Page
(A history teacher) "He emphasized that even though black people were enslaved in the south during the pre-civil war years, they were “treated well”. And “they had it better” than those black people who were free in the north."
"After diving into history books from non-white perspectives and I am appalled at the lack of candor and the amount of whitewashing that occurs in history classes that in turn covers up years of continued racism, the beginning of our current systemic racism, and the stories of so many black heroes who go untold. This lack of curriculum is a core reason why white children grow up to be adults who are ignorant to racial tension in their world. In order to understand how we can move forward, we have to understand every part of where we come from, even when it's ugly and tragic. I would call for inclusion of history materials that are written from a non-white perspective to ensure a more well-rounded education."
"I have many stores that I could share about discrimination at our school. Yes, these students are young. Even I, as I am older have reflected at my own actions and wish I had taken action. Yes, racism runs rapid at this school. I blame it on the social economic community that surrounds the school. Rich and White OR Poor and Country with very little diversity. But regardless of race, this experience is with someone who is disabled. He had (name of disability) and was constantly bullied in the JROTC program. He yet was bullied by his peers. He kept getting yelled at by the drill team captain. I just wish I could’ve made him feel better because I could see the tears in his eyes as he told the captain to fuck off."
"I witnessed racism on many levels from the "good ole boys" at page towards fellow teammates and teachers. I myself was called racial slurs as an man by people at the school who later became police. Page did some things right but the administration (outside of and and ) never did anything to teach us what life was like outside of the bubble or bring us closer to what true empathy looks like. I'd be happy to donate to an effort to change that. Following page graduates on social media today (mostly the good ole boys) is like following a white supremacist honestly. Which is in part on page. I'm not proud of myself in those years, for not defending enough and for taking part in my early years as I followed the crowd before realizing how ignorant most of the people were."
"I moved to Franklin from a predominantly black community. Before Page high school I was one of the only white kids in my class. I never thought twice about people’s race. The kids in my class were my friends and they accepted me as theirs. However, once I started school at page that changed. That was the first time I truly recognized racism and discrimination. Thought it was not in the form we all think about when hearing the word racism. It was soft racism. I was made fun of for the way I talked and for being friends with black kids. “Why do you talk black?” “Why are you so ghetto?” “Snicker licker”. I didn’t know you could “talk black”, because I carried myself differently I was “ghetto”, I never dated a black person but according to other people that was my romantic interest. While I didn’t care what others thought about me it was VERY apparent everyone in that school saw color and stereotyped everyone that was different. Additionally, the things I would hear white kids say about the black kids in school was racism. “Oh him, he’s an Oreo. He was white parents. He’s not really black”, “I don’t want to sound racist but,...” “I don’t know why she’s acting like that, she wasn’t a slave herself.” “I don’t really want to hang out with those people.” I could count the number of black kids that were in that school on one hand. The Latino, Asian, or Middle Eastern kids were an even smaller population. I knew what I was like to be surrounded, daily by people that weren’t the same race as you. But I have can’t even begin to understand how it would feel to be in a school that negatively acknowledges your race every single day. They must have felt the pressure to conform. They must have felt like they were walking on eggshells. If I, a white person could feel attacked for accepting other people. I cannot imagine how out of place and attacked those kids must have felt. Attacked by the people that were supposed to be their friends."
"There is a ridiculous amount of discrimination that I witnessed as a student of Page High. When I was a freshman, one of my peers referred to Muslims as "toweled headed bitches" multiple times in a class. Another time, we were doing presentations about death row. A student said " Black people are killed more because they're poor and commit more crimes" rather than using the assignment to explore the systemic racism in the prison system. There were no consequences for her. People openly used the n word to describe Black people and the f word to describe LBGTQ people. A student that dressed nonbinary was bullied and harassed so much that they had to move schools. Again, nothing was done to the perpetrators. That's just a fraction of the experiences that I had and as you can see the administration and teachers were silent on most issues."
