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Matters of Race. Essays
Matters
of Race - Jennie
In Dearborn High School you would rarely see an American walking with
an Arab. The sight of pregnant, married girls wearing veils to signify
their Muslim religion is not unheard of. The halls are divided into
copper and Caucasian.
A little over than half of the students attending Dearborn High are
Caucasian, with the other half being Arab. Asian and African-American
students are also throw into the mix. With little diversity between
1,600 students, tensions can build. It seems as though each race has
their own clique. Asians are the few who are known to be friends with
who they chose regardless of race.
Arabs and Caucasians are divided, and there are some students who try
to keep it that way. Girls will instruct their friends who it is acceptable
to hang out with and who not to associate out with. They judge others
by skin color. "It's kinda hard finding out who to be friends with,
who to be seen with," explained Linda, a senior at Dearborn. Linda
picks her companions using their personalities as friend guidelines.
Most of the fights in Dearborn halls are interracial. Bad talk is done
between others' backs, and can sometimes be brought into the open. Arabs
use the put down "Stupid white boy" to try to look tough in
front of their friends. The "white boys" might retort with
"Darn Arabs". These racial slurs are thrown into fistfights
and anger between the two races flair.
The school has taken steps towards a more peaceful environment. A club
has been set up called "P.A.T.S" which stands for peace, awareness,
tolerance and sensitivity. It's made itself known through collages on
walls and innovative ideas. The collages are made up of magazine clippings,
which incorporate every color and culture. The members were supposed
to spend one lunch hour sitting with a peer they had never talked to
before. Although it was a good plan, many of the students chickened
out or tried it and then returned to normal when they didn't get phenomenal
results.
It seems as though other school programs may segregate the students
even more. There is a group called "Discover Islam" that lets
the kids celebrate their religion. Usually only twenty to thirty students
will attend the meetings, depending on the topic of the meeting. The
first meeting was popular, with two Caucasian boys checking it out.
The two boys ended up disrupting the meeting with disrespectful laughter.
Some students are pushing towards more interracial friendships. However,
there are still few efforts from the Arabs to join a sport. Not too
many Caucasians are trying to understand the Islam religion. There are
pushes towards the future, and maybe one day it will be less about color
and more about compassion.
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