By Tajsha Gray-Vause

Dear Editors,

To use the “N word” to me is to completely disrespect the black race as a whole. When a white person uses this word, everything in my being tells me to say or do some thing I know I will regret. Members of the black community are told to relax or chill out, but the worst of them all is “it’s not that big of a deal.”

While I cannot only bash the ones who have been ignorant to my race, I also have to thank anyone from any other race who has supported me along the way of this cause. While I appreciate and need that support, if you are not of the African American race you couldn’t fully grasp our anger towards the word. If you are not black, you don’t understand the history behind the word or why we want to act out of our character in a negative way when we hear the hateful word in our own school community.

I am aware of many stories from people in the black community being discriminated against while some just idly watch and do nothing. Within the past, anyone who has said the word in a joking fashion have been inaccurately punished which is unacceptable in a place we are supposed to call safe grounds for anyone who attends. Most teens walk around this school as if they are invincible, because there is no precedent set with appropriate consequences for racist behavior.

There is a time and place for everything, and school is not it to be using such heinous and oppressive language. We are told to hold “Stoga Pride,” but I simply cannot when the people I am supporting refuse to support my belief in a cause this important. Change is needed within the walls of this school and I hope before I graduate, I can make it happen.

Sincerely,
Tajsha Gray-Vause,
African American Student Union President