"When I decided to stop straightening my hair and wore my Afro to school (page high) white students would try to stick objects in my hair when I wasn’t aware. A student by the name of spiked a volleyball in my face in front of everyone in the gym during late start, afterwards he told me someone paid him to do it. was a racist monster. She cast me and my friends as monkeys and crows in the wizard of oz, she told my friend she was too fat to play Dorothy."
"As a white student, I did not personally face discrimination of any kind during my time at Page High School. But, I was a witness to numerous unsettling events. I am disturbed to think about all the moments I missed, didn't step in, didn't help--I wish I had been armed with the knowledge I now have. I'd like to share a few specific events that I can still remember with great clarity. I remember a day when was taking the attendance, she went row by row across the classroom, purposefully skipping over the three black students in the class. When she got to the end, she said, "Now y'all three. I always get y'all mixed up." She also often spoke ignorantly about immigration, and of the ineptitudes of hispanic people: "You wouldn't want someone educated at the University of Honduras being your doctor." I posted about this on Facebook the day it happened in (year of post), so I am positive that time has not changed that memory in any way. She also frequently talked about interracial marriage in a distasteful way, always referring to it as "a blended situation." She also often spoke to a Southeast Asian friend of mine as if he didn't even speak English, and didn't understand what was being taught, though in fact he was one of the top students in our graduating class. I remember hearing a variety of racial slurs from students nearly every day--so often that I probably internalized them as normal. I am realizing how whitewashed and skewed much of what we were taught in our history classes was, and the kinds of hateful and ignorant remarks that students were free to share aloud in these classes with impunity, while the FEW students who spoke up against these ideas were ridiculed by other students, and often the teacher as well. I remember a non-binary student who bravely decided to wear gender non-conforming clothing to school--a floor length skirt, which was well within the dress code--and was swiftly sent to the principal's office for a dress code violation. These memories are really just the tip of the iceberg for me. One could attempt to make the excuse that we were young and didn't know better, but there is obviously no excuse for the adults that did know and chose to overlook things rather than educating us on how to be better. As other people have been sharing their stories, other instances that I never fully understood were very wrong are being illuminated in my mind. I hope that Page can become a safer, happier place for black and other minority students. For the most part, I look back on high school fondly, and I realize now what a privilege that is."
"My freshman year my then boyfriend found out I had dated a black guy when I was in 7th grade and broke up with me on the spot. He’s now a Police officer."
"This took place at Page Middle School. An 8th grade social studies teacher made fun of my German heritage. He mockingly kept asking me if I needed textbooks translated in German even though I made it clear that I understand English just fine. In fact, English is my first language, and I was just learning German to get back in touch with my roots, and I planned on visiting Germany and Switzerland someday. 2 classmates in his class called me “Nazi” after they found out I was German. This upset me because I don’t support the Nazi party in any way."
"From what I remember, every single drug search we ever had in my time was when the (name of school group) was out of town. It was well known that many of the (members of this group) smoked weed / sold weed / had weed at school. I specifically remember my 11th grade year, the only people getting arrested / given a suspension / whatever, were black students. I don’t know if I’m remembering wrong but it felt racist then and feels racist now. I am still friends with other PHS alumni and we have talked last about how we had less experiences with our black students because we were in a lot of AP / honors classes which is also a problem all on its own... I also can’t remember a specific example of being racist but we all know that he was and likely still is and was also horribly sexist. I don’t even know how he got a teaching license."
"I am Latino, and I graduated from Page High School in . I was on the baseball team, contributed to clubs and organizations, and am proud of the progress I made as a person during my time in school. Growing up in a majority white community as a person of color is difficult. You’re never white enough or Latino enough—you’re stuck in a place where you feel like you don’t belong. In high school, I was called beaner, spic, wetback, and other slurs. On the baseball team, I was made to perform the more arduous field maintenance tasks because I was “Mexican” and “that’s what Mexicans do.” One day, I accidentally bumped into fellow student in the hallway, and he called me a “f*****g beaner.” Even the baseball coaches, people of authority and mentorship, designated a nickname for me steeped in racial stereotypes. The people who perpetuated racist ideas may know who they are—they may not. They might read my story and think, “I was just kidding... We were just kids and didn’t know any better... He turned out okay.” I turned out okay in spite of racist ideas because I’m a proud Latino man. But, I’m also lucky that I’ve never experienced physical harm because of racist ideas or systems. My heart breaks for black lives who’ve been ended because of racist ideas and policies. The Black Lives Movement puts in stark terms that racist ideas can kill—and anyone is susceptible to those horrific ideas and perpetuations. Thank you to the organizers and leaders of the BLM and other organizations whose mission is to reverse racist policies in America. Right now, we must stand with our black brothers, sisters, and non-binary folks. Stories matter—I hope people in my community are listening and learning."
