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Jones reflects on diversity after conference

On April 27, 2006, I boarded a plane to Dallas for the first ever national Jesuit conference on diversity.

The director of the conference, Mr. Michael Moretta, started the conference with a simple ten-person panel asking, “What is diversity, and what is diversity in our schools? The first to answer was Jose, a senior at Jesuit Dallas and a cultural leader for the conference. Five years before, he was a poor Mexican new to the United States. Now at Jesuit Dallas, he is an honor student and the president of the Latino Student Union. He is also one of the key voices for the Latino community at Jesuit Dallas. Instead of sliding into the majority of whites at Jesuit Dallas, he stood out and became a leader for Latino Americans, because he loved his culture and was proud to show it. Jose moved to the United States to have a better life, but now he is able to live a successful life as an American and still be a leader for the Latino community.

At the conference, I was able to meet Mr. David Cooks, a coach for the 1992 National Basketball Champion Duke Blue Devils and the director of diversity at Marquette University High School in Wisconsin. He is also paralyzed from the waist down. He was the first disabled person to graduate from Duke University with an MBA and the first alumnus to coach at Marquette University High School. Because of his success, he was called a sellout by blacks who lived just blocks away from him. As a disabled African-American, he lives his life according to his rules, not the stereotypes pressed on him by our society.

As an African-American, you have to be an athlete and talk a certain way, or else you are considered a sellout, someone who hides from their culture. As an Asian, you have to be the smartest person in the school. In Saint Louis, why does West County have to be referred to as the place where rich people live? Why does North City have to be referred to as the crime-infested part of town? Why is that? Why do people have to follow a certain cliché? I am proud to: talk with a proper tone and dress preppy, listen to all kinds of music including rap, rock, and classical, play in the school band, and be friends with all different types of people. The athletic skills I lack I make up in my faith and intellect. I am proud to be an African-American.

Before I went to the conference, I thought that SLUH was a diversified place where the best and brightest among our city came. After the conference, I believe that SLUH does not have the passion or the drive to be a diversified place. Schools such as Jesuit Dallas and St. Ignatius-San Francisco have more support from their fellow students and work hard to spread diversity. SLUH does not do that. Jesuit Dallas and St. Ignatius- San Francisco are both in cities where there is more racial integration. St. Louis is a racially segregated city and SLUH reflects that. Most of the African-Americans come from North County, North City, and South City. Most of the white people come from the county. These racial and geographical divisions tend to persist among the student body.

At SLUH, there is such a drive to succeed in areas such as athletics, academics, and spirituality, that the area of diversity is swept away. There is not a real organization that handles diversity, except for ACES, which is known by people around the school as the black club.

ACES was not able to succeed this year because of the lack of support from the school and students within the school who were either too scared or did not know enough about ACES to join because ACES is all black. With three more years at SLUH, I want to change that notion and have ACES be an open group where people of all cultures and backgrounds can join and be accepted. To do that, we need the support of the school.

According to Mr. Cooks, “Diversity is Humanity." We are bound in this world by our faith in Christ. My mom tells me every day that everybody at my school should be like a brother to each other. After that first freshman orientation, we were all welcomed into the SLUH community as a family. If we were able to live in respect for each other, then SLUH, and the world, would be a better place to live.

Published: June 15, 2006 | By: C. David Jones | Categories: News Section, Students
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