How Should We Talk About Racial Divisions at ETHS?

I received a Facebook message on Friday, July 5th, from an Evanston friend, asking if I’d been to our annual 4th of July Parade along Central Street (I had not). She mentioned she was struck by something she knew I might want to write about.

She said, “There was a big group marching for the Dajae Coleman Foundation and I couldn't help but notice that there were no white people marching with them. Seems like that is part of our cities [sic] problems with violence. Similarly the other groups representing ETHS were the football team, the Pom Kits and the Marching Band. Black, black and white respectively. Just an observation but I know that you are passionate about the problems around the high school and the general level of violence in Evanston. I have long noticed the self segregation here and while I understand it, I think it contributes to many of our problems.”

I doubt every member of each of those groups was one race or another, but if those four groups were each, as she reports, comprised of (or even primarily) one particular race, then I’m surprised and disappointed. While I recognize a parade can't encompass the entirety of a community group’s supporters, if the majority of any one group tends to be of one color or another – especially in Evanston – there is still, in my opinion, much work to be accomplished here. 

I also recognize the comfort, familiarity and understanding people feel being around others who share similarities of some sort, be it ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic status, language, race, political affiliation, or affinity for a National League Baseball team with the worst record since 1966; it’s human instinct. However, as humans living together in a society, I also believe it’s our responsibility to understand others’ perspectives, challenges, accomplishments and fears. No one grows by living in a bubble. Moreover, while history informs our choices and decisions, it doesn’t determine who we are, nor do the actions of specific individuals. 

My friend pointed out what cannot and should not be ignored: continued racial division at the high school level. Is it always going to be this way? Is it a problem or a natural separation? Does racial division in several high school activities purport a systemic problem of racial division in our broader community? Should anything be done about any of it? If so, what? Most of all, how should we be talking to our youngest members of society about what we see?