"There was a black boy who rode my bus for a short about of time who owned a laptop. Someone on the bus yelled at him, “You don’t find those in the cotton field,” implying that the boy had stolen the laptop. The boy was beaten up after a few weeks of riding the bus, and HE was no longer allowed to ride the bus... the white boy who initiated the fight was allowed to ride the bus again after 2 weeks."
"I am a POC and till this day I look back in regret towards how ignorant I was in high school. During my senior year in theatre class, we were given the assignment to put a current spin on an old story. We were assigned The Little Red Riding Hood. As we discussed what we could do, our group could not come up with an idea, so the substitute teacher at the time told us to do "Little Red Ridinghood from the hood." Our group went with the idea and people started giving ideas on tropes we could use and jokes. All were racial stereotypes, it was truly disgusting. We acted out the play in front of the class and afterward a black student in our class who was in my grade and was a friend of mine came to me and told me how hurtful the play was. At the time I got defensive and told him that if someone made fun of my culture I wouldn't take it personally (which if anyone knows me they know I'd be the first person to get pissed at someone making fun of my culture today). Basically, I invalidated his feelings. After going home and thinking about it I became extremely remorseful. How could I hurt my friend like that, and get defensive when he opened up about him being disappointed by the play. A group member and I ended up re-writing the whole script that night and apologizing to him and the class the next day. I STILL feel so horrible about the situation and I make efforts every day to never be that person again. If you are that friend reading this story, you know who you are, you know who I am, and I am forever sorry for that moment."
"In her first semester at Page High my sister was cornered by a group of male juniors and called a n***** lover. The administration did nothing."
"I was one of very few Mexicans/Latinos in my graduating class. I hated going to school everyday surrounded by racist ignorant small-minded bigots. It all started the moment I transferred to Page Middle from . I definitely obviously did not fit in and it was very hard to make friends. The bad experiences lasted through Page High School. What is supposed to be the best years of your life was not for me. I would not try to bother anyone or instigate anything. I wouldn't share my political views or anything that could stir up an argument because it was always me VS almost the whole school. Everyone would start an altercation with me first or say something to try to upset me. I would usually just ignore them but sometimes I would fight back when it got too disrespectful with the slurs. My very first day at Page Middle a group of guys thought it would be funny for one of them to fart in my face while I reached down into my backpack and they asked me if it smelled like rice and beans. The teacher saw and did nothing. The teachers seemed to always favor the popular students or the athletes and always took their side. If they said something inappropriate it would be laughed off. Students were allowed to wear gag border patrol shirts with racist wording, but that just made it easier for me to know whom to stay away from. The biggest mistake I ever made was when a Page High teacher asked the class who they were rooting for in the presidential election and I was the only one who rose my hand for Obama. The teacher and students in the class together harassed me about it and made me feel small for voicing my opinion. One time I was sent to the office for fighting someone who spewed racist slurs at me and I was suspended while the other student got away scot-free after his parents came in immediately and talked to the vice principal. I do want to thank the few teachers that were very nice to me and understood what I was going through. I also want to thank the teachers that actually cared about giving you an education and put that first before anything else. Anyway, I slowly became friends with other students who also did not fit in at Page such as or other minorities. As you can imagine that didn't make things any easier but they felt the same way I did and we fought through it together. I wanted nothing more than to transfer to Centennial High School but my parents wouldn't allow it. I would be a lot happier as an adult if I had better memories to look back on from middle and high school. I am thankful for the few people that were nice to me and were my friends. I wouldn't have made it through those hellish schools without my few close friends."
