West Orange Leads in the Race to Equality

It is certainly a proud moment for the students and staff at Mt. Pleasant Elementary school, as well as other residents of the West Orange community. For those still unaware, Mt. Pleasant students of white and African-American descent have been and will continue to be interviewed by CNN regarding race in America.  Their school was one of six chosen for not only its high numbers regarding ethnic diversity, but in addition, its strikingly close academic success rates among both races.

This undoubtedly constitutes a victory for West Orange schools. Through this nationally selective process, our city of roughly 40,000 people rose above many others to interview on one of the most distinguished national news channels. This is a feat many could never dream of accomplishing. More importantly, though, this serves as a fabulous reminder of how racially progressive we are. West Orange is a microcosm of America and how much it has blossomed into a country of higher racial tolerance.

I realized this more than ever during my last two years in South Korea. While my time there was magical to say the least, it certainly had its ugly aspects, racial inequality being one. During my time abroad, my specific community of friends was composed of both native Koreans and other foreign English teachers like myself. We hailed from the States, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Ireland and the United Kingdom. A previous post of mine, “Halloween-From Door to Door, From Country to Country” touches upon the privileges of being in such company. However, these instances of ethnic variety are limited to certain pockets of the peninsula. By and large, diversity is an element lacking in Korean society. Korea has a minority population of less than two percent, and is often referred to as Dan-il minjok guk ga, which is Korean for "the single race society".

Aside from my presence, the largest trace of racial exposure my Korean students had in our classroom was a photo of an African-American student in their textbook, to which they pointed at and shouted “Obama’s kid.” As a result of this homogeneity, this country is very far behind. There is a burning foreigner stigma. “Koreans only” is an acceptable phrase bouncers may use when entering a night club, as well as “Sorry but I am scared of your friend because he is from a violent country.”

As heartbreaking as it is to see that there is much more work to be done in other regions of the world, it allowed me to recognize how fortunate I am to be from a more progressive community. I always appreciated my hometown’s diversity. My experience in Korea added to this sentiment, and the recent acquisition of the CNN interview cemented it.