Step One: Repost

JESSICA MALOSH | OCTOBER 21, 2020 | FEATURES

The utilization of mass-user technology has become increasingly prevalent in the fight for equality, rights, and the end of police brutality towards the Black community. The use of social media and virtual discussion platforms has created an atmosphere of hyper-awareness where teenagers are at the forefront. Stanton College Preparatory School students have been using social media as a way to protest and self-educate in an attempt to bridge the gap in the curriculum on the topic of racial inequality, and to make a lasting change in the community.

Black Lives Matter, the movement and the organization, started gaining national attention because of the recent killings of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many other Black lives. The organization’s goal is to eliminate white supremacy and to bring justice to the violence that has been perpetrated on the Black community by state and federal forces. To spread information about this cause, the organization relies heavily on the use of social media.

In a student poll, held on Instagram on Aug. 30, 92 percent of Stanton students agree using social media to spread awareness on issues affecting the Black community is helpful to the cause, and more than 80 percent of students reported actually using their accounts to spread information. 

“People check social media more than they do the news,” said junior Joaqiun Rafaele. “I think it's best that we put out information on a platform that they actually check. It is paramount that we spread information so that people are knowledgeable enough to form their own opinions.”

On Instagram, organizations such as BLM and Color of Change post information to spread awareness and followers repost this content on their Stories. Social media users can also repost petitions started on change.org and petition.whitehouse.gov to gather more signatures. Information about upcoming protests and which organizations to donate to can be widely disseminated through reposting. 

“I think it can be anything as simple as reposting something on your [Instagram] Story,” said freshman Spurthi Nrusimhadevara. “It's all about letting people know about what is happening in the world and educating other people. It just shows you care about a cause.”

Although most students agree social media is helpful to the cause, many believe more substantial and active change is necessary to eliminate racial inequality. For some, having conversations with friends and family about racial inequality is of the utmost importance when trying to make change.

“You call out your friends, and people in your life, because those are the people who are going to be our next healthcare workers, policemen, or politicians,” said junior Jonah Grant. “When you call out those people you could change their way of thinking.”

The general consensus among students who responded to the poll was that donating and protesting in-person are the best ways to make actual, concrete change. In fact, 78 percent of students believe in-person protests are more important and impactful than advocating on social media, even though only 21 percent of students have actually attended an in-person protest.

Even though the majority feels in-person protests are important, attendance has been dampened by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has been a contributing factor to the rise in virtual congregation to discuss the social issues surrounding systemic racism and its lasting effects. This alternative to in-person protests allows individuals to get involved in the conversation relatively cost free. 

The SCP Political Activism club has adopted this style of activism and has made it their mission to facilitate conversation and to raise awareness among students about different social and civic issues happening both locally, and nationwide. The scope of the SCP Political Activism club extends beyond BLM, but with the recent outrage and protests tied to the Black community, the club’s first virtual meeting, held on Sept. 16, highlighted the social and political manifestation of racial inequality and garnered student discussion of causes, effects and solutions of this ongoing issue.

President Sarah Copeland and Vice President Mary McFarland have acknowledged the importance of student voices and have tailored the virtual meeting to reduce the feelings of intellectual repression youth may feel.

“A lot of youth feel their voice is...really suppressed and they believe that their voice won’t be taken as seriously as it would if it were a politician, or simply just an adult,” said McFarland. 

In addition to attending virtual conversations about racial inequality, the leadership of the club implores students to look introspectively and reflect on the behaviors and beliefs that have been ingrained into students. For example, students often feel a disconnect between Stanton and the community in which it resides.

“There is a lot of negative outlook within the community of Myrtle [Durkeeville] and the whole downtown area in general, and if Stanton students simply looked within these communities through a different lens, they would see that those people aren’t thugs or criminals,” said McFarland. 

Along with changing perspectives, getting involved in organizations to rectify issues in the Jacksonville community is another big aspect of change the SCP Political Activism club values.

“The biggest thing at the moment that you can do besides informing yourself, is to look for organizations that are able to provide resources to the underprivileged and minority communities,” said Copeland. “And just changing the rhetoric that is being perpetuated day to day and trying to change those close-minded mindsets of people who [aren’t accustomed to] such an age of openness.”

