Our country is physically sick from a ruthless virus and morally sick from persistent racism in all its forms. At LACHSA, we’ve already taken steps to address our health by closing the campus and implementing social distancing protocols. Now we must all line up together and demand radical and meaningful change to heal the insidious disease of racism. Black. Lives. Matter. We refuse to be silent about the violence, threats, and indignities that too often poison the experience of being Black in America.
We have witnessed with shock and disbelief the events of George Floyd’s killing (and so many Black Americans before him), new incidences of police brutality, and divisions in our country sown and fostered by the highest offices in the land. We have seen unfathomable levels of pain, grief, and anger from strangers on TV, family, friends, and colleagues, and felt the same emotions in ourselves. We live in a time in which black citizens, despite only making up 13 percent of the US population, are on average two-and-a-half times as likely as white Americans to be killed by the police, and even five times as likely in some states. As millions march in our streets, tired of the endless cycle of yet another black citizen killed, followed by outrage, followed by unfulfilled hope that it will finally end, the question is not, “Why are people angry?” but instead, “Why are they not even angrier?” And while many in our society want to put the sins of slavery and oppression behind us and move on, we can’t and won’t until we realize as a nation that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
LACHSA is a public school open to all students regardless of race, beliefs, gender identity, socio-economic status, physical abilities or any other characteristics one may have. Our educators work in a public school because they are committed to providing opportunities for all talented students to develop as artists and to be a safe place for anyone who feels in any way different from others their age. In this moment, we re-commit to that ideal and reflect on ways we can improve as individuals, as teachers, and as a school. For those of you who have experienced racism of any kind in the LACHSA community, we acknowledge your pain and frustration, and wholly commit to fostering an open and more inclusive environment. This may surface difficult and even painful discussions among us, but they are not only important on a personal level, but are critical to our relevance as an arts school. Most importantly, LACHSA is a community and a family, and we will support each other through this period of talking, listening, and learning.
Our first step is to look inward. In conversations with our teachers, we began steps to form a Social Justice Steering Committee, and institute staff training on implicit bias, microaggressions, and other systemic problems in ourselves and in the school. These are only initial steps toward changing long-held and even unrecognized practices and beliefs, but we are committed to doing the work. We also encourage everyone in our community to do this same work. Teacher Grace Hanna (Cinematic Arts) has compiled a thoughtful selection of organizations where you can help, donate, and learn more:
Black Lives Matter
Black Visions Collective
Reclaim the Block
Official George Floyd Memorial Fund
NAACP Legal Defense Fund
American Civil Liberties Union
National Bail Fund Network
National Police Accountability Project
Know Your Rights Camp
Be a part of this movement in body, mind, and spirit. History will hold you up as the generation that finally said, “Enough.” We’ve flattened the curve of a virus and to paraphrase Martin Luther King, Jr., now is the time to bend the arc of the moral universe towards justice.
