When I was a kid, I wanted to be white. I wanted to look like my peers, to be accepted, to be one of them. As I grew older, I realized that I would never be like them, never be accepted. So when I got the opportunity to go to Olathe North, I took it. I thought that if I went to a school with more diversity, people would listen to my opinions and I would finally be accepted. 

I was wrong. Becoming an Eagle did not change the fact that there are people in this world that are inconsiderate of others feelings and opinions. And no matter where I go, there will always be people that are racist without even knowing it. You would think that because a white person is surrounded by people of color (POC) constantly, they would see the struggles and listen to the opinions of those who have been put down for looking different.         

While hanging out with a group of people at someone’s house, we sat around a campfire and we were all talking, having a good time. Then, I heard someone scream “Yeah, (student’s name) is racist.” I was caught off guard and I asked them why they were saying these things. They proceeded to say that the student said the n-word multiple times. I was shocked at this fact because this student had never shown any signs of having hatred or bias towards black people. 

At the time, I didn’t know what to say. My jaw dropped. Across the room, the student whispered to me saying that they were sorry. I told the student that it was okay because I didn’t want to start anything but it was not okay. That’s when I decided to do some of my own research.

I started asking my friends that were in the group when the student said the n-word. I found out that this was not the first time that they had said it. On multiple occasions, there have been incidents when they said these harmful words; one of them even being on video. As I was doing more research, I began to see that the student realized their mistakes and was trying to be a better person. 

The story does not end here. On September 23rd, I went to a football game at Shawnee Mission South. Standing in the student section, I heard yelling coming behind me. I turned around to see a group of white students from Olathe North telling the student who said the n-word to say something. I didn’t know what they were trying to get him to say so I asked the person next to me. They proceeded to say that they were trying to get him to say the n-word. 

At that moment, I realized that this issue is not unique to my group of friends. There are a lot of problems with this. Joking about the n-word is racist and encourages racism. The n-word was used against black people to belittle them. There is a lot of history with the word stems from dating black to slavery. Watching students constantly encourage other students to make fun of the word constantly and say slurs that were used against people who looked like me shows me that they are no different.

Joking about the n-word is one thing, but letting people continue to say it is just as bad. When the kid said the n-word as a joke, many of the girls that were present were very uncomfortable with this. At that moment, they didn’t know what to do. And to be honest, if I was in that situation, what would I even say? How would I say it? They have voiced their opinions to me and they have never thought it was okay. They just didn’t know what to do to stop it. 

Many people don’t realize that when you continue to let people say racist things or things that offend people, you are condoning what they are saying. You are letting them get away with it. By staying quiet, you’re telling them that they can continue to say these harmful words without consequence. 

My entire life, I have watched people disguise racism as a joke. I will no longer sit back and tolerate racist behavior. I love Olathe North and wouldn’t choose to be anywhere else. However, this needs to be talked about and everyone needs to educate themselves. We need to focus on the fact that there is racism within Olathe North and something needs to change.