[This is a post I wrote on SLA’s school-wide discussion forum… I don’t know how big an issue it really is. I do think that in a school as diverse as SLA (46% African-American, 38% White, 8% Asian, 8% Hispanic) that some self-selection was bound to happen, but I want us talking about it. I want SLA to be a school where we can talk about race and how our racial identity affects how we live our lives. I think this question is very much linked to our essential questions in our curriculum — Who am I? How does my environment affect me? How do I influence my environment? Anyway, I just posted the question on our forums… I can’t wait to see what the students write. My biggest fear, honestly, would be silence. I want to engage in these kinds of questions.]

I’ve been meaning to write this post for a few days now, but I’ll be honest, I’ve not liked how it has sounded every time I’ve started…

But this is something that has been bothering me, and I would hate to think that we would (I would) shy away from hard discussions, just because they are hard…

I’ve noticed that in classes without assigned seats… in the cafeteria… and even in some clubs… there are a bunch of the groups forming at SLA that are self-segregating by race. I know there are arguments pro and con about this issue (anyone interested in an interesting book about racial identity and self-selection of friends, etc… check out: "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria")

But I would think and hope that in a school like ours, our diversity would be a huge strength of ours. And maybe it is. Maybe I should be focusing on the groups of friends that are diverse, rather than the ones that aren’t. But I’ve noticed it… and I know some other folks have too.

I wish I had something more eloquent to say about the topic, but I don’t. I’m hoping you all do. I have a hope that if we talk about this issue, we’ll open ourselves up to each other a bit more, and no matter what decisions we make about who we sit with, we can understand each others (and our own) decisions a bit more.

Thanks,
Mr. Lehmann