Al
"A girl in my class once stood in front of us and gave a presentation about how black people are criminals and poor and that's why they are in jail. This was a junior year English course. My teacher spoke against her, but I think about this every time I tell stories from Page. This girl was racist in front of all of us, and nothing happened to her. We had black students in the class, and they had to feel uncomfortable and listen to hate speech in the classroom. There were also many times where the administration watched the black kids and picked them out of groups to see if they had drugs or were causing trouble. I also had teachers at middle school that wouldn't let black girls use the restrooms during class time. Page was very prejudiced in many different ways. My teacher at PHS once said, "If not for Abraham Lincoln, then (girl's name) would not be allowed to sit in class with us! She would have to be at a school with other people like her."
"When I was a freshman, I was friends with this girl whose family has lived in the south for generations. One night after a football game, a couple of us went to her house. She was talking about a black girl in our class and called her the N word. Then she shared how her great grandfather was the grand wizard of the KKK and laughed like it was something to be proud of. I don’t even think it was true but the fact that someone would lie about that shows how hateful some people at Page could be. When she said this, all the other girls laughed, and I felt afraid to say anything because I didn’t want to rock the boat. I wish I had stood up and called her out for what she was. (We need to) educate students on spotting racism about how to stand up to it. If I had known then what I know now, I would not have let a comment like that go without holding the person who said it accountable. There are a lot of biases at Page, given it’s a school in the south in a majority white affluent area of Tennessee, and unless students step outside of their comfortable little privileged bubbles, they will never change from their outdated and ignorant ways of thinking."
"I’m almost 1/3 Ashkenazi Jewish. I spent a lot of my time in school hiding my Jewish heritage (especially during the Holocaust curriculum). When word did finally got out I was constantly harassed and asked uncomfortable things about Jews. Other students would carve swastikas on my locker/desk and they would take a sharpie and draw them on my notebook. One time someone drew it on my shoulder on my t-shirt when I wasn’t looking. I still to this day have trouble embracing that part of me (1/3 of me actually) and try to hide the fact that I’m Jewish to avoid ridicule. One time I got a call from the police that I had apparently set fire to someone’s mailbox and after looking into it, we found it was those same students put my information in some belongings, put them in someone’s mailbox, and then set fire to it. Even while still at Page Middle and again at Page High I brought up the issues to administration but was told until something actually “happens” it’s just "he said she said."
"When I was a student at Page I experienced very little racism. I had no clue what it looked like or that it was even still around, so it stands to reason that I might have seen it without realizing it. Maybe I wanted to believe that ignorance is bliss, and maybe that is the case, but now I realize that both ignorance and bliss are a privilege that many don't have. Now I'm a substitute teacher in Williamson County with Page being one of the schools that I sub for most frequently, and I would like to recall a story that has stuck with me for some time now. I had heard of and how she had treated her students when I went to Page and I considered myself very fortunate that I never had her class. Many of my friends considered her to be unfair in general, but my black friends in particular spoke out against her microaggressions and racist remarks, singling them out as "bad students." My personal philosophy is that there are no bad students, only misunderstood ones. My first real encounter with was as an adult while I was subbing for the media class. She came into my class and demanded to pull one of the black students out so that she could take him to the principal's office personally. Being a sub, I felt lower on the "chain of command" so to speak and that I had to comply. I knew the student was in the room and now I know why he was hiding. I called him out from the back of the room and sent them on their way and I had asked some of the other students what the issue was. The student was guilty of lying about going to the nurse's office so he could instead sit on the bench by himself in the lobby instead of going to her class. Did he do something wrong? Yes, he broke the school rules by skipping class, but when I look at the situation I don't see a kid in need of punishment, I see a kid in need of deep understanding. Does this prove is racist? Not necessarily, but as another professional in the room, I do believe the situation should have been handled much differently. It's not fair to the teacher that I subbed for as the student couldn't finish his assignments for that class, but it's also unfair to the student who has to grow up as black man in America. As a black child, it stands to reason that he may very well go on to be in many situations where there is escalation without causation, and I believe this is one of those instances. There was no reaching out and there were no questions, only punishment. As teachers it is our job to challenge our students, but as role models it is our job to challenge ourselves. It is our job to ask ourselves where we failed that causes our students act out. It is our job to be the most accountable people in the system, so that we can hope for a truly brighter future.
