Editor, the VOICE:
Tahoma High School’s diversity club should hold in-class informational sessions. In an increasingly diverse community, Maple Valley needs to be able to provide a space for all students to feel welcome. Teaching about micro aggressions and the various elements that make-up diversity is crucial for Tahoma students to become successful after high school. Racial/Ethnic biases form early in childhood and providing tools for students to understand the intricacies surrounding this topic is important.
Talking about racism is a relevant issue, especially with our current election and the verbal attacks against Latino’s and Muslims, we need to ensure our students that the attitudes held by people in power should not reflect the attitudes that American citizens hold. Additionally, with Tahoma’s involvement with other schools, regarding sports, clubs, and other organizations means that being aware of diversity and how to navigate that would help Tahoma present itself has a progressive and accepting schools to all students to interact with us (regardless if they are Tahoma students or not). Maple Valley’s current demographics do not allow for a lot of contact between various racial and ethnic cultures that would naturally encourage our students to think critically about race, ethnicity, so providing a space where students can talk about these issues is crucial.
Kalai Ross
