In response to Melanie Sturm’s question, “Is ‘systemic racism’ the right diagnosis?” (July 3), overwhelming evidence leads to a definitive “yes.”
In her column, Sturm expresses alarm that anti-racist theories are being taught in schools and criticizes Durango School District 9R’s resolution to engage experts to identify systemic racism in the district.
Based on her arguments, Sturm seems to be unfamiliar with the very concept she is questioning. Systemic racism can be defined as policies and practices that exist in societies or organizations that perpetuate an unfair advantage to some people and unfair or harmful treatment of others based on race. She places the obligation of solving racism on those who bear the heaviest burden from it by inferring that they should be able to surmount disparity with a better attitude.
Discriminatory actions are embedded in America’s educational system, economic system, criminal justice system and more, with consequences that are deeply damaging and multigenerational. Solutions to systemic racism demand a focus on systems, not individuals.
As Ibram X. Kendi recently stated, “Education cannot be the only vehicle for social welfare and human empowerment for the many. It is not a substitute for fair wages, better working conditions, or worker bargaining power, nor is it a path to attaining them.”
Sturm presents herself, a scoliosis sufferer, and her son, a dyslexic, as people who’ve overcome their challenges, seemingly to serve as examples to victims of racism who simply need some inspiration and a change of attitude. While both issues are indeed challenging, it is an insult to people who’ve experienced systemic racism to assume that the absurdly simplistic solution lies in “being inspired to develop their unique potential” in the school setting, as she states.
Sturm’s trite platitude that, “though we can’t choose what happens in our lives, we can choose how to react” blames the victim by inferring that if only people experiencing racism would just react differently, the problem would be solved.
While Sturm acknowledges racial differences in performance metrics, she questions whether racism is the cause. Volumes of data and evidence exist demonstrating the devastating effects of systemic racism in education. As far back at 1991, Jonathan Kozol described in his book “Savage Inequalities” the striking differences between public schools serving students of color in urban settings and their suburban counterparts, which typically spend twice as much per student for populations with many fewer special needs.
For those who genuinely want to address systemic racism, America’s true history must first be acknowledged: one that has perpetuated racist policies since its formation.
I, for one, would welcome my child being taught about the Tulsa race massacre of 1921, and that the land we currently live on was seized from myriad tribes who lived here first – the Utes, Navajo, Arapaho, Cheyenne and others. We cannot begin to make right our past wrongs if we don’t acknowledge them. Self-reflection is painful and necessary.
As Te-Nehisi Coates states, “An America that asks what it owes its most vulnerable citizens is improved and humane. An America that looks away is ignoring not just the sins of the past but the sins of the present and the certain sins of the future.”
I am curious why Sturm, a persuasion coach from Aspen, is weighing in on our school district’s effort to address racism? As a parent of a District 9-R student, I applaud the district’s resolution to address this issue and the goal of improving diversity, equity and inclusion for all students.
Self-disclosure: I am a white woman of privilege (as is Melanie Sturm) striving to be an ally in dismantling systemic racism.
Claire Ninde is a freelance writer and mother of a Durango 9-R high school student.
