Since it is Black History Month, it is important to highlight the black student body and make sure their voices are heard. Even though Grand Ledge is a predominantly white school, there has been an increase in black transfers from other schools around the area in recent years.
“I like all the staff here, I don’t like all the kids here but I do think it is a better experience than my last school,” sophomore Akira Adams said.
While there are people who are transferring in there are also people who are opting to go to other surrounding schools like Waverly. At Beagle, an eighth-grade student, Uzziyah Garvin is transferring out of Grand Ledge next year to go to Waverly.
“I dealt with a lot of racism and bullying… I hear students calling people monkeys and they joke around like that a lot,” Garvin said.
These kinds of racist comments are not an unusual occurrence for Black students in the district. Racial jokes for most Black GLHS students started in elementary school.
“As I got older I started to realize how discriminatory those jokes were,” sophomore Indya Fitzpatrick recalls. “They would make jokes whenever the lights went off and say that they couldn’t see me.”
Some Black students had to learn how to deal with racism. “I have had to learn to just try not to care whenever they make these jokes.” senior Brandon Freeman said. “My advice for younger Black students is try not to care because if you care too much it will drive you crazy.”
Some Black students try to combat racism by confronting it. senior Amariyana Robinson gave her opinion on how to confront racism, “You can’t let people just say stuff to you and not say anything back because then it sets us back…you can’t just laugh about it you have to tell them that they’re wrong or else they’re never going to learn,” Robinson said.
Students and staff should not only prioritize Black students’ voices during February but all year round. Hearing about these experiences should motivate them to want to make a change because more and more students are thinking about leaving.
“The older I get the less I like it here and the more I want to transfer. Even some of my friends are just tired of it and want to leave because we don’t feel accepted here,” Fitzpatrick said.
