By Jonathan Hernandez ‘24
When discussing the ways in which an institution such as St. Mark’s is becoming an antiracist school, I have had some conversations where I have often heard my peers question the school’s Anti Racist Strategic Plan as a whole. “Why,” they ask, “do we need to be antiracist if we are already not racist?” I recognize how we as members of the St. Mark’s community can sometimes easily confuse being “not racist” and antiracist. We often consider both being “not racist” and antiracist as the opposite of being racist and both being sufficient for fighting racism, but this is not the case.
By definition, when someone is antiracist, they are acting in ways that oppose racism and promote racial tolerance. Being antiracist involves actively working towards dismantling systems of racism, and promoting racial tolerance and racial equity. However, when someone is simply “not racist,” they are not actively contributing to nor dismantling systems of racism. Someone who is “not racist” is simply labeling themselves; it is a passive stance and can often be used as an excuse to ignore racist practices and systems rather than working to actively dismantle and remove them.
Differentiating between being antiracist and “not racist” is essential in fighting racism because when one recognizes that being active in dismantling systems of racism, they are able to make more meaningful changes than if they simply are not actively buttressing those systems. Being antiracist, not simply “not racist,” is what the members of the St. Mark’s community should strive to be, where we as a school community are recognizing that being antiracist helps fight racism. With that, there is the question of “how can St. Mark’s Students be anti racist in their school community?”
Students themselves are able to be antiracist and be actively promoting racial tolerance in numerous ways. For example, students can do so by attending a variety of affinity group meetings, examining their own biases and preconceptions of other groups of people, and by challenging the different institutions and their systems of oppressions that they interact with on a daily basis. In attending a variety of affinity group meetings, students are able to learn about the different experiences of different students who belong to different groups and how systems of oppression affect them. Students are then able to gain empathy and understanding and learn how they can help break down and reform racist systems. Further, by examining their own biases and preconceptions, we can become more aware of how we contribute to and affect systems of oppression that affect everyone and thuis able to become more aware of how to dismantle such systems. Additionally, in challenging such institutions and systems of oppression, students can become more aware of patterns and cycles of oppression and break those cycles and essentially reform such systems and oppression.
As St. Marks moves forward and continues to work towards becoming an Antiracist Institution, we as the members of the school community must recognize that we are responsible for ensuring that we are more than simply “not racist” and must strive to become actively antiracist. This requires all members of the school community (the administration, students, and faculty) to work towards fighting racist systems of oppression, examining our own biases and creating an inclusive environment for everyone at St. Mark’s.
