Catholic school students talk about race, share stories
Before the pandemic, when classes were in realtime, Bryce Griffin would sometimes hear a fellow student say the N-word and cringe. His friends heard it, too, though they didn’t say it themselves.
“There’s a thing that goes around called the “N-word pass,” said Griffin, a sophomore at Marist High School in Chicago. “Sometimes people who aren’t African-American feel they can say it … they hear it in rap songs and feel like they’re allowed to say it.
“I don’t really think anyone should say it anymore. It spreads hate.”
Griffin and dozens of other teens from 25 Catholic high schools in Chicago and surrounding suburbs, had a chance recently to air their discomfort over racism and look for ways to stem the prejudice they all see from time to time at their schools.
The Archdiocese of Chicago Public Schools organized the talks with the help of DePaul University faculty in light of the 2020 murder of George Floyd. Eight students and several advisers from each school have been discussing the issue among themselves and monthly since February as a larger group. They presented their suggestions to Cardinal Blase Cupich in April.
“One of the issues the students talked about was not having enough
teachers of color, which is common not only in Catholic but public school,” said Donna Kiel, director, Office of Innovative Professional Learning and senior instructional assistant professor at DePaul, who helped lead the talks. “They talked a great deal about continuing these
kinds of conversations (and) the opportunity to talk about racism within a safe and supportive environment.”
Marist’s student body is 72% white, 16% Hispanic, 11% Black and .012% Asian.
Students said they were relieved to be able to air their grievances.
“I liked that it allowed me to speak out against racism, and be able to have my voice heard,” said Griffin, who lives in Beverly. “The teachers and faculty were really understanding in allowing us to share what really goes on in our shoes.”
Racially motivated incidents have led Kaylen Baker, a senior at Marist, to believe she isn’t always treated as fairly as her white counterparts. One example, she said, is when she wanted to try honors courses, her advisers discouraged the idea, saying that curricula might be too challenging.
“I believe as minorities, we don’t get the same opportunities as the other population gets,” said Baker, who lives in Calumet City. “We are more or less put into the category of not really being the brightest or smartest kids.”
Baker excelled at the honors courses. She said the lack of diversity in the school might be contributing to some of the stereotyping. Baker also said prejudice didn’t fit with Christianity.
“We can’t call ourselves a Christian/Catholic school if we are discriminating against certain groups because Jesus didn’t do that,” said Baker.
Joy Lewis, director of counseling at Marist, said students’ concerns were strikingly similar at the different schools, showing them “this was not just a “Marist issue.”
“They felt like a lot of things that happen at school were very reactive, so they would like to see the school be more proactive than reactive,” said Lewis.
At Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights,
“I believe as minorities, we don’t get the same opportunities as the other population gets. We are more or less put into the category of not really being the brightest or smartest kids.”
— Kaylen Baker, a senior at Marist who lives in Calumet City
Angelica Soto, a sophomore, said students emphasized that more conversation and communication about racism were needed.
“I feel like a lot of the confrontation or hatred comes from a lack of education or understanding of people’s experiences,” said Soto, emphasizing the need to “talk to each other and hold space to tell each other stories and listen.”
Soto said teachers, too, need to embrace students’ racial and cultural differences. Marian Catholic’s student body is 45% Black, 29% white, 12% Hispanic and 6% Asian.
“Instead of labeling everyone based on assumptions, trying to know their individual experiences,” said Soto, who lives in Chicago Heights.
One thing everyone agreed on — including Cupich — was the conversations were eye-openers that needed to continue.
“Racism is not something one is born with, it’s taught and we need to do everything possible to break that cycle and schools can be an important way to do so,” Cupich said after hearing from students. “I am edified by the students’ efforts in charting a path forward to break boundaries and to open their hearts for hard conversations and healing.”