done more to address the issues.”
The women were told that teacher training has been provided; however, the training is not comprehensive or in-depth enough, and substitute teachers also need training on how to facilitate multiculturalism and respond to racism. Sullivan said the training provided “didn’t meet the needs of black students and the teachers who interact with them on a daily basis.”
For Sullivan, ORR needs to train teachers on how to set an example of appropriate behavior when minority students are exposed to “micro and macro aggressions” of racism. She urged the district to take a three pronged approach and to self-examine, self-educate, and self-direct to address racism. She urged the formation of a task force to study the issue and to live by its mission: “To inspire all students to think, to learn, and to care.”
“We sincerely hope that his committee will really, really look into this,” said Sullivan. “This has gone on for years.” She continued, ”We’ve got to get down to the very, very grass roots of this issue and what’s in people’s hearts.”
“I don’t feel that the things that are going on in the school are hate crimes,” said Lopes. “I truly think that it’s ignorance and that through education we can all learn from it.”
Old Rochester Regional School Committee Chairman Carey Humphrey thanked the women for attending and for calling to the committee’s attention the pervasive problem.
“I very much appreciate you being here tonight,” said Humphrey. “We’re advocates for all the students, and this is very important to us and thank you for being here.”
Superintendent Doug White told the women, “We look forward to working with the group.”
Committee member Jim Muse urged the women to help the committee in an ongoing effort to find a mechanism for dealing with racism, “So that we can look at how we can create an action item.”
Committee member Joe Pires said he can relate to the women’s stories as a Cape Verdean.
“As I’m sitting here, my stomach is turning,” Pires said. “There should be zero tolerance for what your child and your daughter have experienced.”
Pires urged diversity training and acknowledged that although the school committee can’t change the world, “… we have a responsibility to influence our children,” he added.
“This is a good thing that you did today because you put light on it,” Pires said, “and I promise you, whatever I can do … and our committee can follow through and maybe establish a committee to maybe begin to address it.” The next meeting of the Old Rochester Regional School Committee is scheduled for June 11 at 6:30 pm in the ORR Junior High School media room.
Old Rochester Regional School Committee
By Jean Perry