One day I opened my phone to check Instagram and discovered that people were outraged by the actions of a few teens from my school who had posted one photo of themselves doing the Hitler salute and another photo of themselves with a caption that included a racial slur. I was shocked, but I was even more shocked when my school did not really take action against their behavior. This incident would have been a great time for my principal to address the hatred that minorities are experiencing and what we can do to stop it. Schools should be combating white supremacy through activism, literature and education.

It is important to teach classmates to be anti-racist at a young age. In an article entitled Why I’m Designing Anti-Bias Training for My Classmates, student Zoe Jenkins writes, “As far back as kindergarten, I’ve had experiences that show the need for training like this...“I’ve even had peers tell me I’m not “really Black” since I get good grades...Classmates touching my hair or comparing their summer tans to my already dark skin. Students asking me if I am lost when I walk into advanced classes. Non-Black classmates defending their use of the N-word.” If we do not teach classmates to be anti-racist at a young age, by the time they get older, racist behaviors become normalized. If anti-racism was taught at a young age, Zoe may have had other white classmates stick up for her and tell the ignorant classmates how their actions were wrong. Jenkins says, “My idea was to provide training for students just at my school, but the project has quickly grown into a nine-person effort to teach the principles of equity and anti-racism and a factual history of race to as many young people around the country as possible.”  Zoe Jenkins argues that anti-racism should not only be taught, but that a factual history of race should also be taught. If you teach a factual history of race, you will learn how race is used to give one group of people power over another. 

Student activists and organizers can help combat racism in our school communities. Diversify Our Narrative is one of many programs that are trying to combat racism. The campaign was started by students whose main goal is to have more diverse and anti-racist books in school. A Vox article called Student activists want change — and they’re starting in the classroom said of Diversify Our Narrative that it’s “a campaign spearheaded by California college students with the aim of introducing more diverse, anti-racist texts in America’s public school system.” College students starting campaigns could have a positive influence on younger students who look up to them. College students introducing anti-racist texts can be more effective since they know what their education is missing. Vox interviewed Liana Le who became one of the "1,700 students across 200 school districts in the US to have signed up as a community organizer; she was then given tools and resources, like email templates and social media tips, to start a local petition targeting her community and school board.” By participating in organizing and activism at a young age, students can become leaders. By having more and more young activists, cities and communities will experience less racism.

The more non-white authors we have in our schools, the more we will realize how much harm the racist structures have done to some people. Writing for Learningforjustice.org, Christina Torres writes, “Anti-racist work means acknowledging that racist beliefs and structures are pervasive in all aspects of our lives—from education to housing to climate change—and then actively doing work to tear down those beliefs and structures.” Not only should we acknowledge that these beliefs and structures are in our everyday life, we also have to try to change them. Reading non white authors is really important to anti-racist work because we can learn about how racist beliefs and structures have hurt them. Torres also writes, “It’s not just BIPOC who need to see themselves in the literature or history they study. White students need to hear those perspectives as well, just as straight and cisgender students need to read LGBTQ+ stories. This is because students need not just mirrors but also windows into other cultures.” It would be dangerous if all the students saw were just mirrors since they would only be learning about their own culture. It is important for white students to learn how other people experience this culture, and that means that they need to be reading more non-white authors in school.

The incident at our school was shocking, but that's not the only reason we need to fight racism. We live in a racist society where people believe one race is superior to others, and that is why it is important for us to teach classmates to be anti-racists at a young age. To accomplish this goal, students can be activists and help create organizations within their school communities. Students can also demand more non-white authors in school. The more students read these non-white authors, the more they will realize how harmful the racist structures are. If we want change and a country with less racism, we can start by combating it in schools.