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The student news site of Trinity Preparatory School

The Trinity Voice

The student news site of Trinity Preparatory School

The Trinity Voice

The student news site of Trinity Preparatory School

The Trinity Voice

It’s not funny anymore

The long avoided discussion about racism at Trinity Prep is finally here

Olivia Duncan attends The First Academy, a Christian private school analogous to Trinity Prep in more ways than one. We are football rivals, friends and only 18.8 miles away from each other. Yet, one of Duncan’s recent Instagram posts championed values far from our idea of tolerance.

“So….I have a question for all my fans,” Duncan wrote. “Everyone contribute even if u wouldn’t normally.” The student went on to ask her followers paradoxically about the most “respectful” spelling of the “N” word.

Spotted by NY Daily News writer and Black Lives Matter activist, Shaun King, Duncan’s post started to circulate as a prime example of the systemic racism that is prominent not only within our nation but among millennials.

Duncan made international news as her post served as a catalyst for accusations against The First Academy of institutional discrimination on the basis of race, sexual orientation and socioeconomic backgrounds. Nonetheless, racism is not exclusive to The First Academy.

Proceeding Duncan’s post, claims have been made that other schools in the Orlando area, including Trinity, have allowed discrimination to pervade their student bodies.

However, in response to Duncan’s post, students were heard saying, “Trinity kids would never do that,” and “How could someone be so insensitive.” Quite frankly, our perception of our own reality is dangerously flawed.

The sad truth is that these claims that we are immune to discrimination are simply unfounded.

Walking through the Trinity hallways, phrases like “All Asians should leave the country unless they own a Chinese restaurant,” “The Black Lives Matter movement is a joke,” and “The only reason he’s good at basketball is because he’s black,” can be heard.

Though the majority of our students would never purposefully seek to offend someone on a premise such as race, all too often, the delineation between a joke and a slur becomes blurred. Any troublesome comment will be dismissed with “I was just kidding” or “don’t take things too seriously.”

Yet, it is in this gray area between humor and hatred that racism resides.

It does not matter if it’s said in jest. It does not matter if no one is around to hear. The cruelty and insensitivity of our words have the power to make someone believe that they are less of a person due to factors they cannot control. There comes a time when a lack of tolerance becomes intolerable, and that time is now.

When a former Trinity student posted racially insensitive comments on a school-sponsored Facebook page last year, it was not publicly addressed by the school’s administration to students. While the student received the appropriate consequences, the administration missed the opportunity to address the systemic issue of hurtful “jokes.” As a result, it was propagated by student rumors, becoming just another misunderstood joke and a source of entertainment instead of a shocking example for our student body of the unbased hatred that people should run from.

Yet this was not an isolated event of racial discrimination at Trinity. Just last month, another Trinity student sparked a heated debate with a post on social media about an issue concerning the national Black Lives Matter movement. Similar to last year’s incident, the administration did not discuss the issue with all students present. Yet again, rumors, hateful words and controversy emerged on our campus instead of productive conversations.

Once is a coincidence—twice is a problem.

Quite frankly, discriminatory comments need to be addressed in a formal setting. They need to be used as an example of something that should never be said, not just at Trinity, but in any environment. If racist, sexist and discriminatory comments are ignored and allowed to become gossip, then they will be perceived as acceptable. We keep telling ourselves that we’re immune, that we’re better than that, that Trinity students are always respectful. But, we’re really not. If we continue to sweep things under the rug and avoid formal discussion, then we only make ourselves vulnerable to the ignorance that fuels discrimination.

As a school, we should be using advisory time as a platform to talk about controversial issues in a safe place, inviting speakers to share stories about tolerance that expand our capacity to embrace others, and if another inflammatory incident were to occur on campus, addressing it in assembly.

As students, we can take the first step towards a more respectful Trinity community by realizing that sometimes our jokes aren’t as funny as we think and that a person can and should have an opinion that may differ from our own. By recognizing the value of people’s emotions and beliefs and tuning ourselves to other’s perspectives, not only can we grow as individuals, but as a sensitive and loving community.

The former Trinity students’ comments did not spark national protests like Duncan’s did. They were dealt with behind closed doors. Yet, when we think of the degrading effect the TFA and TPS students’ words had on individuals, especially when unaddressed…is it really all that funny?

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