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Click on image to see video Stopping Prejudice by Liana Kozlowski
- STOPPING PREJUDICE
- SOUTHRIDGE STUDENTS ARE SPEAKING UP TO CHANGE THE WAY PEOPLE THINK ABOUT RACE, GENDER AND THEIR HIGH SCHOOL
- By Liana Kozlowski, lkozlowski@MiamiHerald.com
- Some students at Southridge High School are on a mission to stop stereotyping and discrimination in their community.
- They have felt the sting of others' hateful -- and hurtful-- false judgments. They have been derided for being black, gay or for going to Southridge, a school they say is unfairly looked down on.
- That's why they joined the Heritage Panels' program run by the Miami Coalition of Christian and Jews (MCCJ) that encourages students to use dialogue to stop prejudice.
- They wanted to share their stories in hopes it would push others to be more open-minded and to stop judging people just on the basis of their skin color, ethnic background or home address.
- "It's not easy being a teenager. A lot of them come from such diverse backgrounds; they do experience negative things in school. We want them to feel pride in their heritage," said Roberta Shevin, MCCJ's executive director.
- The Heritage Panels program has been around since 1991 and is also at Robert Morgan Educational Center, Coral Reef Senior High, Hialeah High and other schools.
- Small groups of students are chosen by their counselors to attend the MCCJ's two-day workshop where they build friendships and open up about their culture. They then take their stories back to the classroom.
- At one speaking session, Senior Krystal Luna, the captain of Southridge's debate team, told a group of 11th-grade English students she was tired of people thinking she is part of a gang because she's from New Jersey.
- She said she's also fed up with the low opinion people have of her school that last year received an F after the yearly FCAT testing.
- At debate competitions, Luna says other teams are surprised to learn Southridge even has a debate team.
- "They say, 'Damn, that school is bad. I heard someone got shot in the bathroom.' "
- The other panelist agreed, saying they have heard others disparage Southridge High School.
- But, Luna said, "We are amazing students . . . We are in AP classes. We won state [debate competition] four years in a row and have someone compete in nationals every year. We make it through and prove them wrong. I love it here."
- Other students said they have been discriminated against for other reasons.
- Angelika Quevedo, a senior, said she's been denied service at restaurants because she was with her girlfriend.
- Corsha Onley, a drama student whose heritage is a mix of Jamaican, Cuban and Bahamian, said she heard a certain racial epithet before she even knew what it meant.
- As the panelist gave their presentations, other students began speaking out.
- Former student Julianne Amodeo, 23, spoke about being disowned by her father for giving birth to a biracial daughter.
- Eleventh-grader Salisha LaPompe said stereotyping has become so common place, "sometimes you don't even notice it because it's so normal to you."
- "How many of you feel you've been judged because of how you look?" the school's TRUST counselor Susan Doucha then asked.
- Every hand went up.
- Doucha said she will continue to schedule these speaking session so the panelists' stories will spread throughout the school.
- "We want to educate these students so they can make a difference in the future," Doucha said.
- Copyright (c) 2010 The Miami Herald