The school’s Anti-Racism Task Force (ARTF) gave a presentation to freshman-level social studies classes on Oct. 3-4 in hopes of spreading awareness of racist microaggressions and behavior.
The 16-member task force was founded in 2020, in hopes of directing the school away from hate by spreading awareness about racism through presentations, rallies, discussions and advertising their merchandise. Senior Dylan Wilson, a board member of the group, joined after the SHS noose incident in 2022.
“I felt like I had been ignoring my responsibilities as a person of color by not being on the task force,” Wilson said. “I want to make others aware of racism and how they can help stop it.”
Currently, the ARTF has four board members — junior Jane Lee and seniors Jana Elmalky, Niraali Garg and Wilson — who oversee and facilitate activities, as well as the Task Force’s organizational structure. The rest of the group — who were all accepted through interviews — plan events, make merch and discuss any other current world or school events involving racism through weekly meetings.
Building on their merchandise and fundraising efforts, the group expanded their outreach this fall by presenting to all health, ethnic studies and world geography classrooms during the first 20-30 minutes of class in early October.
Through interactive activities and real-life examples, students explored the definitions of microaggression and racism and learned to identify instances in their everyday experiences.
For each class, one board and two regular members presented their ARTF slides. To engage students, they hosted an activity where students wrote down both a microaggression they’d heard and something that could be done to help stop those actions.
By highlighting everyday examples, they aimed to increase awareness and allow students to recognize and address these issues in their own lives. The goal of these presentations was to make the concepts relatable and actionable, encouraging freshmen to identify and actively combat harmful behaviors.
“I believe the presentations were successful,” sophomore Nabil Fayad said. “The interactive activities effectively helped the freshmen understand what microaggressions are, their negative impact on our community, and strategies for addressing them.”.
In the future, ARTF plans on being part of helping staff members understand these issues from a teen perspective staff training and education. Furthermore, they are preparing to present at a Redwood Middle assembly next semester, in a similar format to the freshmen presentations.
“We want to begin doing this every year so that each class becomes less and less racist and creates a more inclusive environment,” Wilson said.
