Being a person of color from an LGBTQ+ household in a Regional School Unit 21 community, I can speak firsthand about the racism that exists within the schools.

Just last year, based on my race, I was put into a kimono for a character on stage who wasn’t even Asian. My junior year at Kennebunk High School, I was typecast as “Chinese Man” in a show rife with racial stereotypes. I don’t remember a time where KHS cast a student of color as a lead or produced any show with a strong person of color as a main character.

In middle school, I was labeled as a terrorist “at random” in an example by a teacher in a class of 25 kids with only one other student of color. Students walking and driving by my house have called my gay dads slurs that I shouldn’t put in the paper. The school board has only known white students. How can they honestly address racism without people who personally understand it?

Superintendent Katie Hawes says that RSU 21 strives to be accepting and inclusive. If that’s so, why aren’t we teaching students about the harm that words and actions have? Confederate and Gadsden flags can be seen on bumper trucks of trucks in the parking lot of KHS, but we had to take down our pride flag. Why should we have to grin and bear it? This “keep it quiet” mentality and “deal with it” attitude doesn’t solve problems – it adds to them.

The district needs people of color on the school board in some way; mandatory third-party bias training for administrators, teachers and students, and immediate action for victims of discriminatory behavior and bullies. To show that actions speak louder than words, KHS should put the pride flag back up in front of KHS as a symbol of its commitment to support, diversity, healing and change.

Kurt Stentiford

New York City

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