As the exact stereotype of the average person who attended Franklin High School – white, middle/upper class, and from the suburbs – some would say I am in no position to write an article about race. I would argue that as someone in this position of privilege, it is necessary to speak out against high schools like I graduated from because unfortunately, people generally listen to those with privilege more than the minority groups they need to be listening to about the issues at hand.

I don’t think it is my place to talk about these issues, but someone needs to. I urge everyone to give more attention to the black students speaking out on this issue, because those are the voices that need to be heard, first and foremost. But the more people that speak out, the better.

Before I begin this caffeine-fueled rant, I do want to recognize that although I have spent countless hours at my university learning about issues people of color face daily and can recognize the systems of oppression that need to be changed that perpetuate these issues, Franklin High School being one of them, I myself am not a woman of color. I have no idea what it is like to be a black woman in today’s society, much less at a school like Franklin High School.

So although I am trying to use this platform to spread awareness and create change, if anything I say is incorrect or offensive, I hope that someone with more knowledge or experience than myself will correct me. They are welcomed to do so publicly if they wish, because getting people, myself included, the knowledge and education we all need on “sensitive” issues such as race, is exactly what I will be talking about here today.

As foreshadowed, one of my biggest issues with Franklin High School and many institutions like it is that there is little to no education on issues that matter. The crazy thing about having all these issues today in our society is that public education is THE most obvious way to create change.

You have huge numbers of children, who will become the future of society, required to sit in school for eight or so hours a day, three days a week, and that opportunity is a huge one. If schools like Franklin High School didn’t only teach math, reading, and writing, but also educated kids on issues that mattered, so many people would be more aware of problems we face in today’s society.

I am ashamed to give this example of a mistake I made in high school, but I think it is important to give to show how deep this problem runs. No one ever talked to me about the “N” word during my first eighteen years of life. I knew you absolutely didn’t say it with a hard “R” at the end, obviously, but “nigga” itself was a word I heard from all my white peers who had absolutely no business saying it, which is where the embarrassing part of my story comes in.

Most people today know me as an ally to communities of color – someone who purposefully has selected a degree where I will spend huge amounts of time in a classroom learning about these issues, someone who will have uncomfortable conversations to educate people on issues, and someone who will proudly wear any “black lives matter” button or sticker or whatever and discuss what that means and why it is important to anyone who dares question it.

However, my knowledge today comes from my minor (WGS) and purposefully learning about racial issues and how to navigate them as a white ally.

In high school, I only had a few friends who were black, and they were the only people I knew to ask about such things. In high school, I too threw around the word “nigga” – not towards black people, and not even at school, but to white friends in private, because I had NO idea what implications it actually held. The 3-4 black friends I had told me it was racist NOT to say it because it implied that the word itself was a bad thing to say/be.

Naturally, I trusted the only black people I knew, but they were just kids as well, thrown into a mainly white system who didn't talk about such things that would let them have an educated opinion on the topic either, besides hearing it in rap songs and therefore assuming it was okay for their white friends to say, because white rappers said it and they knew their white friends held respect for them.

I would NEVER have said that word if I wasn’t told it was “racist not to,” and here is where the problem comes in. I am not saying my friends who felt it was wrong to avoid the N-word were incorrect – as black women, that was their business to feel, and they may still feel that way today.

I assume they themselves have also become more educated on the topic and find it inappropriate for any white person to say, regardless of the circumstances, but I could be wrong, and it is their right as black women to hold that opinion. It is not right of me, as a white person, to say it for any reason, although I was unaware of that at the time.

I just wish I had known more about the topic so I could have made more of an educated decision in the matter, instead of learning later and being filled with regret. No amount of protesting, rallying, or standing up for people of color today can erase what I casually added to society. I don’t think I ever even said the word in front of any black person besides my few black friends who encouraged me to say it and other white friends who said the word, but that’s not the point.

