Leadership Reports

BULLDOGS FIGHTS FOR JUSTICE

This week's social justice topic is hate speech, specifically racial and homophobic slurs. I'm sure many of you all have heard slurs passed around from time to time, the most commonly used is the n-word. First we should define what a slur is. The most common definition for slurs in modern time is: "an insinuation or allegation about someone that is likely to insult them or damage their reputation". Slurs these days are often used towards people of color and people that are part of the lgbtq+ community. Now this topic is a very controversial, complicated, and sensitive topic but we, the Social Justice group, and many others, felt we needed to put such a topic out on the table. Things won't improve if we remain silent. Slurs have been ways to insult and degrade people of different races and people with different interests for centuries now in this country! Under no circumstances should such disrespectful words be used against a targeted group of people. As human beings we should respect each other, not make each other feel bad for something they can't control such as their gender, color of their skin, or sexual preference. My biggest piece of advice is to EDUCATE EDUCATE EDUCATE!!! A lot of the time people say slurs that they're not aware are even slurs and end up hurting people around them. To simply avoid that you educate yourself and others around you. And if you are aware of someone who uses slurs and knows they're using slurs you tell them to stop. Yes, it can be hard to do especially when you admire that person but I promise you you'll feel amazing after. And not only are you doing the right thing but you are also telling said person that you don't tolerate such behavior and that shows an awful lot of respect. Like said before this topic is a very complicated topic that obviously can't be expressed by one person so we'll soon be having a friend explain their story and how slurs have affected them as a person part of the LGBTQ+ community and a person of color.

Read these experiences to learn more from your fellow bulldogs about their experiences and thoughts around slurs:

"I've been told to 'go back to my country' or to 'speak English in America'. I used to get hate messages saying I 'carried' coronavirus and have experienced being called racist remarks like 'ching chong' / 'ling ling' just because I'm Asian. Like any normal person would be, I was hurt. It hurt a lot, but because I'm so used to it, which I shouldn't be, I shouldn't have to experience these things."

-Anonymous LeyVa Student

"As a black person living in San Jose, where there aren't many black people, hearing the N-word being passed around is actually very troubling. To be honest the N-word wasn't really spoken amongst my peers in elementary school, but then once I got into the middle that's where the word was commonly used by other students who were indeed not black. To be real with you, I wasn't even aware or educated about the n-word because like I said before it wasn't really part of kids' vocabulary in elementary. The word never even crossed my mind, but after I was quickly educated by my sisters, it began to put me in an uneasy state of mind hearing it so often on campus coming out the mouths of my non-black peers. I've tried MANY times to have this discussion with students, my message was simply 'if you're not black you shouldn't say the N-Word'. Now that people are becoming more aware of racial discrimination, I feel like this is a prime time for us to start educating ourselves! I mean we're stuck in our homes and most of us are on the internet anyway so why not? Do your part to educate yourself, then educate others."

-Jemimah Okpon ASB Secretary, and PTSA Vice President

The LeyVa SJC is comprised of: Jemimah, Lara, Virginia, Julia, Sarah, & Jennifer