AISNE's 2016 Diversity Conference

It is a “Call To Action.” I like how they put that.

Program from the Diversity Conference

Each year, the American Independent Schools of New England [AISNE] has a Diversity Conference for independent middle schools throughout New England [high schoolers have their own version, which is national]. Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to attend the 2016 conference which was hosted at Thayer Academy with a small group of kids from school and my history teacher.

The conference began at 9:00, so we were required to leave campus at 8:30. We arrived at Thayer on time. The day started off in the auditorium, where a group of Hip-Hop performers talked about how certain raps showed diversity and assimilation of certain groups. These performers danced, sang, and explained where they grew up and how diversity played a role in their childhood. As the audience, we were even requested to stand up what space we had in the auditorium and dance along with them.

The following hour, the 300 kids who attended the conference split up into separate workshops throughout Thayer’s campus. Prior to Saturday, my history teacher sent me a workshop sign up sheet. I was part of the Privilege workshop, which was one of my top choices.

***

Privilege. Walking into that workshop, I perceived it to be serious, solemn and wary. I will say that I my idea was quite disillusioned. My favorite activity that took place in the Privilege workshop was discussing three questions, which the instructors of the workshop projected on the whiteboard. I can’t remember the exact wording of the three questions, however I have included the main ideas of them below.

1. What does privilege give to those who have it? How are they given an advantage?
2. What circumstances does having privilege give an advantage?
3. How can we use the privilege we are given?

This was just a rough remembering of the questions, yet I found the first one piqued my interest the most. We were sitting on the floor in a collaborative circle and for question 1, many kids mentioned having food on a plate or knowing when your next meal came from. This discussion truly brought awareness to the privilege I am given; attending an independent school, knowing where my next meal is coming from, having a roof over my head every night. These are just 3 of the many privileges I sometimes take for granted. I think this awareness is really important to possess.

I noticed that during the beginning part of the discussion, I was surprisingly quiet since these are topics that I feel passionate about addressing. Yet later, I found my voice in the conversation, and I talked about privilege giving us opportunity. I believe that if someone has privilege, it may give them more opportunity in life, because they have the resources [proper nutrition, housing, education etc] to support these desires. It’s kind of like they have many open paths in life, with few boulders in blocking the entrances. I couldn’t even believe these words were coming out of my mouth since I’d never considered the topic in quite as much depth as I had yesterday. But it began to hit me as my ideas flowed through my mind. The idea of opportunity began to be more clearly expressed as I continued talking expanding this idea. And as I voiced all my opinions, I noticed myself beginning to see the word privileged differently.

Following this meaningful discussion, the group did an exercise. We all stood in one straight line across the width of the classroom. Around 20 statements were read one at a time, and if the statement applied to you, you would take a small step forwards. I will list some statements that were mentioned. I will admit, I ended up towards the back of the room, but in some ways, that was impetus for me to work harder.

• Step forwards if you know where your next meal is coming from.
• Step backwards if you take public transportation.
• Step forwards if you own 50 of more books in your house.
• Step backwards if you feel unsafe walking alone on the streets at night.
• Step backwards if your ethnicity has ever been ridiculed.
• Step forwards if you have connections that helped you in achieve, get accepted into, or succeeded in some form.

***

Yesterday brought a different light to my perception of privilege. I would have never considered feeling safe walking on the streets a privilege, or owning more than 50 books in your house. I feel fortunate that I’m living the life I’m living. I’m privileged. I just need to remember it more.