Racism in Wayland Schools: A Parent’s Perspective: Opinion

This contributed essay does not necessarily reflect the views of Wayland Patch

In 2020, we saw a resurgence of the BLM movement with the tragic deaths of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Ahmad Arbery. In April 2021, the death of Daunte Wright, an unarmed black man, at the hands of a white police officer, added more fuel to the fire in terms of igniting the passions of Black Lives Matter supporters.

For many of us in the Wayland, BLM is a rallying call to fight against inequality, racial profiling, implicit bias, microaggressions and institutional racism in our schools, criminal justice system, town services and other contexts. The Wayland select board, school committee and school district have responded to BLM by issuing public statements that condemn racism. But where are we now?

Recently, there has been a string of incidents of bigotry and hatred directed at students of color at Wayland Middle School. These include racially motivated social media posts, graffiti in the girls’ and boys’ bathrooms and interpersonal interactions between students. By no means is this a new issue in our district, nor is the problem limited only to the middle school. A simple online Google search produces several newspaper articles that illuminate a dark side in our schools. Specifically, students have been subjected to racist incidents year after year. Examples include a swastika written on a wall, racial slurs directed at METCO students, graffiti using the N-word and the defacement of an African-American history month display at the high school. These recurring incidents have put our town and school leaders on notice that racism persists despite their best efforts.

Though some racist incidents are made public, it is important to note that not all students report racism to an adult. Thus, it is likely that many other incidents go unreported. This is supported by students who have come forward to say that they have been the recipients of racial slurs. Further, due to Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act concerns, some racist incidents resulting in discipline are altogether kept private and not reported. I know this from first-hand experience.

As a mother of a Latinx/black Wayland middle school student, our family has been directly impacted by racism, not only because of the overall toxic and hurtful atmosphere that exists at the school as of late, but because my child was a victim of bullying and racial slurs. For several weeks, I interacted with top school officials to address the problem. The process was grueling, emotionally charged and sometimes adversarial. I felt a lack of empathy- not exactly what I expected from a town that, in theory, espouses anti-racist principles. In fact, as my child and I attempted to navigate this difficult situation, many tears were needlessly shed and several sleepless nights ensued. My child’s learning and sense of safety at the school were deeply impacted in a negative way. He told me once that he felt “traumatized” by ongoing bullying at the school.

Finding little support at the district level, in the end, I chose to turn to family, friends, colleagues and fellow middle-school parents for support. This should not be the case. Schools should be trained and equipped to offer support to families impacted by bullying and racism.

Though I am sympathetic to the fact that school administrators are grappling with a serious problem, we owe it to our children to do better. Schools must address the root causes of racism in a proactive, consistent and appropriate way while also supporting people of color and low-income, Jewish, Muslim, immigrant, LGBTQ, disabled and other students facing bigotry. I know that I am not alone in feeling this way—many community members are gathering around Wayland as I draft this Op-ed to demonstrate at the middle school. Making our collective voices heard is important when we further consider that racism poses serious consequences of fueling the school-to-prison pipeline to traumatizing students of color. It is time to move beyond the rhetoric and devise a specific plan for addressing the school environment, incident reporting, staffing, data analysis, safety, community involvement and funding.

In order to move forward, I believe we need to call for a community forum led by an independent and professionally trained diversity, equity and inclusion specialist. It is time that stakeholders have a real dialogue about what’s happening in our schools and what they feel needs to be addressed. Community members are entitled to have a meaningful opportunity to share their stories and be heard with the goal of developing a comprehensive strategy. I am happy to help coordinate this endeavor and welcome interested individuals to contact me at dovie_king@hotmail.com. I also invite the public to join the Wayland Human Rights, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee at its remote meetings on the third Wednesday of each month at 6pm.

Dovie King is a public interest attorney, mother of a middle school student and chair of the Wayland Human Rights, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. The opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and not of the Committee.