Around Jacksonville, there are many organizations in which students could get involved to help under-resourced communities such as Groundwork Jacksonville, the Clara White Mission, the Duval County Teen Court Program, the University of North Florida Summer Bridge Program, and many others.

TEDx Jacksonville is one such organization dedicated to giving a platform to the unheard ideas and innovation in Jacksonville. Recently, the organization hosted a series of virtual meetings called “Small Great Conversations on Racism,” to discuss racial injustice and offer solutions.

During one of these past meetings, Mr. Philip Singleton, a past TEDx speaker, author, and political strategist, offered his thoughts. One main point that he raised was how the utilization of social media could actually be detrimental to BLM, and what it is trying to accomplish. According to Mr. Singleton, in the effort to spread awareness, social media users are posting videos and images of African Americans being harmed and killed which normalizes the killings and has deep psychological effects on the Black community.

“I got to a point where I couldn’t be on social media and watch a life or a soul leave a body,” said Mr. Singleton in the virtual “Small Great Conversations on Racism” meeting held on Aug. 29. “All I could think about is you get on social media and you see a Black man get killed and then two months later it happens again and we get numb to it.”

Mr. Singleton also acknowledged how social media is not designed to be a source of reliable news.

“Anybody can make news, and anybody can go on social media and write an article [and now] it's to a point where people can convince or be convinced that it is actual, factual news,” said Mr. Singleton. “It's good [social media] is out there but it is kind of scary at the same time because there is a lot of misinformation being put out there.”

In October 2019, Mr. Singleton presented a TEDx talk on how changing and creating new policy is a better way to make lasting positive change than protesting is. According to him, to be successful in squashing racial inequality, the Black community and allies to BLM need to have an understanding about the policies that are affecting them, and how to influence them.

“Most people want to have a conversation [about racial inequality], but they are not in the mindset to see that the elected official is looking for a solution from [them],” said Mr. Singleton. “[You] can take a civics course in high school but after that, what [are you] going to do to learn more so [you] can be edified policies that are impacting [you] on a local level, if it’s the school board or with the city or county?” 

The civic issues of racial inequality nowadays stem from the oppressive policies and actions committed throughout history. Learning about the mindsets and justifications that gave rise to the issues back then could be beneficial to making a change now.

To allow for this type of learning, the Duval County School Board created the African American History Initiative Task Force to implement the teaching of “the history of African Americans, including the history of African peoples before the political conflicts that led to the development of slavery, the passage to America, the enslavement experience, abolition, and the contributions of African Americans to society.” This instruction is mandated under the Florida Statute Section 1003.42 which dictates required instruction in public schools.

One of the most important aspects of the African American History Initiative is to implement the faithfulness of teaching African American history in all history classes, starting at the kindergarten level.

“We already have a draft plan put together, and we already have school board approval to work towards developing that,” said Dr. Dana Kriznar, a Committee Member. “In addition, all of our high schools have African American history as an elective and it isn’t required instruction, but we are working to ensure the pieces that are required instruction are embedded in the curriculum elsewhere.”

In actuality, Stanton does not have any courses, required or otherwise, dedicated to the studies of African American history. The history courses in Stanton are primarily Advanced Placement courses and the AP College Board does not offer courses in African, Asian, or Latin American histories. According to Dr. Kriznar, the AP courses are still supposed to satisfy the state curriculum requirements. 

Even with these requirements, students disagree that the history curriculum is representative enough of the culture and history of the Black community. 

“No, I don’t think the [curriculum] is representative. We learn about European history and often those [courses] aren’t written by people of color so it is heavily whitewashed,” said Grant. “[The education system] has already failed students from time to time, so how can we expect better now?”

The lack of support from the school curriculum compounded by the pandemic related isolation has caused Stanton students to turn to social media and other virtual platforms as a medium for BLM advocacy.  However, due to the truthfulness of information concerns related to social media platforms, individuals may want to partake in outside research of the social issues surrounding racial inequality and divide.