Diaspora Dialogs [.com]

Sitting in homeroom of my seventh grade class, an announcement came over the PA system, “Good morning, please be advised that all students should enter and exit through the 83rd Street doors in order to avoid the protest.” As a completely aloof seventh grader, I turned to my classmate and simply asked, “Protest…for what?” It turned out that my second-grade teacher, Sr. Seton called one of her current students “a monkey.” Apparently not understanding what the fuss was all about, my classmate further explained that the particular student was black and the comment was viewed as extremely racist. What was originally a silly comment on the child’s playfulness had turned into a full blown, two-day civil rights demonstration. Led by the social justice activist, Rev. Al Sharpton, it criticized the comments of one of the sweetest and most caring people I had ever known.