The point is the black students who attended FHS knew that many white students threw around that word – and worse, spoke it with the hard “R”, and meant it. I added to a culture of racism, and as small as my action might have been, it continued a culture of racism at a place where everyone should feel accepted and clearly didn’t.

I am not stating that the high school not educating me excuses actions I have done in the past, or behaviors others have done. I absolutely fully recognize that my behavior is my problem, and as a white person, it is on me to educate myself through books, technology, and other means to learn about important issues. I am accountable for my actions of the past, as is everyone. But as I was a dumb sixteen/seventeen-year-old, it is partially the responsibility of public schools to teach something of actual value to its students.

We read Huck Finn in high school. We learned about slavery, and civil rights, and segregation in high school. We read current events about issues and "celebrated" Black History Month in high school. But not once did any of my teachers use these opportunities as a place to actually educate us on these topics.

I am calling on Franklin High School and other high schools that operate like this one to BE BETTER. Put more of an effort towards educating your students – the future leaders, workers, and parents of our society – to know literally ANYTHING about race.

Racial discussions can be tense, but they are guaranteed to be tenser when they are had in college, or in the workplace, after someone has graduated high school and knows absolutely nothing about race because they grew up in a predominately white neighborhood, attended a white school, and learned nothing about race that is worth knowing.

FHS also needs to celebrate black culture. Why they pretend they “celebrate” black history month but in reality, spend less than twenty minutes in class on it once a year, is beyond me. ACTUALLY, celebrate it. Actually, create spaces where a discussion is had and education is formed. Begin to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. day, and cancel all celebrations of Columbus Day.

More than all of this, actually punish students when racism is present in the school – which is frequently is. If you can’t charge someone with “racism”, charge them with bullying or harassment, because that’s what it is. On top of everything, maybe actually TEACH students what racism is – because like myself, many students who would love to learn never actually got a lesson on the small, everyday things we could have done to stop stereotyping and racist behavior in our schools.

I am so thankful that since high school I have had countless opportunities to learn more about racial issues and was educated about the systematic and daily struggles of people of color. But I cannot imagine the world of difference it would have made for me, and every single person at Franklin High School, if that education had come a lot sooner.

I can’t imagine what it was like to be a black student at FHS – from the outright racism to the undertones of feeling like an outsider that many of my black friends said they felt navigating the hallways. Although I did not specifically contribute to the racism, I did not specifically work against it as I try to do now as much as possible, because I did not know. What a WORLD of difference education makes, and what a world of difference I wish it had made earlier.

Even with education, some students would continue to be racist. There are going to be people who are inappropriate and downright dumb anywhere you look. But if FHS actually changed its policies, these people could be punished for their actions, as they rightfully should be, and these actions would soon be few and far between, instead of creating the uncomfortable environment for black students that they currently do.

In light of recent events at the high school, some may question why I’m writing this article about the N-word and talking about the subtly uncomfortable racial climate at FHS when there are clearly bigger issues at hand here. But the reason I’m speaking out on the everyday stereotyping, racism, and lack of general education at FHS is because it is the climate we create together that ALLOWS larger incidents like this to occur.

Even as I read this statement, and reread it, and edit it over and over, I don’t think it sounds apologetic enough for my own use of the N-word. I was sixteen and stupid, but I had no right to be. I had a library card and access to the internet, and I could have been better. So I am now calling on myself, my peers, and the system to be better in the future. I also don’t think my words sound revolted enough by the downright racist actions other students have taken at FHS and gotten away with.

Furthermore, I do not think my writing conveys how disgusted I am by those in charge at FHS that they have not tried to implement any change-now, or ever. But these words will have to do, because although I do not think they are as powerful as I want them to be, or as knowledgeable as I want them to be, I think they need to be said - much more, in fact, needs to be said. But I am doing the best I can, and will continue to as much as possible, as long as I can.

Oh, and if after reading this you want to comment and say a few words don't create hate, or that people need to learn to take a joke, you might want to look inward and do some soul-searching. Because you are the problem.