Racism nothing new at Rondout Valley

Dear Editor, Over the past few days, the Freeman article “Rondout Valley investigating reports of racial taunts at high school,” May 4, 2018, has been scattered across my social media feeds. As an alumnus of Rondout Valley schools, my peers and I, unfortunately, were not surprised upon discovering news enumerating incidents of racism and bigotry within the walls of Rondout Valley. What has been made clear, and is irrefutably troubling, is the fact that the administration appears to be caught off guard.

Two people who shared the news on Facebook attached the Daily Freeman article with notes that followed the rationale of “racism at Rondout is nothing new.”

Yet, in the article, superintendent Rosario Agostaro claims there has been “no history of racial problems at the high school.”

During the four years I spent at Rondout, I was not as aware as I should have been regarding racism and inequality within the school system. After two years of college, I have realized the culture at the high school normalizes instances of outright bigotry as well as more subtle microaggressions, both of which should be addressed. When I attended Rondout Valley, seeing white students flaunt Confederate flags at school was a common occurrence. Symbols of slavery seep through the hallways of the high school while the administration turns a blind eye.

The juxtaposition between students of color sharing their experiences of racism at the high school in their personal lives and on social media while the administration shows little awareness of this problem sheds light on the institution’s failure to appropriately grapple with the reality of inequality within the high school. So, before the superintendent argues that harassment is not a pattern at the school, administration should strongly consider listening to and giving representation to students who may actually be experiencing these incidents of bullying and discrimination on an everyday basis at Rondout Valley. River Wasserman High Falls, N.Y.