What is extremely upsetting and discouraging is the lack of progress made I’ve witnessed in my lifetime. I immigrated to American when I was 7 years old. I, along with my parents did not speak any English at the time and were not aware of the many cultural nuances of being an American (i.e. clothing, food, etc.) So I can see how I stood out and was victim to racially motivated bias or bullying in school. However, my children are fully “American” as any other child in this town having the benefit of our education, wealth, cultural and English fluency. And yet, my boys are asked by their peers about their race when no other white kid is asked the same question. One white mother shared with me that her son was concerned about being invited to dinner by my child because he assumed we would serve something that was foreign to him. I made chicken Parmesan and pasta. This may be a benign symptom of his ignorance but it manifests itself in other ways in the classroom and on the playground.

Bob Kim / 45 / Korean-American / Chatham, N.J.

•

We have an administration at my school that really wants more diversity in A.P. and honors classes. What they’ve said the problem is when I’ve talked some teachers and administrators is that there are many outside social factors that affects students of color in school. My school doesn’t really openly talk about race. We are seen as being a diverse school because we have a large population of African-American students, but the problem is we have a lot of self-segregation. I think we still see race as a taboo topic. We have really great newspaper at my school and. occasionally, they will do really good articles on the topic of race in the classroom, but those articles don’t cause much change and there are very few people of color on the newspaper staff. My school is sometimes seen as having two schools within it: one for white students and one for black students. I think if my school talked about race, we could have a better environment in our classes.

Ali Bouterse / 17 / white / Atlanta

•

Growing up in Los Angeles, the community is much more diverse than other parts of the country. I’ve lived in a Hispanic- and Asian-majority community for my entire life. Kids are exposed to virtually all races and cultures as a child. At the elementary school I went to, the school would regularly celebrate Chinese New Year and Cinco de Mayo. I remember who we would learn about different cultures around the world in kindergarten. However, kids can also be very vicious when it comes to race without even knowing it. After 9/11, I recall the Middle Eastern children in the school being treated much more harshly. They would be teased as being terrorists, and I don’t recall a lot of intervention from adults in these issues. Elementary schools are definitely more vicious when it comes to racial matters, as kids reciprocate what they see on TV, throwing racially charged comments even without realizing the true meaning behind them.

High school life was much better. My high school was inclusive of a lot of cultures, and many students were very forward thinking. Imagine someone like me, who essentially grew up as a weaker Asian kid in elementary school, suddenly being talked to by people that the “mainstream” world would consider as “school bullies.” I got along with senior students that were part of the cholo culture, who would look out for me for essentially nothing in return but my friendship. What’s better was that I didn’t need to change who I was. I continued hanging with my friends from elementary school who were part of my “nerd” clique. People were allowed to be open about who they were, and nobody was made fun of for their race. I didn’t encounter my first case of racism until I traveled out of the country.

Looking back, I felt that kids in elementary school need to be actively taught about racial tolerance. The biggest influence in children’s lives is TV, and there is a lot of racially biased content. It’s up to schools to encourage to be open-minded and tolerant.

Vincent Teong / 25 / Asian-American / Los Angeles

•

I have been really pleased with how Denali Montessori Elementary, a public school in Anchorage, Alaska, celebrates and acknowledges the incredible diversity in the student body. From the principal’s introduction in talking about the strengths of the school, to the lessons taught in the classroom, to special events on campus, the celebration of diversity is front and center. My first-grade daughter is learning stories from around the world with kids from many cultural backgrounds. Geography is a cornerstone of the curriculum. I think this makes the world feel smaller and more known. Regular school events celebrate and teach about cultures from around the world. I think my daughter will have a very positive and sophisticated understanding of what culture means and the value of diversity before she even goes to middle school.

Megan Richotte / 40 / white / Anchorage, Ala.

•

We have a week at school to teach about racism terms, and concepts. These things are talked about in their academic classes, but we do this to bring the school together. It’s not nearly enough. I serve on our school’s equity team, which meets monthly. Our district has varying degrees of support from year to year to address how we work with racism in our institutions and our individual/cultural biases (either conscious or unconscious bias).