Social Justice

We guide students on how certain aspects of society inform the way we think and behave with one another. A person accustomed to a system of oppression may internalize the message that a person of color can never equal one who is white, especially in academics. This carries through into their perception of themselves, their community, and their ability to regulate and build resiliency. 

While de jure segregation no longer exists, there are still oppressive dominant structures creating negative mental health symptomatology and disruptive behavior in young people. We teach them how to identify and engage with these systems. The ability to identify invisible mechanisms of oppression is a prerequisite to addressing them. 

As educator and advocate Ibram X. Kendi explains: "Racist and antiracist are not fixed identities. We can be a racist one minute and an antiracist the next. What we say about race, what we do about race, in each moment, determines what - not who - we are". Even in the most welcoming of communities, we may unknowingly contribute to oppressive structures that minority communities face. In a country built from a specific framework that excludes and diminishes the worth of people who exist outside of that system, it is clear that our students who belong to minority groups face challenges specific to their identity.