I've witnessed WCS make many good progressive changes to their policies, but I believe one of the greatest issues to be that our students of color do not feel safe around certain teachers within the system. If a student, past or present, raises their concerns about particular teachers displaying racist behaviors, an outside party (not a WCS employee) should be brought in to audit those teachers frequently enough to determine if they are fit to be role models in our school system, regardless of said teacher's credentials. If they don't meet the criteria they should be required to take extensive courses on microaggressions, systemic racism, and deescalation methods as a first offense. Further offenses should result in unpaid suspension or loss of job altogether depending on the magnitude of the situation. Furthermore, the content of U.S. history classes needs to be updated to include the atrocities that have been committed against the black community, most importantly the devastation of Black Wall Street of 1921 in Tulsa, Oklahoma which has been deemed the single worst incident of racial violence in America. School systems across the country are teaching our students that racism ended before any of us were born, but the harsh reality is that it is very much alive. These events don't need to define us, but they need to be learned from a young age or else history will be doomed to repeat itself as it is now. We no longer need to live in a society that tries to cover up and mask the sins of the past, but rather one that needs to acknowledge those sins so that we may atone for them and embrace change."
"The day after the 2016 election, I came to school as usual. One thing was off. A ton of boys in my grade crowded the hallway near my locker. I knew many of them were Trump supporters from their social medias, and they knew I wasn’t. As I was walking to my locker, a couple of them started calling me slurs such as “beaner” and “wetback”. “Go back to your country”. “Get deported”. I told my school counselor about this. Nothing happened. She told me to “forget about it.””Worse things have happened.” “Boys will be boys.”
"To this day, when I think of Williamson County Schools, I think of the discrimination people of color face. As a person of color, and a religious minority at WCS, I was never directly bullied about my identity, but there were many instances where I felt belittled by my classmates. I constantly heard comments like “beaner”, “terrorist”, the n word (not all directly to me) thrown around IN the classroom. The teachers would hear these comments and turn their cheeks, choosing to ignore the blatant racism and discrimination that existed in their classrooms. At the time, I learned to accept these comments - accept that this behavior was “normal” and how the world is. Through my years at WCS, I grew numb to these acts of verbal abuse. It wasn't until I went to a diverse college environment outside of Williamson County that I saw that this type of discrimination should not be tolerated.
Looking back, the teachers had a huge opportunity in front of them to belittle racism and stand up for their minority students. But by ignoring these comments, instead, they belittled me and my identity. Along with the lack of action, the school's biased, white-washed curriculum on racism does not take into consideration the ongoing discrimination problems in today's society. We were taught that Abraham Lincoln fixed slavery, Malcolm X and the Black Panthers acted on aggression, and that Confederate soldiers fought for “states rights”. This curricullum does not consider the ongoing prevalence of discrimination black people faced throughout history and in present times. We have been taught that all of these social problems have ended and that the world we live in today is much better. In elementary school, we visited the site of a Civil War battle where they idolized the Confederate soldiers inclination to fight for what they stand for (slavery) and praised the family (where the battle had occurred) for providing medical help. There was a slave house but little to no mention was given to the hundreds of slaves owned by that family, forced to work on the acres of land surrounding the house. The curriculum admired confederates of their willingness to fight for their rights when most were slave owners, it praised presidents such as Andrew Jackson for acquiring more American lands when Native Americans were forcefully removed from their land, it glorified explorers such as Christopher Columbus for sailing the ocean blue when committing acts of genocide to indigenous people; the curriculum does not raise any questions to historical figures that violated human rights. Throughout my time at WCS, I was not taught about the truth of these figures until AP US History my junior year of high school. It is a shame that students grow up thinking that these historical figures brought change into the world when they distinctly discriminated against people of color. I encourage WCS administrators to strongly incorporate African American history into the history curriculum starting when children first learn about American history. Students thinking that these "problems" are diminished from the fact that slavery and segregation does not exist only perpetautes them to think that it is okay to be racist.
