Editor’s note: This commentary is by Bruce Pandya, of East Montpelier, who is a 10th grader at U-32 High School. He is a member of the Vermont Coalition for Ethnic and Social Equity In Schools.
[E]arlier this month, I spoke at the Statehouse for the opening of the People’s Power Lobby.
I spoke in favor of H.3, which is a bill about reviewing current state-mandated standards and suggesting adding ones that include the histories and contributions of ethnic and social groups who have been marginalized for too long.
It would achieve this by the creation of a “working group” consisting of representatives of different non-dominant social and ethnic groups as well as representatives from the different arms of education in the state.
They would also work to review state statutes on educational policies to make recommendations on changes needed to make schools more inclusive.
At present, the bill has passed unanimously out of the House Education Committee and will next go to the House Appropriations Committee, and then to the Senate.
Now, I would like to make my case for this bill in writing.
I’m a student at U-32 High School. My school is home to a moderately sized population of students of color, as well as a thriving BLAMM (Black, Latinx, Asian, and Many More) club.
This club was instrumental in raising the Black Lives Matter flag at our school last year, following the example of Montpelier High School.
I’m very happy that the school community was largely both receptive and supportive of it.
But the measure was also met with opposition, both legitimate and hate-fueled.
On the day the flag was raised, a student took a photo showing the Confederate flag being hung out of a school bus window.
The display of hate symbols was an absolutely abhorrent way to voice opposition, and one which makes me as a student of color feel less safe at school.
As well as cultural, there are systemic issues with education that must be addressed.
Curriculum is excessively white and eurocentric.
What do I mean by this?
I do not believe that the history of underrepresented people should be seen as a footnote, or as something that we learn about in a single unit and is then forgotten.
Neither should we ignore the history of oppression and erasure of cultures. In failing to teach this, we commit the same actions.
Despite this, our curriculum focuses largely on Europe. The only time I learned in depth about non-European or non-white cultures was in my ninth grade Global Studies unit on world religions.
I find it very problematic that the history of people of color is taught only in conjunction with lessons on European cultures.
I have no problem with teaching the history of white cultures. What I do have a problem with is the whitewashing of the history of non-dominant groups and the restriction of our history to being taught only in conjunction with white cultures.
I am supporting this bill because leveling the standards is a step in the right direction.
Taking action to ensure a fair representation of all people is vital to beginning to heal the damage caused by prejudice in our educational system.
