Student fights racism through his poetry
By Stephanie Bertholdo bertholdo@theacorn.com

Tony WallaceJames is irritated. The eighth-grade Lindero Canyon Middle School student recently completed a class assignment about stereotypes and racism, the reasons for his irritation.

Tony, 14, is among just a handful of black students attending Lindero. His poem, "Irritation Is," was read to school board members by his mother, Cassandra WallaceJames, to show how racism continues to plague students at the school.

"Irritation is when people get mad at me for a kid that gets suspended for calling me a nigger," Tony wrote. "Irritation is when people put a water bottle in their hoods and pretend like they are in the Ku Klux Klan."

In all, Tony listed 25 experiences he's had with his peers that make him feel awkward, different and irritated.

All three of the Wallace-James children have been on the receiving end of racial slurs, teasing- and sometimes threats- from other children because of their race, the mother said.

"(Tony's poem) blew me away because he was finally verbalizing it," Wallace-James said. "All three kids keep things in because of the repercussions."

She said Tony's sister, Tanesha, was accosted by a student in fourth grade.

"She threatened to blow her head off," Wallace-James said.

The principal at the school removed the child from class, but as a means of protection Tanesha wasn't allowed to play her usual games and visit friends at recess.

"I'm a parent that cares, and I know that there's not a huge racial mix here," Wallace-James said.

She believes insensitive behavior is learned at home and through the media, and she wants the school district to address racial issues in a more proactive fashion than just suspension. She suggested more assemblies, drama productions and other innovative methods to deal with the campus racism.

"We need something to snatch these kids' attention," WallaceJames said.

Ron Kaiser, Lindero principal, said the school already integrates sensitivity training into its curriculum.

"Awareness on race, religion, culture is addressed through social science (and the) study of cultures, religions, and language arts classes," Kaiser said. "In language arts classes core novels were chosen specifically for multicultural awareness."

Students read "The Cay," a story about a boy stranded on an island during World War II with a West Indies man and his cat; "Juan de Pareja," a story about a slave in the 17th century; and "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry," a story about racism and social justice in 1933 Mississippi.

"The Diary of Anne Frank," a classic tale of bigotry toward Jews, is also on the eighth-grade reading list.

"Some classes take trips to Museum of Tolerance and some teachers develop units on cultural understanding," Kaiser said.

He attributed some of the problems to the immaturity of the students.

"Middle school students sadly hone in on any difference- weight, height, nose length, sexual preference, and race/culture," Kaiser said.

At this point, Tony prefers to drop the subject, his mother said.

"When it comes down to it, he doesn't want the extra attention drawn to himself," Wallace-James said, adding that her son doesn't believe "anything" will change "anything."

Tony's poem pointed out a variety of AfricanAmerican stereotyping- he must be fast and able to jump high if he's black, and he must have been involved in crime or have family members in jail if he's black.

In his poem, Tony said students tell him "black jokes" and expect him to laugh. They also expect him to dress in a certain style, including baggy pants.

Despite the constant racial comparisons, jokes, and insenstive remarks, Tony is proud of his multi-cultural life.

Wallace-James is has Senegalese, American Indian and European blood. Some of his best friends are Muslim and Jewish.

"I was raised to say human race," Wallace-James said. "I was taught different cultures."

"In my opinion, manners and kindness are best taught at home and reinforced by school leadership," said Terilyn Finders, Las Virgenes school board president.

"If teaching manners, including messages about tolerance and kindness, are the sole responsibility of our schools then parents are not asking schools to educate children, rather they are asking us to raise their children. I am grateful that we serve a community where the majority of the parent population takes its job as parent seriously."

Kaiser doesn't believe the classroom race problems are unique to Lindero, but to be safe, he said assemblies and a parent education evening have been planned for this fall. In October, programs will be put on that are sponsored by "Rachel's Challenge," a group that promotes acts of kindness.

In the fall, Tony will be a freshman at Agoura High School. but he doesn't expect a big change in the way he's treated.

"Irritation is all around me," he said.