Nabali Khaled Salameh’s Crown Plaza serves as a case study of upended social and business norms in a crippled economy. It also represents the challenges that the pandemic has on a business that is indeed essential to a fragile community.
School leaders are facing increasing pressure to address racial disparities even as they struggle to open schools in the midst of the pandemic. Can they do both?
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.
I’m a big advocate of kids knowing and understanding that they need someone who looks like them. Not necessarily to teach them, but they need someone who they can identify with, that they have the eye contact that we do as black people to say, “I’m here. I get it.”
I was quite a shy high schooler and tried to keep to myself. I now have a stronger voice in saying, “You know what?, Some of those experiences I had were not okay.”
If an individual, group or organization identifies a deficit, we are always willing to listen. But also, for the good of our students and our community, go a step further. Don’t just point out an issue. Lean in to help solve the issue by seeking out resources and support.
The reason why protests are disruptive is because they need to be. If we don’t disrupt, then what are we doing? As far as I’m concerned, people of color are invisible in that school district. Pretty invisible. Diversity Day is about as good as they can get.
It is sometimes difficult to make really well meaning, kind, loving white folks understand why anti-racism is important in a mostly white community.
We have anti-racism, anti-bias like a board resolution. We have policies that prohibit racism and discrimination, but we don’t have anything that addresses it more broadly and also more specifically. We’ve been working with staff, students, board members and administrators this summer to create a policy that will express commitment.