In the aftermath of the controversy over casting in the IHS production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, a series of discussions about race and racial bias have been offered to students looking to explore race issues in the Ithaca community, as well as correct their own personal biases.
The workshop, “An Interactive Exploration of Race, Privilege and the Learning Environment,” was the first opportunity provided to IHS students to explore race issues. The workshop, organized by the Performing Arts for Social Change (PASC) group from Ithaca College, made heavy use of theater elements in which participants acted, wrote, and spoke about their experiences with race while also listening to the experiences of others.
The workshop began with trust-building exercises to create an environment that was conducive to intimate and emotional discussion. The activities that followed, including a privilege exercise in which participants lined up and took steps forwards and backwards for every example of privilege and disadvantage that they face daily, were powerful in showing participants the differences in their life experiences as the result of their race. Finally, after several such activities, participants wrote poetry and made art depicting a learning community and a world free of racial bias, and discussed their own experiences in the workshop.
The group that partook in the PASC workshop was extremely diverse. Students from IHS of various racial and socioeconomic backgrounds took part. While much of the student representation consisted of actors from Hairspray, all IHS students were welcome to attend. Several teachers also participated in the workshop, speaking from their unique perspectives as educators about the implementation of a race-conscious curriculum in ICSD. A Board of Education (BoE) member also took part.
The PASC workshop has large implications for addressing racial biases in the IHS community in coming years. All poetry and art created at the workshop was collected and catalogued by PASC, and all theater elements were recorded for future use. With these materials, a ‘work group’ composed of participants will work with district officials and PASC members to create a working agreement, a document outlining rules of conduct to encourage open but safe dialogue about race, and an accountability policy for district employees and students. The goals of this agreement are to work towards eliminating racial bias and profiling in IHS, and are expected to be implemented as soon as next year.
On Tuesday April 24, LACS hosted The Dorothy Cotton Institute Human Rights Workshop. Students from IHS and LACS were invited to learn about human rights issues and how they impact them and their communities. The workshop began with a working agreement to create a safe environment for students to share their personal stories and beliefs. The ensuing discussion proved to be the most impactful exercise of the day, as students spoke of their highly emotional experiences and how they have impacted their lives.The presenters then defined human rights, which allowed students to discuss human rights violations they had experienced or witnessed. The workshop used the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to provide a background for students in order to facilitate discussion on the implications of various Human Rights Conventions.
When conversation shifted to the limitation of the enforcement of Human Rights, a heated debate ensued between a student and the presenter. Despite being a tense situation, the presenters managed to respond with grace and openness, easing the animosity of the encounter. Finally, the leaders concluded the workshop with observations on the United Nations’ Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. This allowed them to discuss persisting racial inequalities in education, employment and health, and housing. The leaders emphasized the power of education in addressing these inequities and advocated for the establishment of a Human Rights Friendly School, a school that educates students on human rights through an Amnesty International-developed curriculum. They encouraged students to use their knowledge of human rights to take action in their communities and schools.
Finally, throughout the month of May, discussions on race and racial issues have been facilitated by presenters from Training for Change. The organization, which is noted for its methods of ‘direct education’ that allow educators to adapt plans based on the concerns and interests of students, sent out a survey to prospective participants to see what questions IHS students had about race. Training for Change workshops were held on three different occasions in early May during lunch periods, and longer, more structured after-school workshops also took place.
A major positive outcome of the casting controversy is that it has resulted in the creation of many opportunities for IHS students and administrators to learn about race in a structured and open environment. Through the creation of many workshops, ICSD administration has shown that it is committed to creating a racially inclusive, bias-free community in IHS. These workshops have given students the chance to learn a great deal about themselves and their community, and the work being done in these workshops has the power to result in great change and reform in ICSD policy.