Too little, too late

To the Editor,

In honor of Black History Month, the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District observed February 26 as “Black Lives Matter At School: A Day of Understanding and Affirmation.” Administration and teachers worked together to provide a day of learning on Black issues and history for students. 

After a long period of this district brushing racist incidents under the rug, it’s nice to see Black history and people being made a priority. However, this event was very poorly orchestrated, which speaks volumes. 

Many of the teachers made no efforts to spark conversations about “the historical and current impact of racism and discrimination on our students, families, and communities,” which the school board claimed was the goal for Black Lives Matter education in schools. It was very clear that many teachers did not know how to start these conversations, and that some of them didn’t want to.

Schools cannot expect the same teachers and administration that spew microaggressions at students of color to suddenly develop the range to speak on systemic racism.

The school’s bare minimum efforts are not only a representation of the administration, but of the Wallingford-Swarthmore community.

Sincerely,

Funmi Omotosho
Wallingford