The undersigned are alumni of and community stakeholders in the Half Hollow Hills Central School District. We write in support of Black Lives Matter and the movement for racial justice in this country. 

Long Island is one of “the most segregated suburbs in America,” (https://projects.newsday.com/long-island/segregation-real-estate-history/ and this residential segregation not only shapes the boundaries of our school districts, but it also impedes our collective progress towards a more equitable education system in Long Island and in our country. We recognize that structural racism is a problem with unimaginably deep roots, and that there is only so much that one school district can do to stand up for equity and justice.  Nonetheless, as the educational leadership of the HHH community, we urge you to consider what we can do to be better advocates and allies in the movement for racial justice in this country.

There is no denying that the curricula we all experienced as HHH students lacked inclusivity and adequate representation of Black history and culture, nor did it adequately address the deep-seated roots of racism and injustice in this country’s history.  This remains true, despite the fact that HHH provided us with an excellent education in other respects.  The point is that we can do better.

A racially inclusive curriculum is critical to progress. Miseducation and ignorance foster the persistence of structural and institutional racism.  Our educational experiences did not reflect a fully inclusive curriculum in the arts, history, and literature, among other subjects. While there is a legal mandate (https://www.dos.ny.gov/amistad/about.html instated in 2005 in the State of New York to educate students K-12 about black history, that mandate is limited to the African slave trade and enslavement of African Americans. This is woefully insufficient to provide a holistic picture of Black Americans’ cultural contributions.  Not only does this provide an incomplete education for students, but it also fosters an insidiously unjust narrative of the history of race in this country.  

By limiting the educational topics and practices of Black history in this manner, we are enforcing a concept of the Black American experience, conveying that slavery is the only vantage point through which we can introduce Black students to their history and non-Black students to their history and experiences of Black Americans. That is not saying we should not recognize the unimaginable horror of slavery, but that our history curriculum should also feature Black resistance to slavery, through figures like Harriet Tubman, David Walker, and Nat Turner.  We should teach about the horrors of Jim Crow, but also those who fought back in the name of racial justice, including not only Martin Luther King, but also Malcolm X, Thurgood Marshall Pauli Murray, Bayard Rustin, and A. Philip Randolph.  Our students should read the Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mocking Bird, and the Catcher in the Rye, but they must also read Richard Wright, Toni Morrison, Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin, and so many others.  Perhaps most importantly, we must not perpetuate a jingoistic and inaccurate narrative of American history as one of continuous positive progress: Our has been a history of fits and starts towards racial justice—Emancipation and Reconstruction were followed by backlash, Jim Crow, and the rise of the KKK.  The achievement of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s have been undermined to the point the residential segregation is worse now than ever.  Future students should not have to wait until college to better understand the full picture and truths of American history and culture, as so many of us had to. 

These improvements are all the more critical given HHH’s reputation as a privileged and predominantly white school district.  While this dialogue may be uncomfortable, we need to take a stand – HHH is a leader among school districts in Long Island. It should lead by example not only with respect to academic achievement, but also, more importantly, with respect to the pursuit of equity and racial justice.

If we continue to expose students to a white-dominated curriculum and historical narrative , we are not only denying them exposure to Black American history, literature, and cultural contributions, but we are also perpetuating systemic racism through a biased curriculum. Fighting for a more inclusive education may be a small step, but it is a valuable and worthwhile change for a small corner of society. And it is critical to empowering HHH students to take up the mantle of progress towards a more just and equitable society.

We appreciate your time and attention, and hope this is the start of one conversation among many, as we work collectively towards a more inclusive and just educational system for HHH students.