To the Editor,
Much has been made in these pages about critical race theory and the subject of black lives mattering. This is all good, and a cause for feeling that, at last, substantive changes have a chance of taking place. However, on reading the report of a Strath Haven senior student’s experiencing bullying (July 23rd Swarthmorean), I received evidence of significant prejudice right in our midst. Maybe there have been some incidences of microaggressions, which can be subtle and ambiguous, but actual, overt, intentional bullying! Of course, it is known that adolescent girls can be mean to other girls and pick on any identifiable characteristic—hair, height, funny-looking attire, etc. (Boys handle their mean impulses by simply beating the crap out of other boys!) So if this is just a tempest in a teapot, let’s have a statement from the principal explaining how this revelation is being handled.
What else is going on in Swarthmore and its environs that doesn’t get reported? How are Asians being treated in response to China’s angry and suspicious refusal to consider the possibility of a Wuhan lab leak? This makes blaming the pandemic on China and Asians more understandable (though extremely reprehensible and wrongheaded).
What are Blacks, Muslims, Latinos and non-cis-gendered individuals experiencing? This may be difficult to assess, but I don’t think it would be difficult to have a forum (perhaps one already exists, but we just don’t hear about what it unearths), or to have a report from our schools. I would be very unhappy paying taxes to a school system that doesn’t address prejudice and racism.
My concern is that conservative elements among us oppose any airing of dirty linen, either in The Swarthmorean or elsewhere. Consider how many people still believe the election was stolen.
For truth and transparency and comity!
Rob Dreyfus, MD
Swarthmore