WCS has always had this culture where everyone must be the same: white/Christian/Republican. Differ from it, and you’re an insult to the student body. The administration has done nothing to educate their students to respect different backgrounds and not-tolerate racism in school. The administrative staff and teachers are the only adults in the school; they should fight for equality and the elimination of racism and discrimination in the classroom.
Throughout my 13 years at WCS, I did not have one single teacher that was a person of color. The schools do not promote any form of diversity or any educational training for diversity. I do not blame the school's environment or the student body for the discrimination students of color recieve; I blame the schools and WCS administration for choosing to ignore the racism and discrimination that exists in the schools’ walls."
"During class my junior year, we were having a discussion about Colin Kaepernick and him kneeling during the national anthem. Although most of the class stated that they didn’t agree with him kneeling (not surprising considering the student body) as it’s “offensive to our flag and anthem”, I was surprised how some people were arguing that he was making a statement and he had every right to do so. After that, one student named raised his hand and said the words: “I am a racist”. Me and another student were the only people of color in the class, and the whole class fell silent. The teacher, , said “you know that there are people in this room that aren’t white”. He stated that he fully acknowledges that and the teacher continued on with the lesson. I wanted to say something, and to this day I regret saying nothing, but I felt powerless. The school environment made me feel like my opinion does not matter as compared to my white peers and nothing would happen even if I did speak up. The very fact that no one spoke up, including and especially the teacher, furthermore exemplifies the complicit racism at this school. I blame the teacher for not educating the student on his actions and not addressing this issue further. Events such as this are only a fraction of the discrimination people of color (or simply, anyone that isn’t a straight White, Christian, Republican) face at this high school, and the administration and faculty/staff do nothing to stop it. If anything, they promote racism by staying silent on these issues. How can a school strive to “provide safe facilities and an excellent learning environment” when that’s only provided to 88% (non-minority enrollment) of its students?
First off, the administration and faculty/staff should call out any form of racism they personally witness or is given to them and educate those who have been racist. The district should also redesign the history curriculum to include the truth about historical facts and figures and incorporate African American history."
"Towards the end of my 8th grade year at Page Middle, the entire grade had a lip sync battle. My homeroom class decided to perform to “John Deere Green”, and one of the props we created for our performance was a Confederate Flag twice the size of me. When I asked why we were using this as a prop when there’s no mention of any flag in the song, other students told me that this was a “symbol of their southern culture and heritage”. I was the only POC in my class, and at the time, I had little understanding of what this flag truly represented so I didn’t question it further. We worked on this flag for days and rehearsed with it numerous times. Our homeroom teacher and other teachers who saw the flag had no objection to it whatsoever. It wasn’t until one of our Assistant Principals, who was black, told our class we were not allowed to perform at the event with this flag as a prop. The kids in my class were furious and said “she’s black, she doesn’t understand it’s importance to us”. As a POC new to the South, I didn’t really understand why there was debate over the flag or what it’s significance was. Looking back at the event now, I am outraged that it took a Black administrator to put an end to this blatant display of racism. I cannot even imagine how she felt walking into our classroom to have a Confederate Flag the size of our whiteboard stare her back in the face. Not a single adult besides her, ranging from other teachers to administrators, had an issue with our class raising the Confederate Flag for a school-wide function. This tolerance for racism is absolutely unacceptable."
"I'm not Hispanic, but I do get asked if I am all the time. Even Hispanic people will approach me speaking in Spanish because I have very Hispanic features. However, I don't think the students at Page or WCS acknowledge the difference between Hispanic vs Mexican. During my time at Page, my classmates would ask me for help on their Spanish homework. I wasn't even in a Spanish class; they just "thought [I] knew the language because [I'm] Mexican". I'm not Mexican nor Hispanic. I'm actually South Asian, and I had told them that multiple times throughout my seven years at Page. But I don't think students actually care about using the correct terminology ("Hispanic" for example), and they don't care about learning about others' racial backgrounds at all. In their eyes, you're either White or you're not."