Listen to Sophmore Cayenne Ramierz and Principal Delgado address racial topics regarding Saint Paul Academy.

Cayenne Ramierz:
My name is Cayenne Ramirez and I’m in 10th grade.

Ivy Raya:
What do you think, SPA been doing to address race more this year?

Ramierz:
I think I’m a teacher too teachers have allowed time in class to talk about current events, and during assemblies, often it’s brought up in a kind of attention, raising matter to spread awareness and make sure that students are engaged in the issues and know more about it. And I think also clubs and affinity groups have been open and vocal towards what’s going on right now.

Raya:
Do you believe this is an effective way.

Ramierz:
I do. I think one way that I, that it could be more effective, is by sharing resources such as like petitions and donation sites throughout the school could be affected as well, in helping raise awareness and funding and things like that.

Raya:
What was your reaction to the amount of growing racism due to the George Floyd incident, and COVID-19 circumstances and heightened violence against Asian Americans.

Ramierz:
Um, I think that with the violence against Asian Americans due to COVID-19. I was shocked by that I think that this virus has no one to blame. And I think it is every individual’s responsibility to help prevent the virus, it is no races fault, it is no one’s fault. It is everyone collectively needing to come together to stop this virus, and I think it is nowhere near justified to blame. One group for creating or spreading this virus.

RayaL
How do you, what’s your reaction to the way SBA SBA reacted to the George Floyd trials and incident.

Ramierz:
I feel that I mean, I saw students online sharing a lot of resources and spreading awareness. And I think that there were a lot of open spaces to talk about what’s going on right now. But, as there usually is, there’s always more that we can do. And I think, more conversations can happen. Always.

Raya:
So, who do you think is responsible for making these changes.

Ramirez:
Um, I, that is a hard question, I think, Wow, I’m not sure actually.

Raya:
Do you think that like it’s the deans and principal job to like start making more speeches or do you think it’s like clubs jobs or like individual like student of color.

Ramirez:
I think it can somewhat rely on the DNS to allow more time and more spaces for these conversations and actions to go on. Because in the end, they are allowed to organize our schedules and what we are allowed to do during our school time, so I think if they open up more time in school and more groups to talk about these things I think that can help us have more awareness and be more vocal about what we’re feeling right now.

Raya:
Do you think that there’s underlying tension in this view,

Ramirez:
I think there is not necessarily because of racial injustice but I think often people assign politics to either. Two people can often assign political groups to racist ideas, and I think that is not right to automatically assume that somebody is or is not racist because of their political beliefs. And I think that we need to listen to each other, and yeah just hear each other out before we make assumptions.

Raya:
What differences, did you see in SPA this year compared to last year even though it was partially online regarding race.

Ramirez:
Um, I think, with Speaker Day coming up, I noticed that most of the speakers, because I mean, I never have experienced a speaker day because last year it was canceled because we were online, but I think, or I noticed that a lot of the speakers, had a, um, their intention was to speak on race and racial injustice and what we can do which I think is really important for this pa community, I noticed a lot of assemblies, starting with a note from Mr. Delgado about something that has recently occurred, which I think is important, as that as a platform to talk to the whole school. And I noticed, senior speeches this year were a lot more about racial injustice and, you know, the political climate of 2020 and things like that. Great, Thank you so much. Yeah, that was really.

Raya:
So, could you state your name and like what you’re doing.

Max Delgado:
Okay, my name is Max Delgado and I am the upper school principal.

Raya:
So how is SPA, trying to address race this year.

Delgado:
I mean, I think there’s a variety of different conversations that we’re hoping to have, and so maybe I’ll start just with the document that I shared last week about the Shogun trial sort of the follow up on that. And if you look at that document, ultimately what we’re hoping to do is create different opportunities for students to, to think on reflect on to be able to act on their beliefs in ways that feel authentic to them. And there’s a combination of different entry points. And so, all of it is based though around this framework of our belief that you can’t talk about or think about race or this moment in time, in a way that’s independent of your lived experiences, your identity right so like who you are, informs deeply how you understand and experience what’s happening. So right now what we’re trying to do though and looking at it the history department is offering different opportunities to give some big picture contextual understanding of it, and then also to talk about some of the historical inequities and underpinnings of the ways that, you know, race has been used as, you know, within as a power structure right to dehumanize people racism that is. And so, you know there’s with the shelving trial, we have folks who are in the history department we’re going to talk about sort of the logistics and the mechanics of it, and how the, the judicial system is set up in this ward and Dr Hodges are going to give a presentation on race and power and the construct around that. And then we’re also going to have the counselors available affinity groups, and the white ally, anti recent special interest group has given given an opportunity to also do presentations or gatherings or meetings to support kids. And then there’s going to be this project. As you’ve probably seen that’s going to be around how students can write to and from postcards that are either speaking to some aspects of their identity or in conversation with folks who might be different than them, and then it’s going to have an artistic component that Mr Cooper is going to execute as well. So I think there’s a couple of things I mean I guess what I would say is that aspirationally what I would hope is that over the course of a student. Being an SBA, that they are given the tools and opportunities necessary in order to be able to talk about race in thoughtful ways that can advance the school’s mission, right, and that don’t cause harm to other people, because I think that that’s something that we, we need to also, I think that there’s, there’s certain tools and understandings that people need to have in order to talk about race, in a way that doesn’t actually hurt people. So I think to answer your question, I guess we’re using we’re trying to create a lot of different opportunities that are both co curricular and extracurricular where race is at the center of the equation. And you’ll notice too that these are not optional events, like we’re making it so students have to actually engage in one of them as part of what it means to be an SGA Student right now in this moment so I don’t know if that answers your question in a, in a big picture way but.

