‘Conversations On Race’ Stimulates, Educates

By Larissa Lytwyn

More than 40 years after the inception of the civil rights movement, America, according to Newtown High School social studies teacher Jan Brooks, still struggles with racial disparities, many seemingly below the radar.

Some, however, such as the disproportionate incarceration of minority youth, are strikingly in the forefront.

This topic was discussed during the last interschool meeting of the three-year-old elective course, Conversations on Race, on April 15 at Newtown High School. The course is groundbreaking in that it connects Newtown High School students with students at Bassick High School in Bridgeport; in between studying the same curriculum, the students converge in interschool forums hosted by either Newtown or Bassick.

“We meet about six times during the semester,” said Ms Brooks, Newtown’s Conversations on Race instructor, who would like to eventually see the class operate on a full-year level.

At Bassick, Agnes Reilly and Jeff Giovacchino teach the course.

The program was begun by a state grant. In the near future, the schools will be able to conduct their interschool meetings via live televised communication.

“It’s very exciting,” said Ms Reilly, who said Bassick has all the necessary equipment.

“It’s just a matter of the actual processing now.”

At the meeting, Ms Brooks showed the documentary Books Not Bars, produced by the Ella Baker Center, a youth activist organization that has launched an awareness initiative with the same name.

The movement was sparked by the creation of the California Youth Authority (CYA), the state prison system for youth.

The Books Not Bars campaign contends that California youth of color are disproportionately incarcerated for generally minor offenses; often, they acquire sentences notably longer than their white counterparts.

According to Books Not Bars, prisons, once a center of rehabilitation for drug offenders (who, the campaign contends, comprise 70 percent of all inmates), is increasingly becoming a place of violence and abuse.

In addition, an ever-mounting number of women, particularly young mothers, are being incarcerated.

Books Not Bars fights for “education” instead of “incarceration,” stipulating that the billions invested in prison building should be routed to academic and rehabilitative institutions.

The documentary features several former CYA youth who claim they were beaten, bullied, and sexually abused by guards.

Often, the attacks occurred covertly at night, escaping the glare of cameras.

After the documentary was shown, Bassick’s internal suspension officer, Gary Johnson, reinforced the message of Books Not Bars.

The self-described activist reflected on the Books Not Bars statistic that people of African descent are 48 times more likely to be incarcerated for a drug offense than a white person; Hispanics and Latinos are 15 times more likely.

“Look around you,” he said, “and see what I mean. All of you who have ever had a relative or friend in jail, please stand up.”

About a third of the 80 or so students stood; more than half of these students were from Bassick.

Bassick’s population is predominantly Latino, African American, and Asian.

Two students, one from Newtown and the other from Bassick, described a relative’s similar drug offense.

While the white student said the person received six months in jail, the other student, a person of color, said that the sentence had lasted several years.

Mr Johnson described how his son was jailed for a year after failing to pay child support in Georgia. “He was working two jobs and couldn’t make ends meet,” said Mr Johnson. “When he was put into jail, he asked, ‘how can I pay if I am behind bars?’ The arrangement worked out was that he worked during the day as a waiter, about six dollars an hour plus tips, and spent the evenings in jail.”

He paused.

“Eighty dollars was sent toward the state of Georgia each week, while other, additional money, was sent to my son’s child.”

While pointing out the disparities, Mr Johnson also emphasized that he simply believed, “the crime should fit the punishment.”

After Mr Johnson’s speech, the students brainstormed how the incarceration issue could be solved.

Many students believed that better monitoring and more money for education institutions was the answer.

Newtown student Sadie Ball said the documentary opened her eyes. “I didn’t know there were so many women incarcerated,” she said.

In addition, many of these women are imprisoned 500 miles or more from their children.

“How can they get themselves clean when they are 500 miles away in a jail that abuses them?” she asked.

Mr Johnson said that today’s prisons often make inmates “better criminals.” He emphasized the need for better rehabilitative measures.

Bassick student Jameisha White said that while the documentary didn’t surprise her in any way, she believed that people should be made more aware of what’s going on.

“We need more peaceful protest,” she said, “education and rehabilitation.”

After brainstorming, the students translated their ideas in the expression of poetry, picture drawing, or skit performing.

After presenting their ideas to the group, the students enjoyed Heal Those Wounds, an original play by student Erik Bagger.

The play is the story of the Reds and the Blues; a red and blue couple meets tragedy on their wedding day when the bride is shot during the crossfire between their families.

The musically gifted would-be groom is encouraged to share his talent. His music eventually brings the disparate Reds and Blues together.

“Erik is a remarkable student,” said Ms Brooks.

Conversations on Race, she continued, is a “necessary” force, a way that encourages students of different backgrounds to come together to tackle problems that affect Americans of all stripes.

“We — all the races — have to come together,” Ms Brooks said. “That is the only way we can truly affect [social] change.”

For more information on the Ella Baker Center or the Books not Bars campaign, visit www.ellabakercenter.org.