I have attended New Rochelle public schools all my life. I went to Ward elementary school, Albert Leonard middle school, and then New Rochelle high school, from which I graduated in 2015. I have always been proud to have attended diverse schools in comparison to other public schools in Westchester County. Although more diverse than other schools, I have always been aware of the injustices that occurred in our classrooms and entire school system. 

I remember the first time I realized this upon entering NRHS and seeing the stark contrast between the new and old lunchroom. They were segregated. The new wing lunchroom was where all the White kids ate and the old lunchroom was where all the Black and Hispanic kids ate. This was sadly the unspoken truth in our school.  
Since I’ve graduated, I hope that this has changed, but I’m speaking from my experience when I attended NRHS.

The inequalities translated into our classrooms as well. I was in two AP courses, AP Environmental Science and AP Statistics. Both of these classes had little to no colored students. Unfortunately, this was the norm. I specifically remember the one Black student in my class was called “the smart Black kid.” Looking back, I realize how my more general classes started out quite diverse, but as I placed into advanced or AP classes, my classes became more and more white. 

Being Asian American in these classes was an interesting experience. I received countless comments from peers asking me to do their math homework or comments like “you’ll definitely get into the school you want since you’re Asian.” I never cared about these comments since I knew that my peers with darker skin got it incomparably worse than some model minority comments. It was normal, even expected, for me to be taking AP classes, but for Black students it was uncharacteristic and they would be considered the “nerdy Black kid.”

Senior year I had in school suspension. Looking around the room, it was no surprise that all the students were Black or Hispanic. I remember walking in and a student saying “oh wow, a White girl!” because it was so rare for White students, better yet a girl, to be suspended. The suspension rate for students of color are significantly higher than that of White students. Why is this? We cannot solely attribute this to what goes on at home. It is clear that our school system is catered to White students. From the cost of textbooks, to extra curricular activities, to the lunchrooms — we must change this system and distribute resources equally to give every student an EQUAL chance. 

I loved my time in NRHS. I made great friends and I went to the university I wanted. But looking back at my experience now, I can’t help to think this was all because I was on the side of the system that benefited from this unjust school system.

Ellie Benov