Diversify and “Immersify”: Madison High School’s Lack of Diversity
Unity through diversity
Reports show that Madison High School’s student body is 81% White, 10% Hispanic, 6% Asian, 2% Black, 1% mixed race and 0.2% Alaskan or Native American. This makes for MHS’s total minority rate to be 19.2% (US news). This does put our minority demographic above neighboring towns in our county like Chatham (15% minority enrollment), but towns like Morristown and Parsippany Hills that are also in Morris County outweigh us with Morristown having the minority rate of 43% and Parsippany having the minority rate of 50%. So it’s evident that our high school certainly isn’t famed for its diverse student body.
But facts aside, why does our lack of diversity matter in the first place?
Research shows that students actually learn how to navigate through life better with an increased amount of diversity in their school community, and further, ninety-six percent of major employers such as Wells Fargo and Fox News say that it’s important for current and future employees to be well acclimated with colleagues, customers, and clients of different ethnical background (The Century Foundation).
Lack of diversity impacts our view of different cultures and backgrounds. According to an anthropologic piece published by the Miami Herald, engaging students in new and different cultures positively impacts the way children move through and experience their education. Race and identity play a big role in a child’s behavior and beliefs, but more importantly, when a child recognizes this fact, it helps him or her figure out school culture and social culture in an easier manner (Miami Herald).
MDO spoke to some of our own students at MHS to get their perspective on the issue. Here’s what some of them said:
Zula Oliveira, Junior: “The lack of diversity in our school may make students of color feel uncomfortable, but it is our job as a school to make them (students of color) feel welcome and integrated into our community. As our school becomes more diverse, we should remember to support each other and embrace our differences.”
Mitra Sharif, Senior: “The worst part of lack of diversity is lack of multiple perspectives. Certain people hold the privilege of not having to think twice about an issue, whereas other people are prompted to constantly have (not limited to) social, economic, and physical disadvantages on their radar at all times. The time we start looking past our differences will be the time we stand as a unified front . . . . when any group of people is oppressed, the whole cannot function at its best”
Mr. Elrott, the Diversity Club adviser, claims that the issue is not just racial diversity but cultural diversity. He explained, “ I would just say that if personhood is about recognition, then they (minority students who aren’t Jewish or Christian) will have a sense that they are lacking in recognition which would cause them (the student) to remain aloof or not truly be themselves . . . but one of the things I wanted to say was that even though we though we lack diversity in an ideal sense but I also think that the school does not take advantage of the diversity we do actually have.”
Even though MHS identifies as a non-diverse school, we should still take advantage of the diversity we do enjoy, and embrace the different flavors of human perspective that different backgrounds and cultures bring to the school. We don’t have to take school breaks for holidays such as Diwali or Eid, but we should acknowledge these special days. Our faculty can teach our students in history classes more about maybe Asian history and a little less on European history in Freshman World History Courses. We must embrace and have a clear and focused curriculum for Martin Luther King Day so we can honor one of the many great leaders who thought the world about racial tolerance as well as racial peace.
If anyone is interested in having more of in depth discussion about this, check out Diversity Club. They meet in E-41 on Tuesdays during Common Lunch.
http://tcf.org/content/report/how-racially-diverse-schools-and-classrooms-can-benefit-all-students/
www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/community-voices/article36727782.html.
Anonymous • Nov 27, 2017 at 9:52 am
I thought this article was really interesting,. It brought up topics that I never thought about, and it gave me a new perspective about MHS.