‘What are you going to do for people who don’t look like you?’
Hi everyone, thank you for coming out. Honestly you’re kinda late, but whatever. My name is Leor Shomroni, I graduated from Webster two years ago.
For the last two years of high school, I had to go to school every day and see swastikas drawn on the walls. Students yelling “white power” and doing Nazi salutes in the hallways. The superintendent didn’t really care that much, the school board didn’t want to deal with it.
And none of YOU wanted to deal with it either.
I’m talking here today as a white guy. I’m not a regular white guy because I was one of about two and a half Jews at the high school, living in a town that isn’t a welcoming place for Jews, and I’m the son of immigrants, and Webster is not a welcoming place for immigrants. But I’m still a white male, so I can say things that people who don’t look like me can’t.
I want to thank you all for coming here, but I also want to ask what are you gonna do next. Will you go home and post on social media, or will you ask yourself why you haven’t done anything about racism in Webster until now?
Will you find out why Webster just lost its only two principals of color?
Will you find out why the superintendent and the school board never supported them while they were here?
Will you find out why institutions that perpetuate racism like to hire people of color to get people off their backs but then don’t support them after they’re hired?
Because I’m white, I have no risk in saying that black teachers aren’t supported in the Webster school district unless they pretend this is the enlightened, diverse community that you all love to brag about.
So, when you go home today, will you post again, or will you find out how to support black faculty and staff after hiring them?
Will you find out why, for three years now, the superintendent and the board refused to appoint a director of diversity and inclusion like other schools did, and instead spent YOUR money on “collecting data” and “analyzing racism issues” while not actually doing a thing about it?
Will you post again, or will you work on making this community hospitable and welcoming to people who aren’t white or Christian?
Now, I want you to think about this: What do you think a city leader would do after hearing about an event like this? An event that addresses systemic racism and in doing so must address its place in the school district and Webster as a whole.
Well a city leader can’t just flat out say no, you’re not allowed to protest. This type of stuff is trendy now, even Trump supporters are pretending to care about minorities.
No, If they tried to stop this, they’d be cancelled immediately. And when they heard about this, they knew better. Word got out about a Webster protest coming up, and all of a sudden certain city council members started getting involved.
If you’re wondering why we’re doing this in a secluded park, far away from the streets and businesses that cater to white people, that is a result of city council members scaring us into thinking we can’t hold a rally in Old Orchard or Old Webster without a permit.
This is a protest about changing the system so Webster doesn’t become home to the next hashtag, and we ended up sharing all our plans with the city council, and even the police beforehand.
It took a matter of days for them to have their hands all over this.
I could go on and on, but you get the point. All I’m asking is, what are you going to do about this? I’m not asking what kind of photo you’re gonna post of your kids protesting, I’m asking what are you going to do for people who don’t look exactly like you.
Thank you
List of Demands from the Webster Alumni
DEMANDS TO KEEP WEBSTER FROM BEING HOME TO THE NEXT HASHTAG
For the Police:
- We must make deescalation training a requirement for each and every officer.
- We must hold our police force accountable. If a police officer commits a crime, they can not be placed on paid-leave, they must be held to the same standard as every other citizen of Webster Groves. They are not better than any other human.
- We must enforce the rules that are already in place: ban chokeholds, require warning before shooting, use every other alternative possible before shooting, keep Body cameras on at all times.
- We must make sure Police have access to proper and free mental health services.
- We must make sure that Police have thorough background checks, and if there is any chance they may have white supremacist ideologies, they can not become officers.
- The police must be defunded, and the funds that would be put into the department, must be redistributed to invest in low-income housing, education, Black neighborhoods, and an actual living wage. By redistributing the wealth, our community will be able to focus on bettering the lives of Black people, and other minorities, instead of over-policing and criminzaling them.
For the School District:
- You must make our school system a safe and nurturing place for all students.
- You must prevent racist situations from happening, instead of dealing with them once they arise.
- You must do an extreme audit on all educational lessons, and fight to get textbooks and courses that are not white-washed. There should be no reason for a Blck student to have to sign up to take an african-american history class in order to learn their history. Currently, the curriculum is whitewashed, and paints over the real history of minorities in America, which further establishes the idea that white people are supreme.
- You must hold teachers and administrators accountable. There is no room for racist or hate in the people who work here.
- You must create a required program, or class, that teaches about microaggressions, diversity, inclusion, for all students to take.
- You must not try to cover up racist incidents that take place, but rather talk about it, hold discussions, and teach why it is not okay.
- You Must end out-of-school suspension for it is racially biased, and is a direct link to the school-to-prison pipeline.
For Community Members:
- We must work to fight for each other. We must make this community united, we must make every single person in this town feel included, feel heard.
- You must be a good ally. If you see a Black person pulled over by the police, pull over. Take out your phone. Make sure the officer knows you are filming, knows that you are there. It is incredibly sad that this must be a precaution, but you could possibly save another person’s life.
- You must call out racism and microaggressions when you see them.
- You must educate yourself, and educate your children. The school district is not teaching students enough about real world issues, and minorities histories.
- You must take it upon yourself to teach your family about these difficult topics. A common statement that some people have been saying recently is “what are you going to do to teach your kid not to shoot mine.” Racism is a learned trait, and it can be unlearned. We must all work to unlearn.
- Tell Black kids they are beautiful, tell them that their skin is beautiful and that their hair texture is beautiful. Black kids grow up being taught and told they are not good enough. They need to know they are more than good enough.
