Referenews

Students speak about their experience with ignorance and racism in Durango

The Durango High School Black Student Alliance is trying to raise money for a cultural trip to Atlanta in April.

The trip will be a Black history and culture tour along with a tour of some of Atlanta’s historically Black colleges and universities. The club is trying to raise $19,000 to go on the trip and have already received $6,500 grant from the Durango Education Foundation as well as a $2,400 donation from the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Durango.

For the students, it’s more than just a trip. It’s a chance for them to either experience a different culture or a culture of their own.

Data from the 2020 United States census shows that Black residents only make up 0.8% of Durango’s population. People of two or more races make up just 5.5% of the population, while people who identify as white make up 83.5%.

According to the Black Student Alliance, this can lead to skewed perspectives. Many of the club’s students said racial slurs are used on campus and other schools by students.

“I have a brother who’s in seventh grade, and he’s been called the N-word,” sophomore Eva Allen said.

Allen said she believes that most students don’t understand that what they’re saying is offensive to people of color, and the club’s goal is to educate students as why certain phrases or stereotypes are wrong.

“They’ve been raised in an environment where there aren’t a lot of Black people, and there’s nobody to really teach them about those things,” she said. “And so I think something that we really tried to do here at the BSA is educate and not discriminate against people.”

Lyric Rodriguez, club president, noted that the school became really polarized after the George Floyd protests in 2020. She said some students view her wearing a “Black Lives Matter” T-shirt as political rather than supporting racial justice.

“If you do something wrong you get a lot more backlash,” said junior TeAmo Bellino. “It seems like we get punished a lot.”

Some students have experienced other forms of harassment like unwanted hair touching. Freshman Gabrielle McBride said she’s had problems with other students touching her braids and has repeatedly asked them to stop.

Sophomore Jordan Meininger said there’s not enough discussion about race in Durango.

“I just feel like because we live in a primarily white town, it’s hard to get the right perspective and education as it would be in a place that has a lot more diversity,” she said.

Meininger said because she’s white she doesn’t feel like she can comment on what people of color experience but feels education on race-related issues could be better.

Many of the students felt white students were disciplined less by school leaders when conflict between white and black students arose.

“We are saddened to hear that there are students who have encountered racism in our schools,” said Durango School District 9-R Executive Director of Student Support Services Vanessa Giddings. “We stand firmly against acts of racism and are committed to improving the experiences of students through our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.”

She said the district is committed to providing a safe, welcoming and inclusive learning environment for all students and school leaders are committed to investigating and following up with every report of racism.

School district policy says when a report of racism is received, school leaders are required to conduct a comprehensive investigation, provide follow-up of disciplinary action, work with all parties to repair harm, provide counseling support and provide external consultation with experts, when necessary.

Rodriguez said people in Durango aren’t actually racist but because of the town’s demographics, people haven’t been exposed to different cultures.

These reasons are why the trip is so important to the students.

“Atlanta thrives on Black culture,” sophomore Tiana Baptiste said. “And I think being surrounded by something other than Durango is a nice feeling. It makes you open to things that you could do rather than being discriminated against.”

“I think this club will really enjoy being in a place where they don’t have to worry about disguising themselves or having to fit in,” said Allen. “It’s a place where we can experience our culture and be submersed in an environment where we feel safe.”

Rodriguez said the students talk about race-related issues and incidents every week during their Wednesday meetings and it would be beneficial for them to experience a relatable community.

Bellino said it was important to experience a population with a larger Black culture and better understand how discrimination impacts people of color in larger cities.

The students have been working hard this year to make the trip a possibility. Their fundraising efforts have included hosting a Black History Soul Food Dinner in February, selling club designed buttons and selling baked goods at athletic events.

The club is looking for sponsorships from community-owned businesses and are selling tamales for $30 per dozen. In collaboration with Joe Burn’s ProStart class, the club will also run the Demon Deli at DHS throughout finals week selling scones and coffee.

“Our hope is that students might see this as a viable pathway for me,” said DHS faculty representative Sarah Sanchez Armstrong. “They might choose to look at this school or apply to this school that is similar throughout the United States.”

Donations can be given through the club’s GoFundMe page: https://gofund.me/ec12a7ef.

tbrown@durangoherald.com