Cleaveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio — The premise of cleveland.com’s visit to Facing History New Tech High School was simple: We wanted to hear some students’ perspective on the question of racial equality in American society today. We sat down with four students for separate interviews.
One thing we wanted to know was whether the students or their families had personally experienced racism toward them.
The response from one black student was encouraging. “There hasn’t really been any racist things to happen to me or my family.” He shared his feeling that “Everyone’s been respectful.”
Two other students, however, gave examples of their parents being mistreated for no apparent reason other than their skin color.
The Facing History and Ourselves curriculum the high school uses aims to build safe and inclusive schools, and each of the four students said they did not encounter racial discrimination there. “It’s more of a family,” a young woman reflected. “There’s no discrimination here at all.”
As to the notion of racial equality in America, there were differing viewpoints. You can see excerpts from our interviews with Nigel, Chelsey, J-sun and Anita in the video above.
This continues our ongoing Promised Land video series, which explores how far America has come toward racial equality since the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 50 years ago.