Raya:
So what is the difference between this year and last year.

Delgado:
I think we’re living in a different sort of cultural moment. Right. I think that the realities of race and racism are ancient, and they’ve been around, absolutely forever. I think that it entered because of, you know, because of what happened in the spring last year. And, you know, the the killing of George Floyd I think we’ve entered sort of this moment where people are eager to talk about it with a, with a different level of urgency, I think, communities of color have always been wanting to talk about this with a level of urgency. I think that there’s been folks that that urgency hasn’t been met by other folks in the world. And now you have I think both, you know, sort of, in the United States. Everyone wants to talk about it, because they see the urgency of sort of discussing this now. And I think with the, I think that that’s sort of the difference between this year and last year. I think the other difference between this year and last year is I think last year, allow equity work has always been something that has been sort of vital to the school. I think last year, there was probably kids my guess, that for some of whom this was not abstract and it was other kids for whom it was abstract, but now we’re like we’re in the heart of the Twin Cities, right, and so I think that there’s folks who, it’s there, there’s it’s, there’s just a different level of conversation that’s happening now.

Raya:
And then, with being a person of color yourself, how does this affect your response to what you planned for the school or just in racial justice is in the school,

Delgado:
I think, I mean, again, if it’s true for the students is true for me too, like I can’t speak, I speak from my own sort of lived experience and so, you know, I moved to this country, first grade, so I learned how to speak English in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I identifies as Latino, which is very different from the black experience is very different from Asian American experience it’s very unique. The immigration experience for me through that identity is very unique to sort of my own family. I think you know, my mom is white. My dad’s Mexican. And so, I pass white in certain circles which gives me certain privileges in other circles I don’t kind of depends. I think that for me, there’s elements of this that do are important because they recall certain experiences I have and have had as a person in the world. I don’t understand the world my father, the way my father does who’s much darker than than I am. And I do not understand the world my mother does, like she does, who’s absolutely was Irish American very white. And so I think for me I do bring who I am to this work because I can’t not. But I think ultimately what I would hope is, as an educator is I think is providing kids an opportunity for reflection, in a way that just didn’t exist when I was growing up, the world was very different. If you talk to anybody in their 40s. There was, there was not things that were introduced as far as ways to think about how to have conversations in a way that they’re introduced now, and so that informs sort of the, some of the urgency and some of the passion I personally feel too. But my commitment I think ultimately, is, is I just want to I want these to be healthy, thoughtful, restorative conversations that kids are having, and that’s sort of what drives primarily everything that I sort of think about and do.

Raya:
Do you believe that there’s anything that you could change to be more effective, either. Do you plan on continuing this next year when these issues aren’t going to be as fresh.

Delgado:
I mean I think there’s a lot at the school, like any school needs to do self inventory and reflection on it, and I think the other thing to sort of keep in mind is that it’s not like there’s an answer that you land on and then you’re done. Right. Like I think that these are conversations that are needing to continue in the process of a person or an institution doing self inventory in order to figure out, and, and determine if the work that they’re doing is productive, is something that happens has to happen every year. I think it would be a mistake for a school to think that there’s, you know, one series of workshops or one series of conversations that essentially will carry you forward into the next year. I think that what it is is that you have to build off of things going forward. And so you know I won’t be here next year. So, I won’t be the person that will be continuing these conversations forward, but I’m also, you know, just one person, and I will tell you that the conversations around this are the institution and the teachers are so committed to them deeply, that you can have people come and leave from the community but the heart of the, of the community and the commitment to this is going to remain, and I absolutely no doubt that these are going to be conversations that Miss Collins when she takes over next year is going to pursue and advance and that all the teachers are going to support her in that and the administrative team too.

Raya:
Thank you so much.

Delgado:
I hope that was helpful.

Raya:
Yeah it was.