After discussing the events in Ferguson in December, the 7th and 8th grades continued delving into the topic during Friday morning advisory. The theme of this morning's session was "It's Not Racist to Talk About Race."

Building common language, which we highly value at GSFS, is essential to talking about race. In this lesson, students looked at many key terms, including bias, racial identity, privilege, micro-aggressions, and colorblindness. They applied and connected the terms to mini-scenarios, added vocabulary words to the list, and generated their own scenarios.

One scenario described a White person congratulating a Black award winner by saying "You are a credit to your race." A student observed that this was a micro-aggression because "they're not trying to say something racist, but it still comes off as weird because if you really believe that races are equal you wouldn't have to say that at all." Another scenario described a Black friend being followed by a White security guard in a store, while their White friend was not followed at all. One student commented that this showed an absence of social power, "because it is hard to live a safe, productive life when you are always being suspected." Another commented that it demonstrates the privilege of the White friend.


This lesson built on the identity development strand of our Life Skills curriculum. The students did an inspiring job of talking honestly about the issues and teaching each other.